The Dallas Mavericks (19-10) pulled their head out of the sand after a slow start and defeated the Portland Trail Blazers (9-20) 132-108 on Monday at American Airlines Center. Luka Dončić made a good, if not triumphant, return after missing the last two games with a bruised heel.

The Mavericks put up 64 points in the game against a poor Portland defense and stayed at the charity stripe by shooting 34 free throws in the win. It was a clear failure against an inferior opponent – always a welcome sight.

Here’s how the Mavs performed individually in the win over the Blazers.

Luka Dončić: B+

27 points / 7 rebounds / 7 assists / 1 steal (30 minutes)

Dončić missed his first three shot attempts of the game before connecting on a faded slant that would have set up a 3-point play had he made the ensuing free throw. His legs weren’t underneath him during his first shot attempts.

However, Dončić was active on defense, deflecting balls in the passing lanes and forcing an early violation of the Portland shot clock with heavy pressure in the corner. He missed all four of his 3-point attempts in the first half, but became an all-around performer by making contact and finishing in the midrange. He shot 9 of 12 from inside the 3-point arc in the win.

If the outside shot was a little rusty, Dončić made up for it by getting into the paint, delivering perfectly placed dimes and being in the right place at the right time on the boards. Clever ball from Luka, although he scored 0-5 from distance in his first game back from injury.

Kyrie Irving: B+

20 points / 3 rebounds / 1 assist / 1 steal / 1 block (29 minutes)

Irving made a point of getting to the basket early, scoring six points on some nifty drives in the first quarter. On Dončić’s fourth assist of the game, he hit a three-pointer to Forney from halftime to give Dallas its first double-digit lead at 57-47 late in the second quarter. He somehow scored on a baseline challenge that left him knocked down, but kept his dribbling alive early in the third period against an inept Portland defense. He had time to collect himself and make the lay-in banker to give the Mavs a 72-60 lead. He and Dončić sat together for most of the fourth quarter, which is always a positive result.

Spencer Dinwiddie: C-

3 points / 1 rebounds / 2 assists / 1 steals (14 minutes)

Dinwiddie was indecisive on his first shot to the basket and then threw the ball away late in the first when he threw a pass too high to Naji Marshall on the sideline. He lost Deni Avdija on an inbounds play in the third quarter that led to a corner 3-pointer that was just too easy, but answered a minute later with a nice 3-ball of his own from the right wing.

Klay Thompson: B+

13 points / 2 rebounds / 2 assist / 2 steals (18 minutes)

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

Thompson hit his first 3-point attempt early in the first period before throwing the ball away when he should have increased again the next time. He also ended the break in the first half with his first dunk in a Mavericks jersey. He missed his next three long balls before knocking down one with eight seconds left in the first half, making the game 62-51 before the Dallas defense pulled off a last-second drive and a score by Anfernee Simons Halftime siren gave up.

Thompson’s third goal came early in the third period after a wide offensive transition from PJ Washington, giving Dallas a 75-60 lead with 8:40 left in the third period. He is now two three-pointers shy of tying Reggie Miller for fifth all-time. He was also a capable defender on Monday.

Dereck Lively II: C

4 points / 4 rebounds / 1 assists / 1 steal (16 minutes)

Lively stepped behind Daniel Gafford in the win over the Blazers. Gafford simply had more juice, and that’s fine on any given night – it just doesn’t look great in the grade book. Lively finished for his second basket after a wonderful long pass from Dončić early in the third period. He also showed great effort on some of the offensive boards in the second half.

PJ Washington: B-

12 points / 4 rebounds / 2 assists / 1 steal (24 minutes)

Washington made its first 3-point attempt in the first quarter with an assist from Thompson on the break and converted a few minutes later with a good post-up attempt. He committed his second foul in the middle of the first half, which forced Maxi Kleber to have very questionable early minutes. He hit his second 3-pointer early in the second period, going 2 of 2 from distance while the rest of the team was collectively 1 of 10 up to that point. He was relatively quiet in the second half after scoring 10 points in the first.

Quentin Grimes: C+

5 points / 3 rebounds / 4 assist (17 minutes)

Grimes made a few nice jumps from mid-range in the first half and made the right pass when a teammate was open. He just didn’t put his stamp on the win over the Blazers like some of his teammates did.

Naji Marshall: C

4 points / 1 rebound / 2 assists (16 minutes)

Why did Marshall only play 3:36 in the first half? This was his fourth game after the long battle with that mysterious illness that spread through the Mavs’ locker room in late November and early December. It feels like something is going on here. What’s even stranger, however, is that he had those four minutes in the first half and then only came back into the game in stoppage time. If the problem was (for the sake of speculation) that he was somehow still not 100% over this illness, then why sign him for the fourth candidacy alongside Jazian Gortman, Dwight Powell and Olivier-Maxence Prosper? The use of his services by Naji Marshall and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd caused excitement that evening.

Daniel Gafford: A+

23 points / 5 rebounds / 2 assists / 1 block (21 minutes)

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

Gafford brought the bench goal for the Mavs on Monday. He had 11 points and five goals in the first half as he directed the offense for minutes, strange as that may be. Dallas needed all of its tenacity and instinct for the basket while the rest of the offense sputtered for much of the first half.

His emphatic 1-pointer against Deandre Ayton gave the Mavericks an 86-67 lead late in the third period, then he homered another goal from the Blazers’ Redwood rookie Donovan Clingan. His third And-1 of the third quarter came from Deni Avdija, but we would like to see him follow up those great plays at the free throw line with a little more consistency. Overall, however, it was simply an evening of superlatives for the man who was supposed to be in front of the microphone every time.

The icing on the cake was watching Gafford sign his shoes, pose for a photo and give them to a young lady holding a “Big Dan #1 Fan” sign in the stands.

Maxi glue: C-

3 points / 1 rebound / 1 steal (16 minutes)

Kleber has to rebound when he’s in there, and he was passed on the defensive boards a few times in the first quarter by Avdija and Jerami Grant. Later in the first round he got out of defensive position due to a cut from Toumani Camara and a drive from Avdija. Then, in the final minute of the first period, he threw a pass directly to Scoot Henderson, who, as someone should have told Kleber, is not a member of the Dallas Mavericks.

Kleber played good one-on-one defense against Grant and Avdija at times in the second half. At the start of the fourth period, he made just his third 3-pointer of the year.

Olivier Maxence Prosper: B+

8 points / 5 rebounds / 1 assist (10 minutes)

O-Max had a bad time in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks took the lead a few times late. He threw the ball away, completely missing the rim on his first 3-point attempt, rebounding off his own miss, and then completely missing the rim on his rushing second attempt. However, he recovered from that initial stumble for a decent few scrap minutes.

Jazian Gortman: B+

3 points / 1 rebound / 1 assist / 1 steal / 1 block (9 minutes)

Jazian Gortman was spotted near the end of the game against Portland! He made his first shot attempt, an off-balance 3-pointer that put a smile on everyone on the Dallas bench after a timeout less than eight minutes into the game. He then missed his next three attempts, but at that point there was no damage, no foul and a resounding victory.