The Portland Trail Blazers failed to win against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night with a final score of 136-131. After falling behind in the fourth quarter, the Blazers attempted a late comeback but were unable to defend themselves against the hot-shooting Mavericks. Anfernee Simons led Portland with 27 points in the game. Luka Doncic was the game’s top scorer with 36 points and 13 assists.

The game was the first this season in which both teams shot over 50% from three-point range, with Portland and Dallas shooting 60% and 50% from long range, respectively.

Blazers of the game: Toumani Camara and Deni Avdija. Camara drew orders from Luka Doncic for most of the game. Although he failed to keep Doncic to a low score, that was in part because he was pressured with a lot of screens throughout the night to force a substitution. On the offensive side of the ball, Camara scored a season-high 17 points by making five of his seven attempts from deep.

Avdija scored 21 points and often served as the primary defender alongside Doncic. His late-game heroics included scoring seven straight Blazer points within the final two minutes of the game. However, a costly defensive foul late in the game helped Dallas seal the game.

Status of the night: December 16th. After a relatively slow first half, both teams broke through in the third quarter. A 39-39 shootout in the semifinals kept the Blazers in a three-point hole early in the final quarter, but the fireworks that got them there were electric. The teams combined to shoot 12-16 from three-point range in the quarter, with Simons alone scoring 5-6 for Portland.

What we’ll remember: Anfernee Simons’ third quarter. With just three points and four fouls in the first half, it seemed like it wasn’t Simon’s night. However, that quickly changed in the third. He set a career high with 24 points during this period. He made 8 of his 9 attempts from the field, including 5 of 6 from behind the arc. His explosion helped Portland stay competitive in the district. He finished the game with 27 points after fouling out early in the fourth period.

Box score

What’s next: The Blazers will conclude their Emirates NBA Cup schedule against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m