If you look at the normal script for a Blazers/Mavericks game it would probably involve players making ridiculous threes, stolen inbound passes, and game-winners. Portland broke the script as they beat the Dallas Mavericks 127-111 on Saturday night improving their record to 31-9 and their road record to 15-5 on the season. The Blazers put on an amazing offensive display for three quarters (I’ll get to that in a minute) and continued to play respectable defense. It is quite shocking to think that a game against these two teams ended in a blowout, especially on Dallas’ home floor. The Blazers have also been terrible against the Mavericks in their arena. This just goes to show you how this Portland team is breaking all kinds of assumptions and records.
The Blazers came out swinging outscoring the Mavericks 35-23 in the first quarter. Right away the offense was in sync and Portland seemed to pick up right where they left off in San Antonio. Dallas also seemed to be a step behind. Dirk, who has normally torched the Blazers from anywhere on the court, had difficulty hitting any kind of shot. He finished the night with just 18 points on 6-for-17 shooting and going just 1-for-5 from three. Monta Ellis, the other high-flying scorer who has been red hot recently played just 23 minutes and scored 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting. On a night where Blazer fans might have had a red target painted on Ellis’ face for his game-winner in Portland, the Blazers made sure that he was not going to beat them.
The game was much of the same in the second and third quarters. Portland outscored the Mavericks 69-47 and had this game locked down. The third quarter was surprising as most people would expect the Mavericks to punch right back as they have been known to do, but they do anything but that. The Blazers started running. Portland had a whopping 31 fast break points and it seemed like Dallas couldn’t find an answer. All this is well and good, but the fourth quarter is what put a tiny black mark and what was otherwise a fantastic game.
Portland had a 34-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter. As per usual, head coach Terry Stotts dumped the bench in the hopes of getting his starters some extra rest. What started out as a fun time with some of the bench players slowly turned into a nightmare that Blazer fans were hoping didn’t occur. The bench froze. No other way to put it. Dallas started utilizing the full-court press and it worked a lot better than it should have. It caused Portland to make bad passes and forced them deep in the shot clock. Even with all of this you would think it would get better. The bench just had to make a few buckets, no big deal. Wrong. At 4:18 remaining in the fourth and with Dallas having cut the lead in half, Stotts was forced to bring his starters back in. They were not in there for long, but it was still the feeling of it. The starters were all iced up and ready to start thinking about Houston and then they had to force themselves back into game rhythm. Luckily, the starters were able to score a few buckets to calm the Dallas crowd and ensure that this game would end in a win. That quarter just left a bad taste it people’s mouths and made you shake your head at some of the bench warmers and especially Dorell Wright. Dallas was able to outscore the Blazers 41-23 in the fourth.
The points in the paint stat continues to tip in Portland’s favor. The Blazers outscored the Mavericks 60-38. What else is telling is that the Blazers only went 9-for-26 from three and shot just 35%. Most of the damage was done inside and on fast breaks. I do not think I have seen that many Blazer dunks in a game for quite some time. Batum, Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge were able to get to the rim at will and the Dallas defense seemed confused half the time. Portland out-rebounded the Mavericks 55-30 as Lopez and Aldridge were able to out-muscle Dalembert and DeJuan Blair. On that note, however, tonight showcased skilled rebounding. The ball could have bounced Portland’s way a few times, but Portland was smart on the rebounding end. Plenty of times you would see the lone black shirt swallow up a rebound while being surrounded by white jerseys. One negative stat was the turnovers. Portland had 15 TOs to Dallas’ 8.
LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez and Nicolas Batum led the red hot offense tonight.
LA had 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting and 12 rebounds. He continues his rampage, which is becoming just plain stupid at this point. The stats he is putting up night in and night out are absurd. LA had it going early as he normally does against the Mavericks, but he just kept pouring it on in any way he could. He had a +40 on the night. Think that about sums it up.
Nicolas Batum departed from his usual “flirt with a triple-double” approach and decided to score tonight. He finished with 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting, 3-for-6 from three and 7 rebounds. Batum, who has been averaging 7.4 assists in his last 10 games, only recorded one tonight. Batum may have a broken finger, but that does not seem to be affecting his shot in any aspect. Batum got aggressive early and looked for his shot, which I think he needs to do more. You will notice that with Batum scoring like that, the Blazers are almost unbeatable.
Finally, Robin Lopez had a solid game recording 16 points on 7-for-13 shooting, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. He bullied Dalembert and Blair down low and, along with Aldridge, was effectively grabbing rebounds. Good night overall.
Well, after you get that bad taste out of your mouth from the fourth quarter, the Blazers will have a day off before they face Houston on Monday night. This trip is already a success, in my opinion, but it’s time to get greedy, as the team would say. The Blazers and Rockets will tip off at 5:00 p.m. PST on TNT at the Toyota Center. Both matchups this season have been dog fights. Seems like the theme of this trip. Stay tuned!