Game 3: Dallas at Portland (April 21) Portland jumped out to a 10-2 lead with 9 minutes left as Dallas shot 1-5 FG and had 2 turnovers (after having just 6 turnovers all game in Game 2). Dallas did score the next 5 points, but Wesley Matthews connected on consecutive 3-pointers to give Portland a 16-7 lead with 6:25 remaining. But Portland could not push their lead into double-digits as Dallas was doing just enough to hang around. Portland led by 8 points with 2 minutes to go and Jason Terry hit 3 straight free throws and Peja Stojakovic got a layup to pull Dallas within 23-26 with 21 seconds left. A jumper by Brandon Roy near the end of the quarter gave Portland a 28-23 lead after 1. Portland shot 12-21 FG including 4-6 3-pointers (with Matthews shooting 4-5 3-pointers) and 0-0 FT and Dallas shot 9-16 FG including 1-3 3-pointers and 4-7 FT. Dallas had 6 turnovers in the quarter. Matthews had 16 points and Terry had 10 points. Stojakovic opened the 2nd quarter with a 3-pointer and Brendan Haywood amazingly hit 2 free throws (his first made free throws of the series) to tie the game at 28-28 with 10:55 to go. Terry added a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 3 point lead. A jumper by Roy finally put Portland on the board 2 minutes into the quarter. A jumper by Dirk Nowitzki gave Dallas their largest lead at 39-34 with 8 minutes remaining. The teams traded buckets and Portland then went on a 12-4 run to take a 48-43 lead with 4:25 left. A 3-pointer by Nowitzki tied the game at 52-52 with 50 seconds remaining, but a layup by Matthews with 22 seconds left capped the quarter scoring. Portland led 54-52 at the half. Dallas out-scored Portland 29-26 in the 2nd quarter. Dallas shot 12-19 FG and 2-3 FT and Portland shot 11-19 FG and 3-3 FT. Nowitzki had 11 points. Tyson Chandler picked up his 3rd foul shortly after entering the game in the 2nd quarter and only played 9 minutes in the half due to foul trouble. For the half, both teams were hot shooting as Portland shot 57.5% (23-40) FG and Dallas shot 60% (21-35) FG. Dallas made a change in their lineup and started Terry, who had 17 points in the 1st half, in place of DeShawn Stevenson. Both teams were sluggish coming out of halftime and a jumper by Nowitzki followed a minute later by a 3-pointer by Terry gave Dallas a 57-54 lead with 9:50 left. Andre Miller drove for 2 to put Portland on the board with 8:40 remaining, but Dallas continued to hold a small lead. A 3-pointer by Jason Kidd gave Dallas a 65-60 lead with 5:25 remaining, but Dallas could not get their lead any larger. A jumper by LaMarcus Aldridge tied the game at 66-66 with 3;40 to go, but Shawn Marion answered with a 3-point play. Roy then scored the next 5 points to give Portland a 71-69 lead with 1:25 left. Portland led 75-72 after 3. Portland shot just 6-17 FG but had the advantage at the line (with some home cooking) in shooting 8-9 FT. Dallas shot 7-16 FG including 4-7 3-pointers and 2-3 FT. The teams traded buckets early in the 4th quarter and Portland scored the next 10 points to take their largest lead at 87-74 with 8:05 to go as Dallas missed 5 straight shots. Dallas did score the next 7 points to get back into the game at 81-87 with 6:30 remaining. A layup by J.J. Barea again pulled Dallas within 6 points at 87-93 with 2:40 remaining, but Aldridge answered with a jumper. The teams traded misses and Nowitzki hit 1-2 FT with 1:25 left. After a missed Portland 3-pointer late in the shot clock, Nowitzki nailed a quick short fade away to pull Dallas within 90-95 with a minutes remaining. Portland ran the clock down and Matthews missed a jumper with 23 seconds to go and then Jason Kidd nailed a long 2-pointer with 13 seconds left - the refs had to go to replay to determine if it was a 2 or a 3 and found that Kidd was just touching the line by the slightest of margins. Miller was intentionally fouled with 10 seconds left and hit both free throws to make it a 5 point game. Kidd missed a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left and Dallas let the clock run out. Portland won 97-92. Dallas leads the series 2-1. Homecourt advantage continued to hold true for the series. Dallas simply didn't get enough from their players other than Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki while Portland had Wesley Matthews and Brandon Roy (after his rant from Game 2) step up and help LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Miller. And turnovers were an issues as Dallas had 16 in this game after a team tying record low 6 in Game 2. Portland scored 16 points off of Dallas' turnovers. Yet the game stayed fairly close with Portland's largest lead being 13 points (and they didn't hold that long) and Dallas' largest lead being 5 points. There were 8 ties and 7 lead changes in the game. Portland shot 48% (36-75) FG including 8-14 3-pointers and Dallas shot 51.5% (35-68) FG including 9-22 3-pointers. Dallas' missed free throws hurt them (though 4 misses came from Brendan Haywood (though he actually made 2)) as Dallas shot 13-23 FT. Portland shot 17-21 FT. Both teams had 37 rebounds including 7 offensive. Portland had 18 assists and Dallas had 16 assists. 16 of Wesley Matthews' 25 points came in the 1st quarter. LaMarcus Aldridge remained steady with 20 points. Andre Miller chipped in 16 points and 7 assists. And Brandon Roy, after having just 2 points in both Games 1 and 2, had 16 points to go with 4 assists. Gerald Wallace's offense returned to a down after a better performance in Game 2 and he had just 7 points including 2-6 FG. He did have 11 rebounds, though. Marcus Camby had 6 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes. Nicolas Batum had a quieter outing with just 7 points in 24 minutes. Rudy Fernandez missed 2 shots and missed a free throw and had 3 rebounds in 11 minutes. Rookie Chris Johnson saw his first playoff action and contributed 3 rebounds and 2 blocks in 6 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry were the only Mavs in double-digit scoring. Nowitzki had 25 points and 9 rebounds and Terry had 29 points including 10-13 FG and 5-7 3-pointers and 7 assists. Shawn Marion has yet to crack double-digit scoring in the series and had 9 points and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes. After strong showings in Games 1 and 2, Jason Kidd had 8 points on a poor 3-9 FG including 2-8 3-pointers. He had just 3 assists and (very high for him) 5 turnovers. Starter DeShawn Stevenson was a no-show (which was one of the reasons Terry started the 2nd half) and had no attempts, no rebounds, and no assists in 4 minutes - a turnover was his only stat. Tyson Chandler was plagued by foul trouble (with his 4th and 5th fouls being questionable) and he fouled out with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter. He played just 15 minutes (7 in the 2nd half) due to fouls and had 2 points and 4 rebounds. Thus, Brendan Haywood played high minutes. He had 6 points on 2-2 FG and 2-6 FT and 6 rebounds in 30 minutes. Peja Stojakovic had 7 points (just 1-4 3-pointers) and 3 rebounds in 22 minutes and J.J. Barea had 6 points in 21 minutes. Quotes Nate McMillan on Roy: "This is the guy we know is capable of producing, and tonight he did that. I said this to you guys before, and I will say it again, there's nobody in this state, not even Brandon Roy, who wants to see him on the floor as much as I do. He has meant a lot to this organization. I certainly have not forgotten about him." McMillan on Matthews: "It started with Wesley. He did a good job of spacing and making them pay when they tried to clog and double-team the post." Brandon Roy: "I was playing tonight. I was in go mode. I didn't worry about nothing else. I didn't worry about playing time. I didn't worry about who was playing. When it was my time I was going." Roy: "I wasn't nervous. The fans were really supportive. They were cheering for me before I went in the game. That's