The Portland Trail Blazers play host to the Dallas Mavericks at Moda Center on Thursday.

The Mavericks (27-16) have been a much better team away from home this season, posting a 14-5 record outside of Dallas. That's a really shocking statistic and it's even crazier when you consider they're 13-11 at home. That doesn't really make sense and it's tough to win any games in the Moda Center. That road form pairs nicely with their recent hot streak, winning four of their last five games heading into this matchup. What's unfortunate is that Dwight Powell tore his Achilles in the most recent defeat on Tuesday though and that's a loss they can't make up. This is a frontcourt that was already thin and many believe they will target someone at the trade deadline with a loss like that.

The Trail Blazers (19-26) just got a historic performance from Damian Lillard in their most recent victory over the Golden State Warriors and every bit of that impressive line was needed. In fact, he finished that game with 61 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on 11-of-20 from three-point range. Getting a performance like that from your best player is a special thing, particularly in an overtime win. It's really no surprise he was so aggressive when you consider that C.J. McCollum missed that game. This roster is already extremely thin through injuries and they probably can't compete with most teams without McCollum in the fold. The good news is that his ankle injury is not expected to be serious and there's a small chance he could return here in a game they desperately need to win.

These teams have split their two meetings this season which is no surprise when you see that they split their four-game season series last year as well.