Mavericks Power Through Portland, Take Command of Series

Dallas exploded for 31 points in the third quarter to break open an otherwise close game in American Airlines arena, Monday night.  A one point game at the half was a 12 point advantage by the end of three and ballooned to as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas put Portland away to take a 3-2 lead in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki lead all scorers with 25 points on 8 of 18 from the field and complimented that with 8 rebounds. Gerald Wallace lead Portland with 16, but the player of the game was Tyson Chandler. Truly the X-factor for the home team, Chandler tore down a total of 20 rebounds, 13 of those offensive giving Dallas a distinct advantage on the boards.

Portland did not shoot the ball well in the second half; however, the game was won and lost both in the paint and at the free throw line. Chandler time and time again manhandled the smaller Blazer big men and took advantage of Marcus Camby’s foul trouble to get to the line for 12 of Dallas’ 35 attempts from the charity stripe on the evening. The Mavs shared the ball well getting 32 baskets on 22 assists lead by 14 from Jason Kidd.

The hot shooting was not there as it has been for Dallas guards, Jason Terry and Jason Kidd as they combined for 1-10 from downtown, but Terry still managed 20 points in 33 quality minutes off the bench and provided a much needed spark for Dallas down the stretch.

Dirk Nowitzki set the tone early, repeatedly getting to the hoop and forcing the Blazers to double team and cause weak side collapses leaving teammates wide open for Dirk. On the other end of the floor Portland seemed timid going to the hoop late in the game, having not been on the beneficial end of a series of calls in the paint.

The Mavericks started the game on the sloppy end, committing 7 turnovers in the first half and only 5 through the remainder of the game. Portland found it’s bigs in regular foul trouble unable to contain the bruising Tyson Chandler and ineffective in the post on defense.

LaMarcus Aldridge was held to only 12 points from the field on 6 of 15 from the field and he never seemed to find his rhythm from the field. The rest of the visiting squad seemed to follow in tow. In the fourth, Portland opened the scoring on their first possession with a field goal from Brandon Roy but did not connect again from the field for the next 7 minutes.

The series shifts back to Portland for game 6 Thursday night as the Mavericks try and close out the series in the often raucous Rose Garden where the Blazers last came from behind to win, erasing a 23 point deficit. They may need more of the same magic if they plan to turn this series around. History has not been kind to the losers of game 5’s in 7 game series’. Only 27 times in 157 attempts has a team down 3-2 come back to win the series.