really big for me. We've been through a lot together and to know that they still have my back was great for me tonight." Rick Carlisle: "Our problems began at the beginning of the game when we got off to a very poor start and their aggressiveness put us on our heels." Carlisle: "I love the way we battled back. We fought hard, guys stayed into it. We battled extremely hard, but we couldn't overcome our bad start." Carlisle on Portland: "Their level of aggression was the biggest thing that influenced the game." Dirk Nowitzki: "They came out guns blazing and played very well early. We kept weathering the storm. We just weren't sharp enough. We turned the ball over too much. And we missed too many free throws. Just overall not sharp enough. But I liked the fight in us." Nowitzki on Johnson: "The young kid actually changed the game some. He didn't really score, but had an effect on the game." Nowitzki on Roy: "We play a small lineup a lot, so he does have mismatches all night long. JET and J.J. were on him some and he's going to have opportunities to shoot over them." Nowitzki on Chandler: "He's got to be a little smarter. Some tough calls there, obviously, but on the road, that's what happens. We just got to be overall a little smarter. Yeah, he's a factor for us all year long with his length and athleticism in the paint." Jason Terry: "We hang our hat on defense. We gave up 95 points to this team, which we hadn't done in the first 2 games. That's the reason why we lost." Terry: "We gave away way too many points. Free throws, turnovers, and early on in the 1st quarter, we gave them too much confidence." Tyson Chandler on his foul problems: "It was very frustrating. I got some whistles I wished I didn't get. There were some frustrating calls during the game." Chandler: "I think they gave us everything they had in the 1st quarter and we were able to stay in reach and we had a chance to win it if we knock down some free throws. We definitely can play a lot better. Things didn't go our way. It was a frustrating night for many reasons." 2011 Playoffs - First Round: Game 3 Portland Trailblazers 97, Dallas Mavericks 92 at Portland (April 21) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Portland 28 26 21 22 - 97 .459 .571 .480 .810 Dallas 23 29 20 20 - 92 .565 .409 .515 .565 Halftime: Portland 54-52 3rd Q: Portland 75-72 Technicals: Jason Terry 11:40 4th Refs: Jason Phillips, Eric Lewis, Derrick Stafford Attendance: 20,217 (sellout) IL: Dallas - Caron Butler, Dominique Jones, Rodrigue Beaubois Portland - Greg Oden, Elliot Williams, Luke Babbitt Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Gerald Wallace 42 2-6 1-1 2-2 7 1-11 3 2 4 2 1 LaMarcus Aldridge 43 9-21 0-0 2-2 20 1-4 1 1 3 1 1 Marcus Camby 21 3-6 0-0 0-2 6 4-10 0 0 4 1 1 Wesley Matthews 36 8-12 4-6 5-6 25 0-2 3 0 2 2 0 Andre Miller 33 6-13 1-2 3-3 16 1-2 7 3 2 0 0 Nicolas Batum 24 2-5 1-1 2-2 7 0-1 0 2 1 1 0 Rudy Fernandez 11 0-2 0-1 0-1 0 0-3 0 1 2 0 1 Brandon Roy 24 6-10 1-3 3-3 16 0-1 4 0 2 1 0 Chris Johnson 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 48 36-75 8-14 17-21 97 7-37 18 10 20 8 6 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Shawn Marion 27 4-8 0-0 1-1 9 2-8 1 2 1 0 0 Dirk Nowitzki 40 10-21 1-2 4-7 25 0-9 2 2 3 0 1 Tyson Chandler 15 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 3-4 1 1 6 0 0 DeShawn Stevenson 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Jason Kidd 38 3-9 2-8 0-0 8 0-6 3 5 2 2 1 Jason Terry 40 10-13 5-7 4-5 29 0-1 7 2 3 1 0 Peja Stojakovic 22 3-7 1-4 0-0 7 0-3 0 1 0 0 0 Brendan Haywood 30 2-2 0-0 2-6 6 2-6 0 2 3 1 1 J.J. Barea 21 2-5 0-1 2-4 6 0-0 2 0 4 0 0 Totals 48 35-68 9-22 13-23 92 7-37 16 16 22 4 3 Go Mavs! patricia ---- Patricia Bender pbender@eskimo.com For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com For NBA stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/index.html For Mavs stuff: http://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/mavs.html