Mavericks moving up in the West

The Dallas Mavericks hadn’t won eight in a row at home since they won the championship in 2011.

They did in again behind Luka Doncic, the Western Conference rookie of the month for October/ November, who scored 21 points and Wesley Matthews added 17 Tuesday 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 moved percentage points ahead of Portland for seventh in the West. Guard Dennis Smith Jr. had 12 points and nine assists, one day after he had a root canal to fix a broken tooth suffered Sunday night after the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley caught him with an elbow.

“To be the team we want to be, we have to win the games at home,” Matthews said. “Our attention to defense is what’s really doing it.”

Damian Lillard scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half but made just two of eight threes. CJ McCollum added 18 points for the Blazers, who have lost eight of 11.

“It’s an uphill battle,” Lillard said. “I thought we still had a chance. When you create a hole, you got to fight out of it so hard to get there, you put yourself in a position where you got to be perfect down the stretch.”

at Indiana 96, Chicago 90: Myles Turner matched his season high with 18 points and added 11 rebounds and five blocked shots as the Pacers spoiled the debut of new Bulls coach Jim Boylen. Lauri Markkanen had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago, which has lost seven straight.

Orlando 105, at Miami 90: Aaron Gordon scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic. Heat center Hassan Whiteside, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter, walked to the locker room with 40.5 seconds left.

at Utah 139, San Antonio 105: Donovan Mitchell scored 20 points, Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Kyle Korver scored 15 points in his first home game since he returned to the Jazz, as Utah won for the first time at home in nearly a month. Jakob Poeltl scored a career-high 20 points for the Spurs.

Sacramento 122, at Phoenix 105:

Buddy Hield scored 20 points to help hand the Suns their sixth straight loss and ninth in 10 games. Rookie De’Anthony Melton from USC led Phoenix with a careerhigh 21 points.