NBA Game Summary - Dallas at Portland
(Tuesday, January 29th)
Final Score: Portland 106, Dallas 104
Portland, OR (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge poured in a game-tying 3-
pointer late and then delivered the deciding bucket as time expired to send
the Portland Trail Blazers to a 106-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
The Trail Blazers rallied from a 21-point third quarter deficit before
Aldridge stepped back in the corner to drain his first 3-pointer of the season
and tie the game at 104-104 with 4.5 seconds left.
After O.J. Mayo was called for an offensive foul at the other end, Aldridge
caught the inbounds pass and swished a fadeaway jumper as the buzzer sounded
to give Portland to its third victory in four games.
With his 11th double-double in the month of January, Aldridge totaled 29
points and 13 rebounds. J.J. Hickson produced 26 points with 15 rebounds and
Wesley Matthews finished with 17 points, while Portland received 10 apiece
from Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard in the victory.
"He's one of the few All-Stars that defends the best player on the other team
as well as being productive on the offensive end and he showed up for us
tonight," Matthews said about Aldridge.
Dirk Nowitzki knocked down a triple prior to Aldridge's 3-point make to give
Dallas the lead with 11.4 seconds remaining. He finished with 26 points on 11-
of-21 shooting for Dallas, which had won six of eight games coming in.
"The difference between a good team and a bad team is a couple possessions
down the stretch. For some reason, we haven't found a way to win those games
consistently," Nowitzki said.
Darren Collison added 17 points, Mayo scored 15 to go with nine assists and
seven rebounds and Shawn Marion finished with 12 points in the setback.
Despite blowing a 21-point lead, the Mavericks seemed to have the game in hand
after a 13-4 run late in the fourth staked them to a 101-94 advantage.
However, Portland rallied to tie the game.
After Aldridge sank a pair of free throws, Matthews came up with a steal and
converted a pair at the line before Batum buried a triple to knot the score at
101-101.
The Trail Blazers trailed 69-48 in the third but came all the way back to
take the lead midway through the fourth at 90-88 following a triple from
Ronnie Price and four straight points from Sasha Pavlovic.
However, Nowitzki immediately put Dallas back in front by draining a triple to
spark the 13-4 run, which featured a 27-foot desperation bank shot from
Collison with the shot clock winding down.
Dallas carried a 59-42 lead at halftime after closing out the second quarter
on a 19-6 surge, with Collison hitting two 3-pointers while scoring the Mavs'
final 10 points of the period.
The Mavericks started the third well in building their edge up to 21, but shot
just 2-for-8 over the final six minutes of the period.
Portland went on to outscore Dallas by 11 during the stanza and reduced its
deficit to 80-74 as Batum, Lillard and Luke Babbitt each hit a three 3-pointer
as the Trail Blazers finished the quarter on a 19-6 run.
Game Notes
Portland improved to 16-8 at home this season and will begin a home-and-home
series in Utah on Friday ... The Mavericks scored 100 points for the ninth
consecutive game ... Each team committed 16 turnovers ... Dallas shot 8-for-15
from 3-point range, while the Trail Blazers made just 10-of-28 from long
distance.
01/30 02:57:54 ET

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