The Blazers use balanced efforts to destroy Mavs and Kyrie Irving

Shaedon Sharpe had 23 points and Anfernee Simons added 22 points and eight assists, helping the Portland Trail Blazers to a 126-122 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Deandre Ayton contributed 21 points and 16 rebounds and Deni Avdija recorded 21 points, five assists and five rebounds as Portland won its second straight game. Scoot Henderson had 19 points, six assists and five steals off the bench and Jerami Grant had 14 points and eight boards for the Trail Blazers.

Kyrie Irving scored 20 of his season-high 46 points in the final quarter for Dallas, which played without star Luka Doncic for the second straight game and fell to 7-3 this season without his services. Doncic will be out for at least a month with a left calf strain he suffered on Christmas Day.

Spencer Dinwiddie had 17 points and eight rebounds, Daniel Gafford added 15 points and nine boards and Quentin Grimes scored 15 points off the bench for the Mavericks. Klay Thompson scored 12 points and reserve Jaden Hardy had 11.

In addition to Doncic, the Mavericks played without Dereck Lively II (hip), PJ Washington (suspension) and Naji Marshall (suspension).

Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups missed his second straight game due to the death of his grandmother. Nate Björkgren served as acting coach for the second year in a row.

Portland led 97-82 early in the fourth quarter, but Irving got hot, scoring 13 points in the first 3:28 of the frame as the Mavericks got within 102-97.

Later in the quarter, Simons made a layup to give the Trail Blazers an eight-point lead with 1:30 left.

Irving was called for an offensive foul at the other end with 1:21 left as Dallas tentatively lost momentum. But Dinwiddie’s three-pointer put the Mavericks up 124-119 with 32 seconds left.

Ayton drained two free throws with 30.5 seconds left in the game to take a six-point lead, then stole the ball from Thompson at the other end. Avdija was fouled with 16 seconds left and shared two free throws, making it a three-possession game before Portland tied the game.

Portland shot 50 percent from the field and made 11 of 26 from 3-point range. The Trail Blazers had a 50-40 rebounding advantage.

The Mavericks made 48.3 percent of their shots overall and were 15 of 38 from behind the arc.

Portland built a 34-16 lead on Henderson’s basket with 2:11 left in the first quarter. The Trail Blazers led 36-25 early in the second quarter and 69-59 at halftime, despite Irving’s 24 points in the first half.

Portland’s lead increased to 21 when Henderson hit a layup to make it 93-72 with 2:35 left in the third period.

–Field level media