# Dallas Mavericks vs Portland Trailblazers (17th March)



## Tersk

<center>*

















Dallas Mavericks (41-22) vs Portland Trailblazers (23-39)

Starting Lineups:





































vs.




































<center>


Key Reserves






























Daniels | Van Horn | Armstrong | Bradley






























Frahm | Outlaw | Ratliff | Anderson


Key Matchup:








vs








</center>
*

*Season Series*
Dallas Mavericks 92 Portland Trailblazers 83
Dallas Mavericks 95 Portland Trailblazers 88 
2-0


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## Tersk

Click here to bet on this upcoming matchup. The spread is Mavericks +12.5. So we have to win by 13 or more points for you to get your money


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## Tristan

What happened to Nick the quick?


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## Tersk

According to Hap and Schilly, NVE isn't playing for the rest of the season

Dallas: 105
Portland: 89

We won't let them score above 90 for the 3rd time this year


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## gambitnut

Blazers 91
Mavericks 90


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## Tersk

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

Season series: Mavericks lead, 2-0
Inside the Trail Blazers

Getting edgy: Center Joel Pryzbilla has slowly developed into a functional force in the paint. He's a good rebounder and has shown a nasty side recently, mixing it up with opponents on a couple of occasions. Still, the Mavericks would rather deal with Pryzbilla than, say, the injured Zach Randolph or the long-departed Rasheed Wallace.

Briefly: The Blazers have lost eight of 11 meetings against Dallas. ... They have scored 100 points or more only once in the last six meetings. ... They haven't won a road game since Feb. 14 at Charlotte and have not beaten a nonexpansion team on the road since Jan. 10 at Philadelphia.

Inside the Mavericks

Easy pickings? OK, maybe there's no such thing for the Mavericks. But the last three opponents on this homestand are headed to the lottery. So was Minnesota, which won at AAC on Tuesday. This game features a Portland team without Zach Randolph and Nick Van Exel and which wasn't very good to begin with. "It's a game you'd better win, I'd say," coach Don Nelson said.

Briefly: Josh Howard had a career- high six blocked shots Tuesday against Minnesota. ... A win tonight would be the Mavericks' fourth in a row over Portland. They haven't beaten the Blazers four consecutive times since the 1984-85 season.

Key matchup

Jason Terry vs. Sebastian Telfair: The Trail Blazers don't have much to watch in the way of compelling players, so the rookie point guard is a good one to spotlight. He has been starting for a couple of weeks and has shown glimpses of greatness. Making the jump from high school to the NBA seems tougher for point guards, because very few do it. Terry will be tested, although Telfair is prone to turnovers.


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## DHarris34Phan

*This game will show me where we are at. This Portland team has been absolutley pathetic lately, and if we can't beat them, and beat them handily, that would show me the true identity of our team. I expect us to win, but it wouldn't surprise me if we drop this one.

Dallas-103
Portland-93*


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## white360

Ha vs Bradley would have been a fun mtch up, just to se the two foul the living crap out of eacother.


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## Amir

DHarris34Phan said:


> *This game will show me where we are at. This Portland team has been absolutley pathetic lately, and if we can't beat them, and beat them handily, that would show me the true identity of our team. I expect us to win, but it wouldn't surprise me if we drop this one.
> 
> Dallas-103
> Portland-93*


I don`t agree with you on this one.
This is because a team doesn`t show its real value when playing with easy-to-beat teams. I think we will show our value when we play Dallas and Boston away after these 4-5 matches.


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## Mavs41

If the Mavs don't totally blowout this team they are in A LOT of trouble. The Blazers probably along with the Hawks are the worst teams in the NBA. They have a lot of injured players and shouldn't even put up a fight. I expect the Mavs to come out and put this game away early.

Mavs - 110

Blazers - 90


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## The Future7

Mavs41 said:


> If the Mavs don't totally blowout this team they are in A LOT of trouble. The Blazers probably along with the Hawks are the worst teams in the NBA. They have a lot of injured players and shouldn't even put up a fight. I expect the Mavs to come out and put this game away early.



I agree, this should be an easy win with Portland having so many injured players.

112-89 Mavs


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## masterosok

mavs 106
blazers 98


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## mavsman

For some reason I believe we will come out with some fire. I don't know why because we have not done much of that at home lately.

