PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) \u2014 Deni Avdija had 27 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and Shaedon Sharpe added 24 points as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 125-122 on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Caleb Love also scored 24 for the Blazers off the bench, including six 3-pointers and the go-ahead free throws with under a minute remaining.<\/p>\n
Klay Thompson\u2019s 3-point attempt to tie the game at the buzzer missed as Portland avoided blowing a 17-point lead.<\/p>\n
Max Christie led the Mavericks with 25 points and Brandon Williams scored 22. Cooper Flagg had 15 points, eight assists and six rebounds.<\/p>\n
The teams exchanged the lead eight times in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Portland led 95-84 with 1:30 left in the third before the Mavericks went on a 9-2 run, capped by a running 3 with 0.7 seconds left by Thompson to make it 97-93.<\/p>\n
Thompson then tied the game at 99 on a 3 with 9:35 remaining. Christie gave the Mavericks their first lead of the second half at 106-105 on a 3-pointer with 6:56 to play.<\/p>\n
Dallas led by four before Avdija\u2019s layup and a 3 by Love put Portland back ahead 118-117 with 2 1\/2 minutes left. <\/p>\n
Christie\u2019s 3-pointer gave Dallas a 122-121 edge with 1:09 remaining, but the Mavericks never scored again. Love sank two free throws with 53.2 seconds left, Naji Marshall missed a pair of 3s for Dallas, and Sharpe added two foul shots with three seconds remaining for the final margin.<\/p>\n
Portland pushed its lead to 17 multiple times in the second quarter before taking a 75-63 advantage into halftime. <\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Dallas hosts Philadelphia on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Portland visits Oklahoma City on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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