DALLAS (AP)—Holding another double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter, the Dallas Mavericks found a great way to protect it. They just stood and watched the Portland Trail Blazers miss 10 straight shots.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his 25 points in the third quarter and the Dallas Mavericks avoided another late collapse to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 93-82 Monday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 20 rebounds—his most ever in a playoff game—and Jason Kidd had 14 assists to make sure Dallas bounced back strong from blowing a 23-point lead over the final 14 minutes of Game 4.
Now the Mavericks have two days to rest up before trying to close out the series in Game 6 on Thursday night in Portland. It won’t be easy as the Trail Blazers have won all four meetings there this season.
History is certainly on Dallas’ side to pull out the series. Of the previous 157 series tied at 2, the Game 5 winner has come out on top 83 percent of the time.
Portland led for much of the first half and was within 75-65 when Game 4 star Brandon Roy 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 straight missed 3-pointers by the Mavs, pushing the lead to 20 with 4:24 left.
Portland actually shot better than Dallas—43 percent 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(notes) had 14 in 1991.
Jason Terry scored 20 points for Dallas and Shawn Marion 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 led Portland with 18 points and Gerald Wallace scored 18. LaMarcus Aldridge
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.
