By Chris Helgeson

With any young team, a little bit of inconsistency is to be expected. After all, much of developing in an NBA sense is just getting used to the rigors of travel and simply knowing that there will be games where nothing goes right.

But, then again, no one could have been prepared for the ups and downs of the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers.

For Portland, each game seems to be a step in the right direction. LaMarcus Aldridge has surpassed even the loftiest expectations this season to average a team-high 18.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, and his running mate, Brandon Roy, nearly stumbled his way to the first Trail Blazer triple-double this season in Wednesday’s game against the Pacers.

Despite struggling from the field, Roy finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists for the Trail Blazers.

With as much promise as this Portland roster has shown, there have also been some pretty severe stretches of uncharacteristically sloppy basketball. For every victory against the Mavericks, the Pistons and the Hornets, the Trail Blazers have also responded with tough losses to less competitive teams, like Philadelphia and Washington.

Call it the price of running with one of the youngest rosters in the NBA.

Even some of the more veteran teams, however, have been plagued by this year’s roller-coaster season and the Dallas Mavericks are a prime example.

In some regards, the Mavericks should pride themselves for not hitting the “Emergency Reset” button after last year’s first round playoff upset. Other than Devin Harris taking over the full time point guard duties and Jason Terry filling the role as the sixth man, Dallas is, for the most part, the same team that earned the number one seed in last year’s playoffs.

Although they have a great deal more experience than the Trail Blazers, Dallas has suffered from many of the same problems. They’ve knocked off super talented squads, like Houston and San Antonio, but they’ve also fallen prey to the Atlanta Hawks, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers.

Heading into Friday’s game, the Mavericks have lost 3 of their last 4 with their 1 victory coming against the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves.

If Portland hopes to rebound in Dallas, they’ll need more scoring output out of their sophomore shooting guard. Brandon Roy torched Dallas in the Rose Garden for 32 points and his effort was a big reason the Trail Blazers sent the Mavericks home with a 91 – 82 loss.

On the defensive end, the Trail Blazers should focus a majority of their attention on Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jason Terry. In three games against the Trail Blazers last year, Terry led all Mavericks with an average of 24.3 points per contest.

Quick Facts

Speaking of Jason Terry, the Mavericks are 4 – 0 when their sixth man is the team’s leading scorer… Josh Howard was the Mavericks second leading scorer against the Trail Blazers last season with 17 points per game… Prior to their last meeting, the Mavericks had won 10 straight against the Trail Blazers… Although they are 8th in the league in scoring, the Mavericks are just 19th in assists per game… If all else fails, Brandon Roy should just take a couple steps back and start shooting three-pointers. He leads the Trail Blazers with a 46.7% shooting percentage from range…

If you can’t make the trek to Dallas, catch all the action on KGW or via radio broadcast on 750am KXL.

Just don’t miss a minute!