LaMarcus Aldridge scored 30 points and Brandon Roy added 21 off the bench, including a key jumper with less than a minute to go, as thePortland Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks 104-101 on Tuesday night.
The Blazers led 100-94 with 3:50 left, but Jason Terry's basket narrowed it to 100-99. Roy hit a pair of free throws before a pull-up jumper that made it 104-99 with 47 seconds left.
Dirk Nowitzki hit a pair of free throws, but after a timeout with 8.8 seconds on the clock, he missed a 3-point attempt from the corner and time ran out for the Mavericks.
Nowitzki finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which shot 59.7 percent for the game.
The Mavericks had a tense moment in the first half when Nowitzki left the court with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. He returned to the bench a short time later, however.
Dallas made its first 10 shots and didn't miss until Brian Cardinal's failed 3-point attempt with 3:25 left in the first quarter. The errant shot earned applause from the Rose Garden crowd. The Mavs shot 73 percent in the first quarter.
Dallas led by as many as eight points early, but Portland narrowed the gap to 24-21 on Aldridge's dunk. Portland briefly took the lead when Wesley Matthews' 3-pointer made it 45-43. But Dallas quickly reclaimed the lead on Terry's 3-pointer and the Mavericks were up 56-53 at the break.
The Mavericks extended the lead to 71-62 on Tyson Chandler's dunk. The Blazers kept up the pressure, and Aldridge tied it at 76 with a turnaround jumper late in the third quarter. Portland took a 78-76 lead on Roy's layup.
It was the first of 10 straight points for Roy in a 10-2 run that that put Portland up 86-80 early in the fourth quarter.
The Mavericks were without Brendan Haywood, who was sitting with lower back stiffness. Peja Stojakovic missed his fourth straight game with a stiff neck.
The Blazers switched things up by starting Gerald Wallace in place of Marcus Camby. Wallace, an All-Star last season, came to the Blazers in a trade with Charlotte at the deadline last month.
Camby had arthroscopic knee surgery in January and his minutes have been limited since his return. Blazers coach Nate McMillan did not say whether the change was permanent.
Portland was home after two straight losses on the road. The Mavericks were coming off a 96-91 loss at home to the Lakers on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment