portland at dallas december 2018Luka Doncic scored 21 points and Wesley Matthews added 17 as the Mavericks won for the ninth time in 11 games, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 111-102.

DeAndre Jordan added 12 points and 17 rebounds for Dallas, which won its eighth in a row at American Airlines Center for the first time since March 2011 — three months before they defeated Miami for the franchise’s only NBA title.

On Tuesday night, the Mavs matched that mark and continued their surprising ascent through the rugged Western Conference.

Dallas’ defense made it difficult for Portland’s backcourt. Damian Lillard had 33 points but shot 10-for-23 from the field and 2-for-8 from beyond the arc. His 11-for-12 shooting from the line helped his total.

C.J. McCollum added 18 points for the Blazers but made just 7 of 19 shots and 2 of 7 from three-point range.

Lillard scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half as Portland tried, but failed, to rally from a deficit that was mostly double digits through almost all the first three quarters.

The Mavericks closed out the first quarter with a 17-3 run and held a double-digit lead until Lillard’s drive and free throw made it 78-69 late in the third.

Dwight Powell hit consecutive 3-pointers and Maxi Kleber followed a Devin Harris miss with a dunk to put Dallas up by 14 after three quarters.

J.J. Barea’s driving layup capped a 10-0 run that gave the Mavericks their biggest lead at 92-73. Portland got as close as six points in the game’s final minutes, but Doncic hit a fall-away 3-pointer with 58.9 seconds to go for a 108-99 lead.

These teams are going in opposite directions. While Dallas has heated up, Portland has lost eight of its last 11.

The Trail Blazers will try to get back on track on Thursday when they host the Phoenix Suns, while on Wednesday the Mavs will look to win their third straight game as they take on the Pelicans in New Orleans.