Dallas at Portland (April 14) Avery Johnson elected to sit Dirk Nowitzki to rest a sore shoulder and simply give him a game off (it's nothing serious and he could have played if needed). Unlike the previous 3 games, Dallas was facing a team that has given up on the season and is just playing out the string. Dallas came out and scored the first 6 points of the game as Portland didn't get on the board until 2:20 into the game. Portland did manage to pull within 1 point twice, but Dallas was able to maintain the lead. Dallas led 20-15 with 4:15 remaining and went on a 12-2 run, capped by a dunk by Michael Finley, to go up 32-17 with a minute to go. Dallas led 34-20 after 1. Joel Przybilla was called for 3 goaltends and 1 offensive interference during the quarter. Dallas led in the teens the entire 2nd quarter as Portland could get no closer than 12 points. Another dunk by Finley gave Dallas their largest lead at 59-40 with 1:30 left. Dallas led 61-46 at the half. Dallas shot 54% FG and Portland shot 51% FG. Portland opened the 3rd quarter with a 10-3 run to pull within 56-64 with 8:10 remaining. Dallas did score the next 5 points, but then Portland went on a 6-2 mini-run to pull within 62-71 with 5:30 to go. Jerry Stackhouse hit a 3-pointer, Shawn Bradley hit a free throw, Stackhouse nailed another 3-pointer, and Bradley hit 2 free throws to give Dallas an 80-62 lead with 3:15 left and Dallas' lead remained in the teens the rest of the quarter. Dallas led 85-71 after 3. Dallas continued to lead in the teens well into the 4th quarter. Portland did score 6 straight points to pull within 82-93 with 4 minutes remaining. A 3-point play by Travis Outlaw pulled the Blazers within 87-97 with 2:20 to go, but Josh Howard got a layup on the other end. The teams traded misses and Sebastian Telfair converted a 3-point play to make it a 9 point game with 1:25 left. But Portland would not score again and Dallas scored the last 3 points of the game. Dallas won 102-90. It wasn't that blowout win that Dallas would had liked as the Mavs never truly pulled away, though Portland never really seemed like a serious threat. Not surprisingly, Dallas had a couple of streaks of poor offense and lackluster defense in the 2nd half in a game that had to be hard to keep focus as Portland didn't show much umph. For the game, Dallas shot 45.3% (39-86) FG including 5-16 3-pointers and Portland shot 50% (38-76) FG including 2-8 3-pointers. Dallas shot 19-23 FT and Portland shot 12-17 FT. Dallas out-rebounded Portland 41-40 including 13-11 offensive. Portland committed 20 turnovers which Dallas converted into 25 points while Dallas committed 11 turnovers which Portland converted into 10 points. Dallas led the entire game. With the win, Dallas swept Portland for the first time ever. Dallas has held their last 5 opponents to 90 points or less. The Mavs get a rare break as the Mavs have 2 days off before their next game on Sunday (the last time they had consecutive days off was March 8 and 9). It was a balanced attack without Dirk Nowitzki as the Mavs had 6 players in double-digits, none played more than 34 minutes, and all who played scored. Jerry Stackhouse was the high man with 18 points including 3-5 3-pointers. He gave the team an offensive spark during the 3rd quarter after the team went through a mini-slump. But he also went 23 minutes without collecting a single rebound. Michael Finley returned to the living after going scoreless in the previous game [though he did play that game with a headcold]. 12 of his 14 points came in the 1st half and including 3 power dunks [2 of them off of nice feeds on breaks, one by Devin Harris and the other by Keith Van Horn]. His game wasn't completely back to form, though, as he shot 6-17 FG. He also had 4 rebounds. Jason Terry had 14 points including 3-9 FG, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. Josh Howard also had 14 points and had 7 rebounds. Van Horn started in Nowitkzi's place and he had 12 points and 7 rebounds. Erick Dampier had 6 points on 3-4 FG and 7 rebounds. Shawn Bradley had a very nice outing with 15 points on 4-6 FG and 7-8 FG and 6 rebounds including 5 offensive in just 16 minutes. Devin Harris had 4 points on 2-3 FG, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals in 19 minutes. Alan Henderson had 3 points and Marquis Daniels had 2 points in 12 minutes each. Portland is a team in disarray as 2 players expressed problems with the team/coach this night. Darius Miles met with the interim coach following the game and reports were that shooting could be heard. Ruben Patterson told reporters that he didn't want to play in the last 4 games of the season as the team isn't trying to win. Add to that most of Portland's good players being out with injuries and you have a team that is ready for this poor season to be over. Patterson did play well in spurts during the game and was one of the few to have a solid performance. He had 18 points, 4 rebounds including 3 offensive, and 3 assists. Shareef Abdur-Rahim was the other to play well, though most of his points came in the 1st half where he scored 15 points. He had 19 points including 9-10 FG and 10 rebounds. Damon Stoudamire had 10 points including 3-11 FG, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Sebastian Telfair had 13 points and 7 assists. Travis Outlaw had 15 points and 4 rebounds. Joel Przybilla had 7 points, 7 rebounds, and was credited with 6 blocks [one of them should have also been a goaltend; he was called for 3 goaltends]. Miles had just 6 points including 2-8 FG in 16 minutes. Quotes Avery Johnson: "Good win for us. Our goal in the 4th quarter tonight was to hold them to 20 points or less. We held them to 19. We didn't score the ball all that well, but we held them under our goal. We rebounded the ball better tonight, we had 6 guys in double figures, and a lot of guys contributed. Shawn had his best game in about 3 weeks, but I'm still not satisfied with Shawn's game. One game doesn't impress me. I want to see consistency from him." Johnson: "We had a lot of contributions from a lot of different guys with Dirk out." Johnson on Stackhouse: "He was good offensively, but I thought he battled Ruben Patterson very well especially when Patterson was hurting us. I still want to see him rebound the ball better." Johnson on the season ending: "These games matter. It matters to me how we finish the season. I want us to finish the season playing good defense. I have no idea who we'll play in the playoffs, but I really want to see our team playing good defense heading into the playoffs." Johnson on resting Nowitzki: "He's getting better. I'm glad we were able to hold out. He's been banged up all year but never complains. He never wants to take a night off. But with our standings, it worked well." Dirk Nowitzki: "We're one of the deepest teams in the league. With guys like Stackhouse and Van Horn off the bench who can score with anyone in this league - that's a luxury to have." Nowitzki on his health: "My shoulder was a little sore after last night, so Avery thought it was better to rest. I'll have the next couple days to get ready for Sunday." Michael Finley: "We're trying to win every game. Hopefully we can go down to LA and win and we'll set the record you guys are talking about [franchise record road wins]. Portland is a team that feeds off of other teams' turnovers. They they get out in the open court and score. We played our game though and took care of the ball." Finley on the playoffs: "It doesn't matter who we play. We're happy to be in the playoffs; but whoever we get, we'll be fine." Jerry Stackhouse: "Shawn Bradley was effective on both ends. Offensively he put back those misses in close and defensively he got some blocks. It's big for us. That's what he can do. He can block shots and get rebounds. I've been in a rhythm and had some time off. I hit some big 3s, but I don't want to fall into the trap of shooting a lot of 3s. But if I'm open and my teammates set me up, I'm going to shoot. A lot of guys got some rest for us tonight. These are NBA players and you can't take anybody lightly. We can't afford to take anybody lightly. We dictated the game and got the win." Stackhouse: "I don't want to fall into a trap of taking 3s because my strength is taking it into the lane. But I've been in a nice rhythm and I'm feeling pretty good about my long ball. I've had a couple of days to get my legs back together." Shawn Bradley: "If we take care of our business, we're in good shape. With or without Dirk, it's important to play well." Kevin Pritchard: "After tonight's game you can see why they are 55-24 and we are 25-53. They have an edge to their game. They get the loose balls and the rebounds and they got up more shots than we did. That's been a continuing problem for us. It seems it's one thing every game - either lack of rebounds, too many turnovers, or we're late to loose balls. They play everybody and it's a veteran team with experienced players. You look at our lineup tonight and you log in 115 minutes from players 23 years old or younger." Pritchard: "Tonight they got 13 offensive rebounds and got 10 more shots than we did and more 2nd chance report. Overall our effort has been good for the most part. But sometimes it wasn't as good as it could have been. But the difference in a game like this has more to do with the fact that they are hot as they enter the playoffs and we're just playing out the season. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be a big effort to win these games. The other night I saw New York and Toronto play and it was a hell of a game. You should still have pride and go play." Pritchard: "The next 4 games are probably the most important ones from my perspective because this is the time when I have a chance to see who we want to go to war with. So far we've gotten some good performances from our young guys. I think Travis and Viktor and Sebastian for the most part have exceeded my expectations." Pritchard on an apparent conflict with Miles: "He said his neck was sore. I don't know for sure what was going on. He and I are going to have a little pow-wow and I'm going to find out." Damon Stoudamire on player frustrations: "Everything has come to a boiling point and some people wanted to vent tonight. You are just counting down the days when you are playing in this situation. It is what it is." Ruben Patterson saying he's not going to play in the last 4 games: "I don't want to get into details, but I think I'm going to sit out these last 4 games. Because I went through so much for this team and it doesn't seem like these guys want to win here. And I can't deal with that. I don't know if it's management or what, but it's obvious they want to play the young guys. I'm too good of a player for that. We are out there, trying to play hard and help this team win, and it seems like they don't care." Patterson: "If it's going to be like this, it's no use in me being here. It's about winning with me right now. I don't want to be here. They just need to trade me." Darius Miles on his standings with the team: "You'll have to ask John Nash and Kevin Pritchard that. I play for the Trail Blazers and I'm supposed to be here for another 5 years. It's not whether I want to be. But I have a contract for 5 years, so I'm supposed to be here. I might want to be here, but they might trade me somewhere else." Travis Outlaw: "You got to do what you can. They gave me a chance to showcase what I can do. I'm just trying to stay calm and go out there and play." Dallas Mavericks 102, Portland Trailblazers 90 at Portland (April 14) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Dallas 34 27 24 17 - 102 .486 .313 .453 .826 Portland 20 26 25 19 - 90 .529 .250 .500 .706 Halftime: Dallas 61-46 3rd Q: Dallas 85-71 Technicals: Dallas defensive 3 seconds 4:03 2nd, Portland defensive 3 seconds 2:13 2nd, Shareef Abdur-Rahim 2:41 3rd Refs: Tom Washington, Leon Wood, Olandis Poole Attendance: 17,074 (cap 19,980) Did not play due to injury: Dirk Nowitzki (sore left shoulder), Theo Ratliff (sore right shoulder), Derek Anderson (sore back) Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 33 6-17 0-3 2-2 14 2-4 1 0 1 0 0 Jason Terry 32 3-9 2-5 6-7 14 0-3 3 1 2 2 0 Josh Howard 34 7-15 0-2 0-0 14 1-7 2 0 0 1 1 Keith Van_Horn 32 5-12 0-1 2-2 12 2-7 3 2 5 0 0 Erick Dampier 27 3-4 0-0 0-1 6 2-7 1 0 4 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 23 7-15 3-5 1-1 18 0-0 2 2 0 1 0 Devin Harris 19 2-3 0-0 0-0 4 0-3 2 2 2 4 1 Shawn Bradley 16 4-6 0-0 7-8 15 5-6 0 0 3 1 1 Alan Henderson 12 1-2 0-0 1-2 3 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 Marquis Daniels 12 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 2 1 2 3 0 Totals 48 39-86 5-16 19-23 102 13-41 16 11 19 12 3 Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Sebastian Telfair 42 6-13 0-1 1-2 13 0-2 7 3 4 1 0 Damon Stoudamire 29 3-11 2-6 2-2 10 1-7 6 3 3 0 0 Shareef Abdur-Rahim 36 9-10 0-0 1-1 19 2-10 3 2 2 1 0 Ruben Patterson 24 7-12 0-0 4-5 18 3-4 3 1 3 1 0 Joel Przybilla 36 3-5 0-0 1-3 7 0-7 0 4 3 0 6 Travis Outlaw 27 7-13 0-0 1-1 15 2-4 0 2 2 0 1 Viktor Khryapa 21 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 1 2 1 0 2 Darius Miles 16 2-8 0-1 2-3 6 1-1 1 1 0 0 1 Richie Frahm 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 1 1 1 0 0 Ha Seung-Jin 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 48 38-76 2-8 12-17 90 11-40 22 20 19 3 10 patricia