Portland @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 27, 2019 ) Portland 121, Dallas 119

Luka Doncic's 12th triple-double of the season stunned coach Rick Carlisle and the 20-year-old star looks for another stellar performance when the Dallas Mavericks host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. Doncic recorded 25 points, 15 rebounds and a career-best 17 assists as the Mavericks defeated the host Sacramento Kings 127-123 on Wednesday.

Doncic has 20 career triple-doubles and routinely puts up big numbers but Carlisle was in awe when he stared at the stats after the win over Sacramento. "These numbers are just crazy," Carlisle said after the team's third straight victory. "It's hard to fathom. They're trapping him all over the court every time down. He's both beating the traps and playing beautifully out of the traps." Portland has won back-to-back games and played one of its best contests of the season in Wednesday's 117-107 road win over the Houston Rockets, when it held NBA scoring leader James Harden to a season-low 13 points. "A season is full of ups and downs and we've had more downs this year than ups, but it's a whole second half of the season to play," point guard Damian Lillard said afterward. "We executed and we played like we wanted to win the game ... we've just got to try to sustain that."

TIME: 9:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN, NBCS Northwest, FS Southwest, TSN1

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (18-24): Portland has had trouble establishing a rhythm this season and resides in 10th place in the Western Conference but Lillard and shooting guard CJ McCollum are both expecting the tide to turn. "We dug ourselves quite the hole with inconsistent play, injuries, bad losses, lots of losses in a row," McCollum told reporters. "This was a game we needed to win. We need to win every game honestly going forward." Forward Carmelo Anthony recorded 18 points and 12 rebounds against the Rockets - the team that released him early last season - for his second double-double in three games and third of the season.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (26-15): Power forward Kristaps Porzingis (right knee) could be back in the lineup after a nine-game absence and Carlisle is hoping the big man isn't scratched again like he was Wednesday. "You lose a 7-3 guy that can rebound and protect the rim like that, it's going to make your rim protection and rebounding more challenging," Carlisle said. "It's a big loss when a guy like that is out. Forward Dwight Powell picked up the slack by averaging 19 points over the past three games and making 44-of-54 field-goal attempts (81.5 percent) over the past seven contests.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Lillard recorded 28 points and five assists as the Trail Blazers posted a 121-119 road win over the Mavericks on Oct. 27, while Doncic had 29 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and three steals.

2. Dallas backup SG Seth Curry tallied 21 points against the Kings for his fifth 20-point outing of the season.

3. Portland C Hassan Whiteside recorded 18 points and 17 rebounds against Houston for his 30th double-double of the season.

PREDICTION: Mavericks 128, Trail Blazers 125