DALLAS -- Damian Lillard wasn't mentioned as a potential MVP candidate coming into this season.

He certainly is looking like one right now.

"Sensational. Amazing. All-Star. MVP," Trail Blazers backcourt mate CJ McCollum said Friday after Lillard racked up a season-high 42 points in Portland's 105-95 win over the Dallas Mavericks. "He was big tonight. He hit some huge shots. He kept us afloat even though we blew some big leads.

"He was so good that they had to throw double teams at him, and that made the game easier for everyone else. We needed this win tonight."

Lillard hit 12 of 18 shots from the floor, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range. He has scored at least 27 points in all six games this season, which is the best scoring start in franchise history.

"Damian has done a lot in his young career, but that might have been his best game, I would have to go back and look," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "He had a stroke going, he was determined to find a way, he was talking on the bench, but obviously, his performance was remarkable."

The Mavericks were without two big frontline pieces in dropping to 0-5 for the first time ever.

Andrew Bogut missed the game for personal reasons. Dirk Nowitzki started in Bogut's place at center, but he didn't play in the second half due to right Achilles soreness.

Nowitzki, who was making his home debut, has already missed two games this season. He now will miss several more.

"He's going to be out for a while," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We'll update you guys in about seven days, but he's not going to play at least until then. He didn't re-injure the Achilles, it's just lingering. It's not getting better the way it needs to, so we've got to shut him down."

Nowitzki said he didn't aggravate the injury in his 16-minute stint.

"Nothing happened. It's been the same for a week now," he said. "As soon as I go out there and try to push off, show on pick-and-roll, run backwards ... all that stuff is uncomfortable, so we decided to just shut it down.

"It makes no sense to keep trying this for weeks. It hasn't really gotten better, so we are going to take a few days off and not get on the court and not do all that stuff that makes it sore. Hopefully it will be better in a couple of days and then we can ramp it back up."

Portland (3-3) snapped a two-game skid by winning in Dallas for the first time since Jan. 18, 2014.

The Blazers extended a 55-52 lead at halftime with a strong start to the third quarter. Portland knocked down 7 of 10 from deep in the period, taking as much as a 16-point lead.

Dallas battled back and went into the fourth down just three again. After the Mavericks got within 79-78, Lillard led another push as the visitors regained control.

Lillard's pull-up jumper from the line put Portland up 97-87 with four minutes to play. The Mavs wouldn't get any closer than six points the rest of the way.

Mason Plumlee scored a season-best 19 for the Blazers, 15 coming in the first half on 5-of-5 shooting. Al-Farouq Aminu added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

J.J. Barea, inserted in the starting lineup with Bogut out, knocked down five 3-pointers and led Dallas with 23 points. Harrison Barnes had his first double-double for the Mavs with 17 points and 10 boards.

Dallas completes a quick two-game homestand Sunday against the Milwaukee Bucks. Portland completes a three-game road trip Sunday at Memphis.

NOTES: Portland G Damian Lillard scored at least 30 in four of the first six games of the season. He is averaging 34.2 points per game, which ranks second in the league behind the 36.3-point average of Toronto's DeMar DeRozan. ... On Wednesday, Lillard became the fifth-fastest player in NBA history to reach 7,000 points and 2,000 assists behind Oscar Robertson, Tiny Archibald, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James. ... Dallas' only previous 0-4 start was in 2006-07. ... The Mavericks' bench outscored the Blazers' reserves 31-14. Dallas backup G Seth Curry scored eight points and was the only player on the team with a positive plus-minus, finished at plus-19.