Monday, April 25, 2011

dallas mavericks, BOX SCORE Mavericks 93, Blazers 82

dallas mavericks, BOX SCORE: Mavericks 93, Blazers 82 : Portland led for much of the first half and was within 75-65 when Game 4 star Brandon Roy (FSY) made an open jumper at the start of the fourth quarter. But then the Trail Blazers began missing shot after shot. Some were contested, but many were good looks at the basket. The combination helped the Mavericks pull away.

The game changed in the third quarter, with Nowitzki powering a 15-5 run that put Dallas in control. Although the lead provided a nice cushion and the home crowd was louder than usual, nobody was taking anything for granted — certainly not Portland — after what happened on Saturday.

This time, though, the Mavs played smart. Their shots weren't always falling, but they were grabbing rebounds and drawing fouls. When Chandler caught a long rebound and J.J. Barea turned it into a layup for a 17-point lead, the Trail Blazers called time out to try calming things down. Dallas fans gave a standing ovation and started to exhale. The lead was at 17 for the first time and Chandler celebrated by walking to the bench with a huge smile, nodding his head and rocking his shoulders.

It only got better for Dallas. Kidd soon hit his first shot of the game, then Stojakovic ended a skid of 10 consecutive missed three-pointers by the Mavs, pushing the lead to 20 with 4:24 left.

Portland actually shot better than Dallas — 43% to 41% — but the difference was on the boards. The Mavericks outrebounded the Blazers 49-37, with Dallas grabbing a whopping 20 on the offensive end. Chandler had 13 of his off his teammates' misses. It was the most for anyone in the playoffs since Shaquille O'Neal (FSY) had 14 in 1991.

Jason Terry (FSY) scored 20 points for Dallas and Shawn Marion (FSY) added 14.

Roy scored just five points on 2-of-7 shooting over 26 minutes. He was booed when he first went into the game, but fans seemed to lose interest in him.

Andre Miller (FSY) led Portland with 18 points and Gerald Wallace (FSY) scored 18. LaMarcus Aldridge (FSY) had only 12 points.

Dallas led 44-43 at halftime. Both teams had nice spurts, but neither could keep it up for very long. The Blazers scored 28 of their points in the paint, yet took only a single free throw — for defensive 3 seconds.

The Game 4 meltdown was looming over the Mavs because of its epic proportions. Only two teams had blown such a big, late lead — and Kidd happened to part of another with the New Jersey Nets in the 2002 Eastern Conference finals.

He recalled that club letting up, just like this team did. He also recalled that the '02 Nets nearly did it again the next game, but held on for the win. They also won the next two games to reach the NBA finals.

"It was a great learning experience because it brought us together," Kidd said earlier Monday.

NOTES: The Blazers finished with 19 free throws. ... Portland's Andre Miller has made four three-pointers this series. He made four over the regular season. ... Mavs owner Mark Cuban went to the locker room in the final minute of the Game 4 meltdown. He explained Monday it was because he had to go to the bathroom after slurping down too many sodas. "Trust me, emotions didn't have anything to do with it," he said. "You can ask the lady who was feeding me the Cokes."

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