Mavs win 108-91


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## aussiewill

I beleive that a lot of our form slump is confidence and if we win by a blowout then our confidence can be strong enough until Stack and Damp get back. However on that not I just can never see the Mavs winning by a blowout this season, Mavs win 98-90.


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## fuzzrhythm

after the loss to the Wolves, the Mavs had better come out with a killer instinct. the Mavs need to be sadistic and blow out these bad teams,


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## Mavs Dude

It should be a easy win. 
115-93


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## fuzzrhythm

J Ho suffering from stomach flu.

Dirk's elbow is still wrapped.

Stoudamire and Telfair are starting guards for Portland.


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## fuzzrhythm

J Ho airs his 1st shot, 2nd shot blocked by Prybzilla, then a monster dunk!


Bradley gets elbowed in the mouth, needs stitches, and fouls SAR all in the same play.


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## fuzzrhythm

Portland turning it over, but Dallas can't capitalize.

Portland is pushing the ball hard early.

Defensive 3 in the key called on Portland. FT was missed.


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## Tersk

Off to a very slow start, shooting 29% for 4 points...I know it's just the beginning but we need to improve that, vastly.

Joe Pryzbilla already has 2 blocks on us, after 3 minutes


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## Tersk

> M. Finley misses a technical free throw


You'd think Dirk would be shooting Tech's, or did Finley *have* to?

Nowitzki yet to score, but with a block and an assist


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## fuzzrhythm

BLazers going to SAR in the halfcourt, but Hendu's playing great D.

Lots of misses, back and forth, back and forth....


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## fuzzrhythm

I think Finley shoots a better FT percentage and it also helps him to get his shooting stroke. It didn't work.


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## Tersk

fuzzrhythm said:


> I think Finley shoots a better FT percentage and it also helps him to get his shooting stroke. It didn't work.


Nope, Dirk is 3% better than Finley

Josh Howard: 20% so far


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## fuzzrhythm

Daniels and Armstrong in for Terry and Howard.

Finley hits a FG from the corner.

Bradley has all his teeth still. Might get stitches in his mouth.


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## Tersk

5:09 POR - S. Telfair makes a 17-foot jumper from the left wing
5:26 POR - S. Abdur-Rahim steals the ball from D. Nowitzki
5:37 POR - S. Telfair drives to the hoop for a layup

Daniels, mark up on Telflair


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk short on the wide open jumper.


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## fuzzrhythm

Armstrong lays it up over Prybzilla, but misses and Hendu called for Offensive Goaltending.

SAR bricks a big dunk.


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## Tersk

Portland up 6 on us, come on guys. I bet over 1600 on you, to win by 13!! 

Hopefully Portland will _really_ tire out there soon, this is a back to back game for them

Mavs only shooting 29%, pathetic


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk tips away an alley oop attemp to Outlaw.


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## Tersk

fuzzrhythm said:


> Dirk tips away an alley oop attemp to Outlaw.


Does that count as a block or a steal?


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## fuzzrhythm

Armstrong with another turnover, but Van Horn pokes it away on the fast break.


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## Tersk

Why is Armstrong even out there, but Devin in so he can outrun this Blazers team


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## fuzzrhythm

the alley oop attemp went out of bounds after Dirk touched it, so neither.

Stoudamire makes a tech FT for def 3 in key.


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## fuzzrhythm

Outlaw fouls Hendu shooting and Hendu misses both FT.


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## fuzzrhythm

Armstrong with a limp pass that's tipped out of bounds.

Camera focuses on Devin sitting on the bench in warmups...

Mavs down 22-13 at end of 1st qtr.


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## fuzzrhythm

MAvs coming out real flat, not really pushing the ball against a team on the 2nd night of a back to back.

Prybzilla causing some probs inside, and Stoudamire is penetrating really well. 

Terry's hit a few shots, but Armstrong has gotten more mins so far.


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## Tersk

Pathetic!

Down by 9 to the Blazers at the end of the first quarter

Well, on the bright side, Fin seems to be playing well

Michael Finley - 6 points (3-5), 3 rebs, 1 ast
Dirk Nowitzki - 0 points (0-5), 2 rebs, 1 ast

When was the last time Dirk went scoreless for a quarter?


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## fuzzrhythm

Terry back in to start the 2nd. Howard in for Fin.

Van Horn scores.

Stoudamire hits a 3 after Terry's picked by Frahm.

J Ho fouled in the lane shooting by Outlaw. hits both FT.


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## fuzzrhythm

Stoudamire penetrates but throws a pass out of bounds.

Terry misses a 3, J Ho goes WAY up for the rebound, but Krhyapa ties him up for a jump ball.

J Ho wins the tip and Dirk hits a jumper from the top of the key.


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## fuzzrhythm

Portland shooting 6/6 on FT

Mavs 3/7


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## fuzzrhythm

Terry strips the ball, Howard picksit up, goes the length of the floor and puts up a HIIIIIGH floater for the bucket!


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## fuzzrhythm

Stoudamire throws another one out of bounds...

Howard goes for the rebound on a 3pter by Dirk, but he's standing out of bounds when he catches it


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## stupendous

are you blogging fuzz??


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## Tersk

Dirk, if your 1-7, drive it in!!!!


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## fuzzrhythm

Daniels with a nice pass inside to Howard who is fouled. 1/2 Ft, gets his own rebound on the 2nd free throw, but misses.


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## fuzzrhythm

Blazers with full court pressure, but Terry beats it, passes to Daniels under the basket and gets the dunk!

then Blazers turn it over, Daniels bricks a jumper and Howard dunks the putback!


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## fuzzrhythm

Daniels gets another dunk! Daniels, Howard, Daniels with 3 dunks in a row.

Then the Blazers pass it out of bounds to their coach!


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## Tersk

With 6:45 left in the quarter, we have already matched our 1st quarter score of 13

We are just not hitting our shots

Howard & Nowitzki have combined for 3-14 and our starters (combined) are 8-23


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## fuzzrhythm

Terry scores off the inbound. Mavs have huge momentum right now.

Defensive mix up lets Prybzilla get open for the dunk.

Mavs push the ball on offense and Van Horn is fouled going to the rim. 1/2 FT and commits a lane violation missing his 2nd shot


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## fuzzrhythm

SAR makes a hook shot in the lane, Mavs puch it back and Van Horn is fouled again going to the rack.

2/2 FTs

Bradley back in with 2 stitches in his mouth.


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## Tersk

fuzzrhythm said:


> SAR makes a hook shot in the lane, Mavs puch it back and Van Horn is fouled again going to the rack.
> 
> 2/2 FTs
> 
> Bradley back in with 2 stitches in his mouth.


Play DJ instead of the banged up Bradley


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## fuzzrhythm

Mavs keep puching and Terry gets fouled going to the rim. good to see. 2/2 fts


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## fuzzrhythm

Bradley blocked a shot right after coming back in.

Stoudamire hits a 3. hopefully someone can lock him down. like, oh, Devin Harris?


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## Tersk

*4:11 POR - R. Frahm steals the ball from M. Daniels*
4:11 DAL - M. Daniels offensive rebound
4:13 DAL - K. Van Horn offensive rebound
4:13 DAL - K. Van Horn misses a tip in
4:13 DAL - K. Van Horn offensive rebound
4:13 DAL - K. Van Horn misses a tip in
4:16 DAL - K. Van Horn misses a layup
4:22 DAL - S. Bradley defensive rebound

All that work for nothing!!

Drive to the FT line, speaking of FT's we are not a 53% FT shooting team


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## fuzzrhythm

Bradley bricks a 20 footer short.

Terry pokes away the ball, Van Horn runs at the rim and is fouled again. 2/2. team is 10/17 at the line

it seems the only way we can score is at the line.


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## fuzzrhythm

Prybzilla has blocked 4 shots tonight. he's called for a tech after fouling Daniels.


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk coming back in. he's 1/7 FG,

Daniels 2/2 FT


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## fuzzrhythm

Nowitzki stumbling in the lane, throws up a prayer and hits it. he twists his ankle and bangs knees with Kryappa. he misses his ft, gets a rebound on the other end, and that's the half.

Blazers 46
Mavs 44


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## Tersk

Nowitzki: 4 points, 18 minutes, 6 rebounds

We have all the momentum and we will need to capitalize on that and come out and OWN the Blazers


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk was visibly hobbled after that play. hopefully he can keep his muscles warm during half time.


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## DHarris34Phan

*nobody believed me when I said we could lose this game.....its a distinct possiblity.....  *


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk is back in at the start of the 3rd


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## fuzzrhythm

Terry tips a jumper, then hits a jumper on the other end. tie game, 46-46


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## Tersk

Now (hopefully) look for the Mavs to get more and more of a lead

Whats this, the first tie game since 0-0?


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## fuzzrhythm

Bradley with nice defensive play, then gets fouled on the other end by Khryapa, makes both FT and Mavs are up by 2

SAR finds Stoudamire for the 3, Mavs back down by 1


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## fuzzrhythm

Bradley blocks SAR, loose ball battled for by Finley and Stoudamire.

Finley wins the tip, Mavs score.

Stoudamire scores again........

Nowitzki cold as ice from the field


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## fuzzrhythm

Stoudamire is dialed in. he hits another 3 to have 17pts for the game. 

I don't believe any Mav is in double figures in scoring.


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## Tersk

fuzzrhythm said:


> Stoudamire is dialed in. he hits another 3 to have 17pts for the game.
> 
> I don't believe any Mav is in double figures in scoring.


Josh Howard & Jason Terry have 11 points


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk finally drives, switches hands on the layup and gets it.


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## Tersk

Down 6 again, come on boys


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## fuzzrhythm

Mavs shooting 35%

J Ho loses a rebound out of bounds when he starts running but forgets the ball....

Nowitzki goes up for a block on SAR, but SAR tries to double pump but lands before he can shoot. Travelling.


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## fuzzrhythm

fastpaced game, but low scoring...


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## fuzzrhythm

Mavs outscoring the Blazers 16-4 on fast break points

another NICe fast break play. Terry tips out the rebound to himself, runs the floor with Van Horn and Nowitzki. passes to Nowitzki who touch passes to Van Horn for the ally oop layup


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## fuzzrhythm

Howard and Daniels are back in together. hopefully the can provide some efficient spark and hustle


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## Tersk

fuzzrhythm said:


> Howard and Daniels are back in together. hopefully the can provide some efficient spark and hustle


Howards out for Finley, which is weird considering we need defense

Daniels hits a 2


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## fuzzrhythm

Monster dunk by Outlaw..he got up, and he got up FAST.

Dirk fouls him next time he tries that.

Daniels hits a jumper in the lane.

Blazers blow an inbound pass and turn it over again...

Finley hits a jumper just inside the line.

MAvs down by 1.


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## fuzzrhythm

Armstrong in for Terry.

SAR commits and offensive foul, but the Blazers get it back.

Stoudamire misses on a penetration drive, but Prybzilla commits the loose ball foul on the rebound.


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## fuzzrhythm

Daniels is guarding Stoudamire.

Blazers commit shot clock violation.

Mavs inbound with 8 sec but Outlaw blocks Daniels' shot at the buzzer

Mavs down by 1 going into the 4th. 67-66


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## fuzzrhythm

Telfair hits a shot at the end of the shot clock

MAvs miss on the other end

Outlaw with another explosive dunk

Finley with a turnaround fadeaway at the end of the shot clock for the Mavs


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## fuzzrhythm

Hendu knocks away the ball from Khryapa, which leads to a fast break dunk by Daniels who's fouled and makes his FT.

Mavs up by 2


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## Tersk

Pull away Mavericks!


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## fuzzrhythm

Blazers back up on a dunk from Prybzilla and dunk by 

SAR was fouled on his dunk and he hits his FT


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## fuzzrhythm

Mavs 0/7 from the 3pt line

Daniels steps in front of a pass for his 3rd steal but is immediately fouled.

Dirk misses his layup on the other end.

Dirk 8pts on 3/14 shooting....


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## Tersk

Dirk just came in, he better score 10+ points


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## fuzzrhythm

boy, this is a great way to rack up your post count...... :banana:


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## fuzzrhythm

Nowitzki hits the Mavs 1st 3 with 7:20 left in the 4th after an offensive foul by SAR

Daniels strips Telfair and dunks on the fast break! game ties at 78


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## fuzzrhythm

Nowitzki overplays a pass to SAR, SAR goes up to shoot but Dirk blocks it from behind! out of bounds

SAR beats Nowitzki in the post, draws the fouls and hits the basket. hits the and 1


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## fuzzrhythm

Finley drives into the lane and gets capped by Outlaw. jump ballcontrolled by the Blazers


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## fuzzrhythm

Stoudamire puts up a 3ptr short, Howard takes the rebound coast to coast and lays it in with the foul! he hits the and 1. tied at 81 with 6 mins left


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## fuzzrhythm

Prybzilla dunks
Finley hits a 3
J Ho blocks Stoudamire
Dirk bricks the 3
Telfair to Outlaw for the oop
Outlaw is called for a goaltend on Daniels

Mavs up by 1


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## fuzzrhythm

Telfair hits a jumper

Terry to Howard for the oop!

Terry gets the rebound on the other end, pushes it up to Howard who gets fouled going to the basket

there have been 14 lead changes so far.

Howard is 2/2 at the line

Outlaw and Telfair both have 5 fouls

no team fouls for either team

3 mins to go


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## fuzzrhythm

ball called out on Finley, and Finley spends a good minute in the ref's face arguing it...


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## Tersk

Mavs up 3! Come on!!!

Screw winning by 13, win first


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## fuzzrhythm

Stoudamire hits his 5th 3 for his 20th point to tie it

J Ho hits a 3 coming back the other way!

Stoudamire shoots another 3, but misses and Prybzilla is fouled trying to put it back


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## Tersk

Theo! said:


> Mavs up 3! Come on!!!
> 
> Screw winning by 13, win first


Damn, Stoudemire for 3


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## fuzzrhythm

Prybzilla hits both FTs

Terry to Howard who posts up Stouamire and is fouled. 0/2

Mavs are 20/31 at the line


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## Tersk

Mavs up 1, 35 seconds left. Mavs ball...2 FT's to come


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## fuzzrhythm

Mavs have it back under 1 min up by 1. 

They need to slow it down, run down the clock and get the easy 2.....

Prybzilla tries to grab Terry going to the rim and pulls his hamstring. Prybzilla has to sit...

Terry hits 1/2 FTs

Mavs up by 2 with 35 sec. Portland calls timeout


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## Tersk

Mavericks up 2, Terry goes 1/2 at the FT line

Blazers balll, 35 second left


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## fuzzrhythm

SAR leaves the floating hook short in the lane!

Dirk gets the rebound and is immediately fouled. Dirk makes 2 FT

17.7 sec left

timeout Blazers


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## Tersk

Stoudemire misses the shot

Dirk grabs *another* clutch rebound and is immediatly fouled, bye bye Joel Pryzbilla

Dirk with both free throwsm, Mavs up 6


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## fuzzrhythm

J Ho sticks to Stoudamire like glue and frces a bad shot. Dirk with the rebound and immediately fouled again.

Prybzilla has fouled out

11 sec left

Dirk makes 2 FT to put the Mavs up by 6

Dallas allows the 2 and the Mavs dribble out the clock

Mavs WIN! 98-94

they really had to scramble to get this win


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## fuzzrhythm

Dirk has a touch of stomach flu, left elbow is hurt, banged up his knees and ankles in the game and really struggled to get 15 pts, but had some good defensive plays and rebounds.

J Ho and Daniels had their characteristic hustle plays on both ends of the floor

player of the game is a toss up between these 2


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## Tersk

Dallas 98 Portland 94 

We were losing for most of the game, pretty pathetic
- Portland were 4 of 5 in their last 5 road games
- They were coming off a game the previous night
- They were missing; Nick Van Exel, Zach Randolph, Theo Ratliff, Darius Miles

WTF: Devin Harris: DNP-CD...Fire Nellie, NOW! I'm so annoyed it aint funny, we shouldnt of won. We shot 41% FG, 3-13 3PT, 25-37 FT, whats worng with us?

Dirk shot patheticaly, under 25% for 17 points. Josh had a nice game; 21 points (7-13), 11 rebs, 2 ast, 1 stl, 2 blck, 32 minutes

Egh...


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## Gambino

That Outlaw kid will be a good player for the Blazers as well as Telfair. Good young talent they have there. As do us Great game by the Sophomores Marquis and Josh. Both really gave it there all. Dirk had a tough night. He's in a funk right now and it might be because of Dampier being out because he has to do so much right now. Finley stepped up tonight which is a great thing. Hope he continues that.

I'm still mystified on Nelson not playing Harris though. WHY does he continue to not play him at all? Armstrong comes in and gets a flopping foul then turns it over yet he remains in the game but Harris makes one little foul and he's out for the remainder of the WEEK. Don't get that one right now. 

Otherwise good game. We really need Damp back but hey we already know that lol.


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## aussiewill

Great win by the Mavs and in particular JHo, Quis and KVH who all played in well Dirk's shooting disappearance. The best thing about this win is that I got closest to the score with my pick 98-90 :banana:.


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## Tersk

aussiewill said:


> Great win by the Mavs and in particular JHo, Quis and KVH who all played in well Dirk's shooting disappearance. The best thing about this win is that I got closest to the score with my pick 98-90 :banana:.



Shower that man with your rep points


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## aussiewill

Wooooop, wooop, wooop :biggrin:


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## Tersk

Josh Howard had 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks overcame an off night by top scorer Dirk Nowitzki to beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-94, Thursday night.

Howard missed Thursday morning's shootaround because of the stomach flu, but felt well enough to start. He scored 10 of Dallas' last 20 points, including a critical 3-pointer to break a 90-90 tie with 1:59 left.

Michael Finley had 17 points and Marquis Daniels added 16 for the Mavericks, who had lost three of their previous five home games.

Nowitzki, averaging 26.7 points, finished with 15 points on 4-of-17 shooting. He did hit four key free throws in the final minute and grabbed nine rebounds.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Damon Stoudamire had 20 points each for the lottery-bound Trail Blazers, who've lost three in a row and nine of 10. Joel Przybilla and Sebastian Telfair added 16 points apiece.
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Portland was without Zach Randolph, Darius Miles, Nick Van Exel and Ruben Patterson. Randolph, Van Exel and Patterson are injured. Miles is with his mother, who is having surgery this week in Portland.

Przybilla converted two free throws with 1:37 to play, pulling Portland within one. Howard wasted an opportunity to widen Dallas' lead when he missed two free throws with 1:19 remaining. Terry made one of two from the line with 35 seconds left to give Dallas a 94-92 lead.

Abdur-Rahim missed an eight-footer in the lane with 18 seconds left, and Nowitzki hit four free throws in the final 17.7 seconds.

Dallas finished the third quarter with six unanswered points to narrow Portland's lead to 67-66.

The Mavericks continued their recent trend of slow starts, trailing 22-13 after the first quarter, earning boos from a usually supportive crowd. Dallas had its lowest scoring first quarter of the season, and the Mavericks were behind entering the second quarter for the 10th time in their last 11 games.


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## Amir

We are really doing bad for the moment.

I don`t think this time it was the fault of Dampier.


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## SheedSoNasty

Good game you guys. It really was a lot closer than it should have been especially when you consider that we're missing 5 key players (which probably wouldn't have made that much of a difference anyway), but a close and exciting game nonetheless.

Hopefully you guys will be seeing plenty more of Sebastian Telfair and Travis Outlaw in the not so distant future and we'll be consistently giving you guys are run for your money whenever we meet... hopefully.


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## Gambino

Amir said:


> We are really doing bad for the moment.
> 
> I don`t think this time it was the fault of Dampier.


I think we are in a shooting slump. Don't know why but I think we will get out of this. But we only scored 13 in the 1st quarter yet ended up 98 for the game. Pretty good. We still need to get out of our funk. Credit to Portland tho for playing hard especially there point guards.


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## The Future7

Portland really played Hard without their key player. The Mavs looked bad though. We need to get out of this shooting slump. Were having a hard time putting points on the board.


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## Dre

I'm a little angry I wasn't able to be online last night, but my final thoughts on the matter were the same as most. 

We didn't deserve the win, but we showed some character.This is about the only positive except for Howard. The Blazers were missing 5 players, there's no excuse for the game to be remotely close. That's a positive sign that when we're not playing well, we can rise above the problems and pull out an ugly win. Howard played well, carrying us down the stretch on the offensive end. One of the questions I had about him was his ability to dominate on the offensive end for spurts. He gave me a nice answer. Nice win.


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