DALLAS -- It's tough enough when you play the Dallas Mavericks to try to do something to stop Luka Doncic, the Mavs' 6-7 point guard/forward, who wore out the Trail Blazers last season. He's an almost impossible matchup with his ability to pass and shoot, play inside and outside and set up teammates with pinpoint passes.

But now, Dallas has two ridiculous matchup problems, after adding Kristaps Porzingis in a trade last season.

And in spite of missing all of last season with an injury, Porzingis – they call him "The Unicorn" – is back, seemingly better than ever. The 7-3 Latvian is the total package. In the first two Dallas games of the season (both victories), Porzingis has averaged 23. 5 points, 2.5 assists and three blocked shots in just 29 minutes per game, while shooting 50 percent from the three-point line.

He's huge, he moves well and he can play inside or outside. And, by the way, he's another extremely difficult matchup for Portland's starting center, Hassan Whiteside. It's similar to the same dilemma teams face when playing Denver and its versatile center, Nikola Jokic. You put a big man on him and he takes your big man outside and shoots threes over the top, or you put a quicker, smaller defender on him and he takes him inside.

That's when the Trail Blazers are fortunate to have Zach Collins.

The third-year 7-footer out of Gonzaga has proven to be an all-purpose defender for Portland and a good complement to Whiteside, in that he can defend smaller, quicker players when opponents go to small lineups or feature a center who hangs out at the three-point line.

"I think I will probably spend a lot of time on (Porzingis)," Collins said Saturday after practice. "I can move my feet. He's solid. He's big, but he's so mobile. Everybody knows how mobile he is. So it's going to be another tall task for our team. It's going to be a team defensive game plan for him. The guy's an all-star, for sure. It's going to be tough but we're ready for it."

Collins has never played against the former New York Knick.

"My rookie year, I wasn't in the lineup yet when we played them the first time," Collins said. "Then, when I was in the lineup, he was hurt. Then last year he was out all year."

The Mavs have used different starting lineups in their two games and Portland Coach Terry Stotts isn't sure exactly how the matchups will shape up until he knows what Dallas will do. But expect Collins to draw Porzingis a significant amount of time.

"The matchups to start the game and the matchups throughout the game are going to be fluid," Stotts said. "You will see different guys guarding Doncic and Porzingis."

Teams are already shifting their lineups throughout games against Portland to try to force Whiteside out of the game. The Sacramento Kings, for example, went with a small lineup featuring Harrison Barnes at center Friday night. Such lineups make it difficult for Whiteside to defend smaller players at the three-point line.

"Dallas might be the most unique team," Stotts said. "You've got a point forward (Doncic) and a seven-foot four man and a smaller center, so it's going to be interesting to see how we guard pick-and-rolls with Doncic and Porzingis. It's going to be different."

Different? For sure. The Mavericks are blessed with not one, but two very special players.

Two unicorns.

Trail Blazers face not one, but TWO unicorns vs. Mavericks tonight originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest