Mavericks at Trail Blazers
The Dallas Mavericks are pulling out of the large hole they dug themselves and are making a run at the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference - a spot for which the Portland Trail Blazers are also fighting. The Trail Blazers are hosting the Mavericks on Friday in the finale of a five-game homestand and took three of the first four.
Dallas is last in the NBA in scoring average at 97.4 points but is picking up the pace of late and put up 107.5 while winning five of the last six games, capped by a 113-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday that followed victories over San Antonio and Cleveland. "They’re a tough team to play against," Mavericks guard Seth Curry told reporters after Wednesday's triumph, "and we just had to match their energy and kind of get over the hangover of those last two tough wins." Portland can score as well and is putting up 110.8 points on the homestand, capped by a 115-98 triumph over the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday. Trail Blazers star point guard Damian Lillard went 10-of-18 from the floor in that win, snapping a string of 11 straight games in which he failed to hit at least half his shots.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Southwest (Dallas), KGW (Portland)
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (19-30): Dallas is getting strong contributions from role players of late and found another on Wednesday when reserve center Salah Mejri collected 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in 21 minutes. "That was my opportunity, and the coach has a lot of confidence in me. He just threw me in there, and I did good," Mejri told reporters. "I missed my first two shots, and then everything started to fall in. I mean, there was nothing special. I just tried to play hard, tried to bring the energy, and everybody knows I can do that. I try to bring the energy and play hard every night." The 7-2 Tunisian totaled 22 points in January.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (22-28): Portland is getting strong play in the middle as well from center Mason Plumlee, who grabbed double-digit rebounds in each of the last seven games and notched five double-doubles in that span. The Blazers didn't need Plumlee's offensive presence on Tuesday - he finished with seven points on 2-of-3 shooting - but he contributed to a strong defensive effort. "I thought we came out well defensively," Plemlee told reporters. "We didn't score for the first little stretch there but our defense was pretty good all night. They hit a lot of 3s too, but overall I thought our third quarter really stretched us, got us a lead, and we finished it from there."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks C Andrew Bogut (hamstring) is expected to miss his third straight game while Deron Williams (toe) is questionable.
2. Trail Blazers reserve swingman Allen Crabbe is 23-of-38 from the floor in the last three games.
3. The road team took each of the first two meetings this season, with Dallas earning a 96-95 win at Portland on Dec. 21.