2011 Playoffs: (3) Mavericks Vs. (6) Blazers

Dallas in 6. Trail Blazers will take one in Dallas, but the Mavs will be motivated and end it in Portland.

Mavs have the potential, & not just because of TC. Mavs in 6. 7 if Portland really fights.

Interesting game. Portland looks like they can win this series (yes, fact-free, baseless analysis) but they helped out my prediction by dropping game 1. Why does Nate play Brandon Roy? He brings nothing to the table.

Weird game. Kidd won't shoot like that, Dirk won't shoot like that, some of the Mavs' role players ought to play better, same for Wallace, Matthews, etc. for Portland, Portland shot like turd from three-point range, etc., etc.

Things are still way up in the air.

No offense to the Mavs, or their chances (I stick by you guys in 7) but this feels like the opposite of Portland's fluke game 1 win in Phoenix last year. Everything went right, and they barely won. Mavs won not in a blowout, but decidedly, but Portland definitely looks like it can win. Team will need to do what it hasn't been able to consistently do though, and hit open jumpers. And of course, Roy is the worst player on the floor whenever he's out there.

Whenever you can get to the line nineteen times as much in the fourth quarter you gotta do it.

And when you can get 16 points on two FGAs, you gotta do that too.

Plus whenever Jason Kidd has the ball you have to play him for the drive, not the three! (And the one time he does drive nobody guard him, he'll miss the layup on his own.)

No way did everything go right for the Mavs. Just that they shot well from three and got the calls late when they didn't earlier. Dirk shooting 5-of-16 or turning it over six times won't happen. A lot of the Mavs' role players didn't shoot well. The Mavs offense was largely stagnant, and I don't know whether that's a permanent issue or just tonight.

You can spin it for both sides. What happens in Game 2 is huge. If Portland wins, as I think they will (in terms of stealing a game on the road), them winning in 6 seems likely. If the Mavs win, they're probably confident they could sneak a win at the Rose Garden.

I was at the game, and it was ugly. Dirk was off, JET was off, they all were off. Great atmosphere though, my ears are still ringing.

Well, the Blazers did a good job of defending Dirk, but only for three quarters. Kidd had an awesome game and anybody saying Kidd won't shoot it like that ... I don't know, if he gets those open shots he will hit them.


All in all a good win by the Mavs, but like Dirk said, if they don't win game 2, it doesn't mean nothing.

Very exciting fourth quarter - J-Kidd is a boss when he wants to be. Dirk was a total beast in the fourth quarter too.

That 11 minute stretch without a bucket could've really cost them and I'm glad it didn't.

Yah, this game was weird. Didn't feel like The Mavs I know. A win is still a win, though.

Mavs in Game 6.

I love how Jason Kidd is shooting the ball right now. Mavs up - thanks to Kidd's 9 points in a row.

/edit: Mavs still up after the third, but it's a close one. Somebody better tell Brendan Haywood how to shoot freethrows. Guy had one against the backboard that did not even touch the rim.

//edit: The Blazers just fell apart in the 2nd half. Mavs did a great job on defense and I really love how Chandler is doing vs Aldridge compared to the slow Haywood.

Dirk scored the last 9 points of the Mavs and they are up by 13. Oh, and no turnover by the Mavs in the 2nd half.

Awesome 4th quarter by Dirk as always

What a depressing series. First game the refs literally blew the game for us with the foul calls (get it?), and tonight proved Kidd's big game wasn't a fluke. Roy needs to gtfo because he's honestly the second worst player in the NBA

What a depressing series. First game the refs literally blew the game for us with the foul calls (get it?), and tonight proved Kidd's big game wasn't a fluke. Roy needs to gtfo because he's honestly the second worst player in the NBA

For what its worth, Greg Oden has thoroughly outplayed Brandon Roy in this series. Will take his rehabbing his knee (he could be running as soon as five months from now!) over Roy's 1 PPG on 12.5% shooting (and 0-3 from the line)

LET ROY PLAY!

Forgot the quotes around "play" there.

I'll leave it to the followers of the cause to correct that omission for themselves.

In the good and holy book, Roy 7:59 says: LET ROY PLAY!

Unlike the Heat players, Brandon Roy doesn't cry! Props to Lamrock for the link

“There was a point in the first half, and I was thinking 'You better not cry,''' Roy said. “I mean, serious. I mean, there was a moment where I felt really sorry for myself. Then I was like, nah, you can't be sorry for yourself. I'm a grown man, but there was a moment there that I felt sorry for myself. Especially when I think I can still help.''

I still don't get the ref thing. The major thing was that they seemed to change the way they officiated the game all of a sudden early in the fourth quarter...which is kind of a problem, but Portland barely seemed to take advantage of that - I probably need a shotchart, but all I remember is mostly shots around the edge of the key, whereas Dirk went straight inside despite his slowness and mediocre finishing. Dirk did - the contact on most of those fouls might not have been called in a lightly-reffed game, but I think they weren't horrifying bad calls. The only egregious call I could remember was when Dirk pretty much bulldozed Wallace and got a foul, and I'm pretty sure that was a makeup call.

Plus Nate McMillan played Brandon Roy in crunch time. Nice job, Nate.

but then roy had the audacity to complain about his playing time.

If you ask me - and that's not because I am a Dallas supporter - the Mavs just play better when it counts so far.

In the fourth quarter, the Blazers kept losing the ball and their only idea was getting the ball to Aldridge on post-up shots. Portland seems to be right in it for the first two or three quarters (they played way better in the first half) and then they start committing silly turnovers.

The Blazers had more FTAs but only hit .66% because Gerald Wallace is not a good foul shooter and Brandon Roy couldn't even hit his FTs.

It's just like if Aldridge does not get it going (like in the third, when Haywood fouled him three times before Chandler started playing good D on him), the Blazers have nobody to make up for that.

For Dallas, it's important to have these 2nd and 3rd scorers that Portland is missing. Kidd and Peja did a great job, but imho the Mavs also had a better ball movement.

And - if you only have six turnovers and none in the 2nd half, the other team can't be playing great D if you ask me.

The Mavs need to win Game 3 at the Rose Garden, or the momentum will be lost.