Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Mavs get ran out of the Rose Garden
Dallas Mavericks 89 at Portland Trail Blazers 101
After losing two home games by a combined six points to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Dallas Mavericks entered the Rose Garden with one goal: Returning the favor.
Not so fast, my friend.
(Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Blazers had something else in mind. Instead of relinquishing a victory to the Mavs, Portland won their third of four matchups in the season series. This time with a wider margin of victory. In a game full of runs, the Blazers saved their best spurt for the final stretch while the Mavericks fizzled in a 101-89 defeat.
"(The Blazers) played well and we need to play better, I think it comes down to that," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss. "I think tonight they were more aggressive in the second half and they did a great job defensively down the stretch."
"It's the bottom line, they beat us three times. For us, at this point in the season, it's not about 3-0 or 4-0. It's about us getting better for the next step, and I think we can look at this game and understand that next season this is how teams will play us. It's good that it happened now and not next season," point guard Jason Kidd said.
Playing before a nationally televised audience, the Mavericks sought their revenge as they began a two-game road trip. After scoring the first six points of the night, the Mavs appeared to be well on their way to retribution. But the Blazers returned fire with eight unanswered. Portland then would go in front by as much as nine in the opening period behind the inside duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby. The Mavericks would rally behind Brendan Haywood's inside play at both ends of the court play. Haywood, who came off the bench for the second straight game behind starting center Erick Dampier, handled the interior while fellow newcomer Caron Butler provided Dallas' perimeter scoring. Still, the Blazers' 12 free throw attempts, compared to zero trips to the line for the Mavs, had Portland in front 32-27 after one.
"They did a good job of jamming and stopping us early and keeping the pace of the game, which you've got to give them credit for that," forward Shawn Marion said.
Both teams shot lights-out in the first quarter, as Dallas hit on 13-of-23 from the field, and Portland connected on 12-of-22.
Haywood continued to be the story early in the second period, patrolling the paint for defensive rejections and two-hand dunks on the offensive end. The 7-footer then got help from Kidd, as the 37-year-old swished in shots from behind the 3-point arch. But the Blazers combated the Mavs' inside-outside play with an 8-0 run. That's when Butler took over the scoring load for the Mavericks, scoring eight straight Dallas points. Still, Brandon Roy's driving layup with 1.9 ticks left in the half gave Portland a 60-54 edge heading into the intermission.
The hot-shooting first half continued throughout the first 24 minutes of play, as the Mavs shot 53 percent while the Blazers nailed 56 percent of their shots. Butler led all scorers at the midway mark with 16 points, while Aldridge's 14 paced Portland.
Carlisle liked what he saw from Haywood in the first two quarters, so the former North Carolina product got the start in the second half. With the new five-man unit, the Mavericks quickly knotted the game at 60-all with the first six points of the third quarter. Just like the beginning of the game, Portland answered once again, this time with a 12-0 run of its own. Fittingly, the Mavericks immediately tallied up seven straight points in response. The two teams then settled down, with Dallas remaining close behind threes from Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. By quarter's end, the Mavericks still found themselves down 80-75 heading into the fourth."They took us out of a lot of stuff, and we need to be more aggressive offensively, execute better and work to create shots," Carlisle said.
As he had the entire night, Butler tried to create shots while putting the squad on his back early in the final period. But despite No. 4's best efforts, the Blazers sprinted to a double-digit advantage behind Aldridge and Andre Miller. Portland's lead reached as much as 13 down the stretch, before Carlisle pulled his key contributors in the final minute. The Blazers finished the game on a 19-9 run.
"They were extremely aggressive, particularly in the fourth," the coach added. "It's frustrating to our team when we're unable to get clean looks at the basket."
After the hot start, the Mavericks finished the night shooting 44 percent. Meanwhile, the Blazers shot 50 percent. Albeit in a losing effort, the Mavericks did knock down 9-of-22 from behind the arch. Dallas also held a 39-36 rebounding edge. But the Blazers' 44-34 advantage in points in the paint was crucial. Most importantly, Portland grounded Dallas' fast-breaking attack, as the Blazers outscored the Mavericks 16-0 in transition points.
"We had zero fast break points and they had 16. To me, that means two things -- you need to get more stops to get in transition to get quality looks at the basket and we never had them under 50 percent the whole game. That was a problem for our running game. When you get beat 16 to nothing on the break, it's tough to win," Carlisle explained.
"They did a good job of jamming the ball and taking that aspect (fast break offense) of the game away," Kidd added. "Also, when you make shots, that takes away the running game. So, lesson learned, and we have to understand what we have to do next time and that's a big part of our game -- getting out and running."
Butler's game-high 25 points on 11-of-19 from the field kept the Mavericks in contention all night, but in the fourth the two-time All-Star got little help. Marion (15), Nowitzki (15), Kidd (11) and Terry (11) gave the team five double-figure scorers.
Aldridge led the Blazers with 20 points. The combination of Aldridge and Camby tallied 37 points and 21 rebounds, doing damage in the painted area. After his 52-point effort in Portland's 114-112 overtime win in Dallas on Jan. 30, Miller followed it up with a double-double, scoring 19 points and shelling out 10 assists.
The Mavericks get their final regular season chance at handing the Blazers a loss back in the Rose Garden on April 9.
"We just need to learn from it and give them credit, they took this one," Marion said. "We need to come back here (April 9), and that's how you got to look at it.
Now the Mavericks try to get back in the win column when they conclude their mini road trip in Oakland on Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors. The two teams have split the first two games of the season series, with each squad winning on the other team's home floor. The game will air locally on KTXA and KTXA HD at 7:30 p.m. CT.
The squad returns to the American Airlines Center on Monday night when they host the Denver Nuggets. The Mavs and Nuggets have split the first two games of the season series. That matchup will air nationally on NBA TV and locally on KTXA 21 at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment