At the American Airlines Center in Dallas on January 3, 2024, Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives past Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant (9) for a third-quarter layup.(Staff Photographer Tom Fox)Written by Shawn McFarlandYes, there is another injury to talk about. Actually, two of them. The Dallas Mavericks’ whiteboard that read “consecutive games without an injury” has once again been reset to “zero,” but in all honesty, it was already reading that heading into their game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.For the first time in what seems like a long time, the Mavericks saw their healthy two-guard, two-superstar dynamic blossom. But set that aside for a moment. The Mavericks had just suffered an ugly, blowout loss to the Utah Jazz.At the American Airlines Center, Luka Doncic (41 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and Kyrie Irving (29 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) led the team to a decisive victory against the Trail Blazers, 126-97, from start to finish. Doncic put his 19-point performance against Utah in the rearview mirror; Irving, playing in his second game back following a nearly month-long heel ailment, looked particularly at ease. The two were able to take a whole quarter off of play because they had helped establish such a sizable lead.

“I feel like when we played against the Jazz, I didn’t get off to a good start,” said Irving, who scored 14 in his return game against Utah. “I just wanted to take it upon myself to galvanize the group and stay aggressive.”

Irving and the Mavericks were. And they cruised.

Aside from all the speed bumps.

Rookie center Dereck Lively II (left ankle sprain) was helped off of the court and into the locker room in the third quarter and did not return. He rolled the same ankle against the Trail Blazers on Dec. 15 and missed the Mavericks’ next four games, a stretch in which Dallas won just once.

Then, early in the fourth, forward Grant Williams also left the game with a right ankle sprain.

Now, stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but the Mavericks were already down a starter vs. Portland. Guard Dante Exum suffered a right heel contusion on New Years day in Utah and missed Wednesday’s game vs. Portland. Dallas felt at full strength for about a quarter against the Jazz — in Irving’s first game back since Dec. 8 — but dropped to understaffed again soon thereafter.

It only enhanced in severity on Wednesday for a Dallas team that’s already lost 82 player games to injury this season. Kidd described both ankle sprains as mild postgame.

“[They’re] getting treatment,” Kidd said. “We’ll see how they feel tomorrow.”

Blazing offense: See photos from Dallas Mavericks’ dominant win vs. Portland29 IMAGESVIEW GALLERY

Related: Mark Cuban’s prominent property close to downtown Dallas is acquired by the proprietors of the Sands casinoThe actual game began early. Irving’s easy transition 3-pointer with three seconds remaining gave the Mavericks a 9-0 start to the opening quarter and ignited a 22-point first-half explosion. After leading by ten points at the half, Dallas allowed Doncic and Irving to take control of the second quarter.Irving scored seven points to spark a 12-7 Mavericks rally to begin the second quarter, with Doncic sitting out the first four and a half minutes. One minute after Irving left the game, Doncic scored eight points in a three-minute span, and Irving came back to extend Dallas’ lead to 63-35.

And with both on the court for the final three minutes of the first half, the two combined for 13 points to give Dallas a 78-47 halftime lead.

“The two leaders set the tone early and took control of the game, on both ends, offensively and defensively,” Kidd said. “But I thought our ball movement and our player movement was probably at its best tonight.”

If anecdotes are your thing: Doncic (30 first-half points) and Irving (22 points) single-handily outscored the Trail Blazers in the first half. They combined for another 18 points in the third quarter to give Dallas a 102-74 lead entering the fourth. Had they been needed for the game’s final 12 minutes, Doncic and Irving could’ve tried to challenge the Trail Blazers’ 97 total points as a pair.

And if you like a plain ol’ simple statement: the two made it look easy. Their on-court cohesion looked seamless despite Irving’s time off, and maybe most importantly, each guard supplied a significant portion of Dallas’ offense while the other sat. That aspect of the duo’s presence only gains importance with each Mavericks injury.

Irving’s 29 points were his most since a 38-point outing against the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 18. Doncic — who made four of his seven 3-point attempts — recorded his first dunk of the season in the third quarter.

“He was flying like Mike tonight,” Kidd said.

Now, the rebuilding, nine-win Trail Blazers might not be the gold standard barometer of which a team measures its success. Portland’s 34 fouls (which led to Dallas’ 41 free throw attempts) and 21 turnovers (which aided the Mavericks’ 28 fast break points) certainly contributed to the Mavericks’ hearty lead which, at one point, reached 38 points.

The first-place Minnesota Timberwolves — who come into town on Sunday after one more dance with Portland on Friday — might prove a stiffer test.

Speaking of which.

Wednesday’s game was the first of a seven-game American Airlines Center home stand. Consider it a necessary one after a stretch of four road contests in a five-game stretch and an injury report that’s filled back up just as quickly as it returned to a manageable length.

“The last 10 days were tough, the schedule,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said pregame. “but everybody is going to go through it. But it’s good to be home for two weeks. Nice homestand. [Hopefully] we can get healthy, and then also to protect home.”

For the time being, Williams, Lively, and Exum might not be part of the neighborhood watch.

However, Irving’s return is wonderful news.

For a single night, it looked fantastic.