No surprise in that Josh Howard was selected to play for the Sophomore team and Devin Harris was selected to play for the Rookie team in the annual Sophomore-Rookie game. The game takes place Friday, February 18 in Denver at 8:00 pm Central and will be broadcast on TNT. Dallas at Portland (January 26) Portland welcomed back Zach Randolph, who had been out for 2 weeks with a bruised knee. Dallas was again without Josh Howard due to back spasms and Portland was missing Derek Anderson due to dental pain. The game stayed really close early on as neither team held more than a 2 point lead over the first 7 minutes of the game. Portland led 11-10 with 6:30 left and Dallas scored the next 9 points to go up 19-11 with 2:15 to go. Portland did score the next 4 points, but Darrell Armstrong nailed a 3-pointer as the quarter ended to give Dallas a 22-15 lead after 1. Darius Miles hit 2 free throws to open the 2nd quarter and Dallas then went on a 9-2 run to go up 31-19 with 10 minutes remaining. Portland answered by scoring the next 8 points to pull within 27-31 with 7:15 left and Dallas would continue holding a single-digit lead over the next 5 minutes. Dallas led 43-38 with 3:25 to go and closed the quarter with an 11-1 run to go up 54-39 at the half. Michael Finley had 10 points and Randolph had 11 points in the 2nd quarter. Dallas shot 14-21 FG in the 2nd quarter to up their shooting to 51% FG for the half. Portland only shot 39.5% FG in the half. Dallas had 21 assists in the half - an assist for all but 2 of their buckets. Dallas led 56-41 with 10:25 left and Portland came storming back into the game by scoring the next 9 points to pull within 50-56 with 8:15 left. Dallas did score the next 5 points. Dirk Nowitzki tweaked his ankle and left the game with 5:50 remaining and Dallas up by 11 points. Portland took advantage of Nowitzki's absence and cut Dallas' lead down to 65-68 with 1:50 remaining. Nowitzki returned to the court, but Portland drained consecutive 3-pointers to complete their 13-2 run and go up 71-70 with 20 seconds left. Nowitzki nailed the long jumper at the quarter buzzer to give Dallas a slim 72-71 lead after 3. Damon Stoudamire had 15 points in the 3rd quarter. Portland shot 14-22 FG and Dallas shot 7-21 FG in the 3rd quarter. The game got more physical in the 4th quarter and the refs started blowing their whistles more (they had been quiet most of the night as Dallas shot just 2-2 FT and Portland shot 6-12 FT through 3 quarters). The game stayed tight in the 4th quarter with Dallas mostly holding small leads. A jumper by Jerry Stackhouse gave Dallas an 84-78 lead with 7 minutes to go, but Portland scored the next 5 points and Dallas' lead would get no larger than 4 points until the end of the game. Portland hit 3 straight free throws to pull within 88-89 with 1:40 left. Dallas missed with 1:20 to go. Nowitzki blocked Randolph's short attempt and Darius Miles missed as the shot clock was running out and Finley snagged the rebound. Dallas had their own trouble setting up a play and Jason Terry drove to the middle and tried to dish out, but his pass attempt was deflected, but it landed in the hands of Stackhouse on the elbow and he drove strong to the basket and laid it in as the shot clock was running out and there was 30 seconds remaining. After a Portland timeout, Nick Van Exel drove baseline and tried to pass it off inside, but Nowitzki deflected the pass and grabbed the loose ball and he was intentionally fouled with 21 seconds left. He hit both free throws to give Dallas a 93-88 lead. Dallas guarded the 3-point shooters well and Richie Frahm's short baseliner was swatted hard out of bounds by Nowitzki with 16 seconds left. Stoudamire drove and missed up close and Nowitzki grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 10 seconds left. He hit both free throws to cap the scoring. Dallas won 95-88. For the 5th straight game, Dallas continued to play not that great and for the 4th time they found a way to win the game. Pure and simple, Dallas executed down the stretch and Portland did not. In the last minute, Portland looked unsure of what they wanted to do on offense while Dallas' defense (finally) picked up and did not give up open looks, like they had been for long stretches during the game. Portland can also look to the line for their loss. The refs had a little more favorable whistles for Portland than they did Dallas (not terribly lopsided, but there were a number of questionable instances - Alan Henderson got a T for slamming the ball to the ground and Darius Miles did the same thing a quarter later with no T, Zach Randolph twice threw an elbow at Dirk Nowitzki and even though the refs probably didn't see the first, they definitely saw the 2nd as they called a foul on Nowitzki and told Randolph to cut it out), but the Blazers didn't take advantage in shooting just 15-29 FT, including 9-17 FT in the 4th quarter. Dallas shot 15-17 FT, including 13-15 FT in the 4th quarter, but that also included 4 free throws off of intentional fouls. From the field, Dallas shot 45% (36-80) FG including 8-20 3-pointers and Portland shot 40.5% (34-84) FG including 8-20 3-pointers. Dallas had a slight edge in rebounds in out-rebounding Portland 47-42. The Mavs had a season high 32 assists. Despite playing the 4th quarter with a tender ankle, Dirk Nowitzki was solid. He finished with 24 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists. Jerry Stackhouse also played well and had 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. 10 of his points came in the 4th quarter. With Josh Howard out, Michael Finley played all but 1:45 of the game [also played a lot of minutes due to finally having a good game]. He had 22 points including 4-6 3-pointers, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jason Terry didn't shoot much as he is getting more defensive focus due to he recent hot streak. He had 8 points including 2-6 FG, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists. Erick Dampier did not look good in this game and had 3 points including 1-3 FG and 6 rebounds in 28 minutes. Shawn Bradley looked a little better than Damp, but not too much. Bradley had 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 15 minutes. The surprise performance came from Darrell Armstrong. Armstrong was a key factor in Dallas getting their large halftime lead. He had 6 points (2 made 3-pointers) and 3 assists in 16 minutes. Alan Henderson had 8 points on 4-5 FG and 3 rebounds in his 13 minutes. Damon Stoudamire's shot was erratic. When he was hitting them, he was unstoppable; but when he was missing, you wanted him to keep shooting. He had 22 points including 8-23 FG and 4-9 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Nick Van Exel never did get his shot going and he had just 5 points on 2-9 FG and 1-4 3-pointers in 40 minutes. He did have 5 rebounds and 5 assists, though. Joel Przybilla had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but he only shot 2-7 FT [Dallas actually hacked-a-Przybilla with a little over 2 minutes left in the game and he hit 1-2 FT]. Zach Randolph came off the bench for his return and he had 19 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes. Darius Miles was also a bench player and he had 15 points and 6 assists. Ruben Patterson had 9 points and 6 rebounds. At the midway point of the season, Dallas has a record of 28-13 - 16-7 at home and 12-6 on the road. The team is averaging 102.2 points while shooting 45% FG and 35.6% 3-pointers and giving up 96.3 points while the opponents shot 43.4% FG and 31.1% 3-pointers. The 5.9 point difference is the 3rd highest in the league. The opponents shooting 43.4% FG is the 7th lowest in the league. No surprise that Dirk Nowitzki is leading the way for Dallas with 27 points and 10.1 rebounds. The Mavs have 5 players averaging double-digits - Nowitzki, Michael Finley 17.9 points, Jerry Stackhouse 15.5 points, Josh Howard 11.9 points, and Jason Terry 11.3 points. Terry leads the team in assists with 4.7. Quotes Avery Johnson: "This was the type of win I'm excited about. I like close games. I'm excited we held this team under 90 points. Those guys scored over 100 points against one of the best defensive teams in San Antonio. They're a hot team, they've lost a lot of close games here of late, Nick and Damon have carried them, but we still held them under 90 points." Johnson: "We had guys missing open shots tonight, but the floor was spaced, as you could see. We drew it up right, the ball just wasn't going in the hole. A lot of our players draw double-teams, and in this league, you have to have guys on your team who can draw a double-team. If we can just move the ball, we'll get some open looks." Johnson on Nowitzki: "He came back in and gave us a big lift. It looked like when Dirk went out their eyes got as big as a Christmas tree. They really went on a big run and took the lead, so Dirk came back and really led the team." Dirk Nowitzki: "It wasn't a pretty game by either team. They made their run there in the 3rd and we knew we had to get back to our defensive principles. I think our defense won the game for us in the 4th quarter." Nowitzki on his shot to end the 3rd quarter: "It was a big shot to try and quiet the crowd a little. But if I make that shot or not we knew that it was going to be a dogfight in the 4th." Michael Finley: "When Dirk went out, we were a little bit stagnant offensively. Everybody looked around and it was just 1-on-1 instead of a team concept. When he came back in they started to double-team him and we found the open man and made them pay." Finley: "I'd say we're a C-average right now, but there's always room for improvement. We still have room for improvement. We're definitely heading in the right direction. The more time we have to play with each other, the better we'll be as a