Dirk Nowitzki scored nearly half of the Mavericks total points (40) as he led Dallas to it's third division title. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)What could be a first round playoff series preview Saturday between the Dallas Mavericks (52-27) and Portland Trail Blazers (48-31) had all the intensity and story-lines of a Game 1.
Three technicals were assessed (all on the Blazers) and Portland's raucous crowd was nothing short of vicious all evening long. At one point during the fourth quarter, Mavericks' broadcaster Mark Followill said he felt like a "riot was about to break out." It got so heated at one point several Blazers fans were ejected from the game for arguing with officials and throwing objects onto the court.
Play on the hardwood was just as fierce as the fans enthusiasm in the stands. Eduardo Najera and former Mav Juwan Howard almost came to blows as the two go tangled up in the first quarter. Each team seemed determined to stop the opposition, a good sign for a Dallas team that has had lapses in defensive intensity so far this season.
"It was just pure effort on both sides," Coach Rick Carlisle said. "The difference was a couple of plays here and there."
On this night at least, it was the Dallas Mavericks who made those big plays - especially down the stretch in the fourth quarter. The Mavs were clinging to a one-point lead (69-68) with 4:16 left in the fourth quarter before scoring eight straight points to go up 77-68 with 2:43 left in regulation. The eight point spurt was spurred by two technical free-throws and a dagger three from Nowitzki, after which he motioned to the Blazers crowd to "sit down".
The Blazers got no closer than four the rest of the way, although a terrible pass by Jason Kidd and some shoddy defensive rebounding with 24 seconds left gave Portland four straight looks on 3's. Luckily for Dallas, Portland missed all four and the Mavs were able to pull out the victory. For the game, the Mavericks held the Blazers to only 36.4 percent shooting but only shot 33.8 percent themselves. But Dallas got to the line 12 more times than Portland on the night and, bad calls or not, the Mavs made an effort to get to the rim all game long.
"We'd love to win out and get as high as we can," Nowitzki said of the Mavs plans to secure the second seed in the Western Conference, although it could be misconstrued as party plans should they win out. "We'd love to finish second and have home-court as long as we can, so this is a big win for us."
Nowitzki finished the game with 40 points and 10 rebounds, making all 17 of his free throw attempts. Lamarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 27 points on 9 of 20 shooting.
What's Next
Dallas travels to Sacramento Saturday night on the second night of a back-to-back to take on the Kings.
The Kings are 25-54 overall this season, 13th in the Western Conference, 18-21 at home. Sacramento has lost eight of their last nine contests overall, but did win at home against the Clippers 116-94 on Thursday night.
Dallas is 3-0 so far this season against the Kings, but the average margin of victory in those games is six points per so it hasn't been easy. The Mavericks won 108-100 in their last meeting on Mar. 5.
Tip-off is at 9:00 p.m. and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
News and Notes:
- Dirk Nowitzki has scored 40 or more points three times this season. Dallas is 3-0 in those contests.
- With 10 rebounds, Nowitzki also had his 20th double-double of the season.
- Mavericks forward Shawn Marion continues to deal with a strained left oblique and is unlikely to play Saturday against Sacramento. Marion says he will be ready for the start of the playoffs.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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