Mavericks at Trail Blazers
THE STORY: The Dallas Mavericks relied on their oldest players again in a 101-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. The Mavericks finally seem to be rounding into the form that saw them start 42-9. Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 33 points while Peja Stojakovic added 21 off the bench. The Mavericks will look to go up 3-0 when the series shifts to the Rose Garden on Thursday night. Portland has not lost three in a row since Jan. 9-14.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, KGW, KTXA
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS: Dallas is playing old-school basketball in the sense that former All-Stars are coming up big at key times. Stojakovic looked like the Peja of old, shooting 8 of 13 from the field to finish one point shy of his season high. Nowitzki was the finisher yet again, scoring Dallas' final 11 points. Nowitzki, who made 89.2 percent of his free throws during the season, is 28 of 30 from the line in two games. Jason Kidd, 38, scored 18 on 7-for-11 shooting.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS: Much was made of the Trail Blazers’ inequity in free throws in Game 1. Portland had no such worries Tuesday night, attempting 27 to Dallas’ 26. The problem for the Trail Blazers came from their bench. Nicolas Batum scored 10, but the Blazers only had 11 total bench points, compared to 39 for the Mavericks. LaMarcus Aldridge continues to be the steady hand for Portland and had 24 points and 10 rebounds. “Every time we had a chance, we’d turn the ball over or make a big mistake and they ended up closing out the game,” Aldridge said. Andre Miller and Gerald Wallace each scored 18 and the Blazers will need another strong effort from them Thursday.
WHO’S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Stojakovic tied his career high in the playoffs with five 3-pointers. He has made five 3s in the playoffs seven times. Brandon Roy, once an All-Star for Portland, played eight minutes and missed his only shot and two free throws Tuesday. He was 1 for 7 for two points in 26 minutes of Game 1.
KEY STATISTIC: Portland is just 2-15 in its last 17 road playoff games.
LAST WORD: “We had to play two tough-minded games to beat this team twice. It’s a long series. It’s two games. We’ve done our job. We have to regroup, get on a plane and head out to Portland where it’s going to be tougher.” – Dallas coach Rick Carlisle on winning the first two games.