team. Sometimes we go through droughts offensively, due to not playing together, but that comes with time." Jerry Stackhouse on his layup late in the game: "I don't know what happened really. I saw a lane and took the ball to the hole. When the long ball isn't going you got to get a little closer look." Jason Terry: "They did a great job tonight. They're playing a lot better. Portland played great defense, they came back, played great defense. They're playing together as a team. With them playing the 2 guards, Stoudamire and Van Exel, they're more energized. Stoudamire had 22, so I guess I didn't play as well. But they're playing well. In the end, they usually take those kind of games over. But we contested their shots and we pulled it out." Maurice Cheeks: "I think you can sum this game up by saying that they made the plays and the shots at the end of the game and we didn't. Our defense early on was a little lackadaisical, but it improved in the 3rd quarter. But the key down the stretch was simply their ability to make shots and our failure to execute." Cheeks: "I thought at the start of the 3rd quarter with the big lineup we had we were able to get rebounds and get in the open court. That gave Damon some operating room. But that unit allows us to to not only get rebounds, but also set screens for the shooters." Cheeks: "At the end of the game we failed to execute. One time it failed because they went zone on us and we had a play for man-to-man. Another time we wanted to kick it out for a 3, but we made a turnover. That really hurt us. Also, it really hurt us when Stackhouse hit that layup as the 24-second clock expired. Up until then, I thought we had defended them well on that exchange and were about to get a stop." Cheeks: "But despite the results - and it was disappointing considering we had a lot of our people back - we still feel we competed. If you're looking for another difference: we made only 15 of 29 free throws while they made 15 of 17 of theirs. That's the ball game." Cheeks on the return of injured players causing problems: "It's no fault of anyone. We just have to get used to everyone being out on the floor." Zach Randolph: "It felt good just to get back out there and play. I'm not at 100% yet but I'll work on it and try to make it better. It's still frustrating not to win though. We battled, just didn't get it done in the end." Darius Miles: "I'm disappointed we lost. I think our team played hard. I think we gave a great effort. They are a great shooting team and hit a lot of shots." Miles on Randolph: "I think Zebo played good and he did the good things he usually does. He played hard and I'm glad to see him back on the court. They capitalized on a couple of turnovers and they hit their shots." Ruben Patterson: "I was in foul trouble, so I couldn't get going. It's kind of frustrating. I couldn't get in the flow of the game. Zach played well; Darius played well. But we lost the game. It's frustrating. How can you beat the best team in the league then come back and play like this against Dallas. I'm so disappointed right now I don't have much to say." Dallas Mavericks 95, Portland Trailblazers 88 at Portland (January 26) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 22 32 18 23 - 95 .467 .400 .450 .882 Portland 15 24 32 17 - 88 .426 .313 .405 .517 Halftime: Dallas 54-39 3rd Q: Dallas 72-71 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 1:56 1st, Dirk Nowitzki 1:25 1st, Zach Randolph 1:25 1st, Alan Henderson 1:49 3rd, Shawn Bradley 8:06 4th, Joel Przybilla 8:06 4th Refs: James Capers, Jim Clark, Robbie Robinson Attendance: 16,402 (cap 19,980) Did not play due to injury: Josh Howard (back spasms), Derek Anderson (dental pain) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 46 9-22 4-6 0-0 22 2-6 5 1 1 0 0 Jason Terry 38 2-6 2-4 2-2 8 1-4 8 1 2 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 9-20 0-3 6-7 24 1-15 6 1 4 2 2 Jerry Stackhouse 38 8-16 0-3 4-4 20 2-6 4 4 4 2 0 Erick Dampier 28 1-3 0-0 1-2 3 1-6 2 1 5 0 1 Darrell Armstrong 16 2-6 2-4 0-0 6 0-2 3 1 0 1 1 Shawn Bradley 15 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-3 2 2 3 0 4 Alan Henderson 13 4-5 0-0 0-0 8 0-3 0 0 2 0 0 Devin Harris 6 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0-2 2 3 0 1 0 Totals 48 36-80 8-20 15-17 95 7-47 32 16 21 8 8 Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Damon Stoudamire 44 8-23 4-9 2-2 22 1-7 6 1 4 2 0 Nick Van_Exel 40 2-9 1-4 0-1 5 1-5 5 2 0 0 0 Ruben Patterson 29 4-6 0-0 1-2 9 2-6 3 2 5 0 0 Theo Ratliff 27 3-7 0-0 0-2 6 3-4 1 1 1 0 1 Joel Przybilla 36 4-7 0-0 2-7 10 1-10 0 1 3 3 2 Darius Miles 29 5-13 0-1 5-8 15 1-4 6 2 2 2 1 Zach Randolph 22 7-15 0-1 5-7 19 2-4 2 1 0 0 0 Richie Frahm 9 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0-1 0 0 1 2 0 Sebastian Telfair 4 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0-1 0 2 0 0 0 Totals 48 34-84 5-16 15-29 88 11-42 23 13 16 9 4 patricia