Portland at Dallas (February 28) Portland had played the night before and Dallas had the fresher legs, even though they were missing rookie Josh Howard due to a strained groin (it's a minor injury - he is expected to be available to play Tuesday). Despite that, the game stayed close early on with Dallas holding no more than a 3 point lead over the first half of the 1st quarter. Consecutive layups by Antoine Walker, with the assists from Dirk Nowitzki, gave Dallas a 23-17 lead with 2 minutes remaining. Dallas led 27-21 after 1. Steve Nash had 10 points on 5-7 FG. Dallas shot 13-22 FG and Portland shot 9-23 FG in the quarter. Nowitzki opened the 2nd quarter with a 3-pointer and Dallas' lead hovered around 10 points for the next 4 minutes. Dallas led 40-32 with 7:15 left and scored the next 11 points to go up 51-32 with 4:20 to go. A 3-pointer by Walker gave Dallas their first 20 point lead at 60-40 with 1:45 remaining. Dallas led 66-48 at the half. Both teams shot fairly well in the 2nd quarter, but Dallas out-rebounded Portland 13-6 and shot 11-12 FT while Portland shot 6-6 FT. Dallas scored the first 4 points of the 3rd quarter to take their largest lead at 70-48 with 11:15 to go. Dallas led 72-52 with 9:15 left and the wheels fell off as the Mavs missed their next 7 shoots and committed 2 turnovers over the next 4 minutes and Portland used a 13-2 run to pull within 65-74 with 5:45 remaining. A 3-pointer by Damon Stoudamire and 2 free throws by Darius Miles pulled Portland within 70-76 with 2:30 left. Dallas scored the last 4 points of the quarter (and neither team scored in the last minute of the quarter) to go up 80-70 after 3. Neither team shot well in the 3rd quarter with Dallas shooting 6-23 FG and Portland shooting 6-18 FG, but Portland shot 9-11 FT while Dallas shot 2-2 FT. A 3-pointer by Stoudamire and dunk by Miles pulled Portland within 77-84 with 9 minutes to go. Nowitzki hit a jumper and Dallas' lead hovered around 10 points for the next few minutes. A layup by Scott Williams and 3-pointer by Walker gave Dallas a little bit of a cushion at 99-84 with 4 minutes left. Portland would get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way and the Mavs actually pushed their lead back into the 20s in the last minute of the game. Dallas won 111-91. With the lapse in the 3rd quarter, it wasn't as easy of a win as the final margin seems, but it did end up being a blowout. Portland never really got their shooting going and Dallas was only cold for 1 quarter and hot the other 3 (60% FG combined for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th quarters). Dallas finished shooting 51.7% (46-89) FG and Portland shot 40% (46-89) FG. The Mavs also out-rebounded Portland 44-40. Portland did have an edge at the line in shooting 22-26 FT while Dallas shot 16-18 FT. Dallas had 11 blocks. Dallas finished February with a record of 9-2 - the best February in team history (previous 10-5 87-88, 8-4 84-85, 8-4 00-01). The Mavs had 3 players with 20+ points. Antoine Walker led the way with 25 points including 10-16 FG and a team high 8 rebounds. He seems to have fixed [hopefully] his free throw problem as he has shot 11-12 FT over the last 4 games (he shot 50.8% FT prior to those games). Steve Nash was looking to score as well as assist this night and had 22 points including 9-13 FG and 11 assists. And Dirk Nowitzki chipped in 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Michael Finley was one of the few to struggle with his shot in shooting 5-15 FG and had 12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and career tying high 4 blocks. The 3-headed center worked well in this game. Scott Williams got the starting nod and had 11 points including 5-6 FG and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes. Shawn Bradley had 6 points and 4 rebounds before fouling out in 12 minutes. And Danny Fortson had 4 points on 2-3 FG and 6 rebounds in 11 minutes. Marquis Daniels came in during the 2nd quarter and played well in providing a nice spark off the bench - all 6 of his points came in that quarter. Antawn Jamison continues to be MIA with just 4 points on 2-7 FG and 5 rebounds in 26 minutes. Portland had a balanced attack with 5 players in double-digits. Zach Randolph was the high man with 18 points and 11 rebounds. But he was also limited some by foul trouble and committed 6 turnovers. Darius Miles had 16 points (including a great dunk and a blown dunk) and 5 rebounds. Damon Stoudamire struggled with his shot in shooting just 4-16 FG - but 3 of his makes were 3-pointers (3-9). He had 16 points and 8 assists. Derek Anderson had 14 points and 5 rebounds. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 13 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Quotes Don Nelson: "We never seem to make it easy. We were humming along and the 3rd quarter comes along and we find a way not to keep doing what we were doing. We settled for too many outside shots, but that's somewhat the NBA. Everyone makes a run at you, but we got it back in the 4th quarter. This team has been a hot team and has won 5 out of 6. We'll take a good win like this any time." Nelson: "How can you not be happy? Everybody played good tonight. Walker is making his free throws now. He made a couple of 3's tonight and is doing a good job taking the ball to the basket. He's finishing better on the basket. Things that he wasn't doing a week and a half ago, he's doing now. We'll take it and hope that he can build on it." Nelson on his centers: "All 3 had a chance to play tonight. I thought they were effective in their own way. I thought Bradley was aggressive. He had a few aggressive fouls and a few that were unfortunate. I thought they all made a contribution." Nelson: "The 1st half was a very good half. Everything was clicking on both ends of the floor. Marquis got a chance to play and looked like the best player out there in the 1st half. I keep asking myself why I don't play him more. I have a tendency to go with my veterans." Nelson on Portland: "This is not an easy team to beat, by the way. They're big and they're talented. They just haven't been together very long." Nelson on Nash: "I think when he starts out aggressive, like he did tonight, we are really good. When he gets single-minded on the pass, we are not as good. I like him to be aggressive and shoot the ball. He's one of our best shooters. He doesn't get open all the time, but when he does I have confidence in him making shots. I thought he was really aggressive the 1st half, that's why we were so good. He wasn't aggressive the 3rd quarter, that's why we weren't very good." Dirk Nowitzki on Anderson's technical for shoving Nowitzki (Nowitzki had drove through traffic and was fouled and then Anderson shoved him): "I guess I hit him in the face and I didn't mean to. It was nothing, just a misunderstanding." Steve Nash: "We did a good job of battling back and weathering [Portland's run]. We were able to pick it up at the end and that's a good sign." Nash on the strong home record: "We love playing at home. We love playing in front of our home fans and the energy we get from them. That's why we play well here." Antoine Walker: "Some of these guys here have killed us in the past. We limited them tonight. That's what you have to do in the playoffs - shut down the other team's key players for stretches." Walker: "We're a very confident team. This is a very important homestand for us. We've got 11 games on the road next month. We're jockeying for playoff position so this is the time of the year when we've got to gel." Shawn Bradley on if Dallas is a contender: "If we weren't believing that, then we really shouldn't be stepping out onto the floor because that's the goal, that's what we want to do, but we're a long way away from that as well. We've got a lot of work to do, we're continuing to work and we're continuing to improve. We'd love to have that, we're not pushing that aside at all, but there's still a lot of things we need to work on." Scott Williams: "It was a very good win for us. We came out and got on a team that had played last night and probably were searching for their legs a little bit in the 1st half. We really jumped on them and go up 20 and had everybody feeling good in the locker room at halftime. I think maybe a little too good, we thought we'd duplicate that 46 point 3rd quarter performance, but it just wasn't there. We came out a little flat, maybe thinking the game was already tucked away and put to bed. Whenever we have to get fired up to go out there and get some stops and put the ball in the basket, we find a way to do that and we were able to push the lead back to a comfortable level." Williams on the 3 centers: "It gives coach Nelson an added opportunity to go big at times and he likes to junk the game up a little bit by playing some small ball at times and keep the other coach trying to play to his matchups. It gives him several options with myself, Danny, and Shawn. We all came in and provided lifts at different points of time in the game. That's the good thing about the 3 of us, we don't all do the same things. We all try to do similar, but different things so no one seems to be jealous of anyone getting time. We realize that we all have talent, that sometimes it's going to be our call and other times we have to cheer the other guy on. Tonight was one of those rare opportunities where we all found ourselves involved in the ballgame and provided to the outcome." Danny Fortson on the centers: "Some nights we don't get to play. But when we do, we have to make sure we go out and do what we did tonight." Maurice Cheeks: "We have a couple days off and are going to try and get our rhythm back because we had it. The days off between the Orlando and Houston games hurt us a little bit. You can always use the rest when you are playing back-to-back games. Now we have a chance to go back and regroup and get know each other a little bit more and try and win these next few games at home." Cheeks: "Fatigue did play a part, but the way we played in the 1st half also contributed." Cheeks: "We spent so much energy getting back into the game that we didn't have much left. But what I have learned over these past 2 games is that I love coaching this team. I've learned that there is no giving up with this team. It's all fight. We are going to take some losses down the stretch, but we are going to win more than we lose. We are still there." Derek Anderson on the 1st half: "They made a good run and we didn't execute our game plan so that kind of took us out of our aggressiveness and with a good team like that, you can't do that." Anderson: "We fought our way back, but it was a long mountain, and with a good team you can't do that." Anderson on fatigue: "In this league, you can't have that. You have to find a way to win it. It's your job. You've got to be prepared and you've got to get your rest and take care of your body. I wouldn't say that was a factor and just don't think that we execute on the defensive end. They did a good job of exploiting that so you have to give them some credit as well." Damon Stoudamire on his postgame speech: "I just wanted everyone to know that we are in there, and that this is probably going to go down to the last day of the season, so don't be content. We have fought so hard to get into this playoff race and now that we are here, we can't be content. We have to believe in the coaches and the game plan they run out there, so don't revert to what you want to do. Bad teams revert to individuals who do what they want to do on the floor. ... If we get in those playoffs, even though we aren't one of the top teams, other teams don't want to see us in there because we are a dangerous team. But tonight, I just felt like we played like we were content in the 1st half." Dallas Mavericks 111, Portland Trailblazers 91 at Dallas (February 28) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 27 39 14 31 - 111 .581 .200 .517 .889 Portland 21 27 22 21 - 91 .422 .313 .400 .846 Halftime: Dallas 66-48 3rd Q: Dallas 80-70 Technicals: Shareef Abdur-Rahim 9:55 2nd, Derek Anderson 4:22 2nd, Portland defensive 3 seconds 7:11 4th Refs: Mark Wunderlich, Pat Fraher, Tim Donaghy Attendance: 20,358 (sellout) Did not play due to injury: Josh Howard (strained right groin) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Antoine Walker 41 10-16 2-5 3-3 25 1-8 4 2 1 0 2 Dirk Nowitzki 38 7-16 1-4 6-6 21 2-7 3 1 2 0 3 Scott Williams 19 5-6 0-0 1-2 11 0-5 2 0 5 0 0 Michael Finley 41 5-15 0-4 2-2 12 1-3 4 1 2 1 4 Steve Nash 36 9-13 0-2 4-4 22 0-3 11 1 2 0 0 Danny Fortson 12 2-3 0-0 0-1 4 1-6 1 1 4 1 1 Antawn Jamison 26 2-7 0-0 0-0 4 4-5 2 1 2 1 0 Shawn Bradley 12 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 3-4 0 1 6 0 1 Marquis Daniels 7 3-7 0-0 0-0 6 0-2 1 0 0 1 0 Eduardo Najera 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 1 0 0 0 Tony Delk 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 46-89 3-15 16-18 111 12-44 29 9 24 4 11 Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Darius Miles 31 5-10 0-0 6-9 16 2-5 3 2 3 2 1 Zach Randolph 30 6-10 0-0 6-6 18 3-11 0 6 5 0 1 Theo Ratliff 27 4-7 0-0 0-0 8 3-4 0 1 3 0 2 Derek Anderson 39 5-12 2-7 2-2 14 0-5 4 0 1 0 0 Damon Stoudamire 43 4-16 3-9 5-5 16 0-3 8 0 3 0 0 Ruben Patterson 19 2-9 0-0 0-0 4 4-6 0 1 1 0 0 Shareef Abdur-Rahim 32 6-13 0-0 1-2 13 0-5 3 1 1 0 1 Dan Dickau 6 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Qyntel Woods 7 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0 Dale Davis 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-1 1 0 0 1 0 Totals 48 32-80 5-16 22-26 91 12-40 19 11 18 3 5 patricia