Recap: Aldridge downs Mavs after second-half collapse to begin road trip
Recap: Mavericks 104 at Trail Blazers 106
Aldridge downs Mavs after second-half collapse to begin road trip
PORTLAND, Ore. — Hearing they would be without one of their key contributors just before the start of Tuesday night’s matchup in Portland was not the ideal way the Dallas Mavericks wanted to begin their four-game road trip.
After a collision in Monday’s practice ended with 7-footer Chris Kaman suffering a concussion, the Mavericks learned that they would be without the services of the backup big man indefinitely to begin their expedition away from home. And with Kaman’s status for the remainder of the trip still unknown, the Mavs tried to replicate a 114-91 home victory over the Trail Blazers back on Nov. 5, when Kaman scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed six rebounds off the bench to help lift the Dallas team to a victory.
“He’ll be back when his symptoms abate and we don’t know the timetable for it,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Kaman’s availability. “We don’t think it’s that serious, but these things you have to be careful with.”
He added: “This is a hit for us. Chris has played very well for us this year. He played really well against [the Blazers] last time, and we’ll miss him. Hopefully he’ll be back soon.”
Kaman’s void would then be felt most during the final play of the game, as Blazers All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge drained a jumper at the buzzer to complete Portland’s comeback from 21 points behind, downing the Mavericks (19-26) to a 106-104 defeat to begin Dallas’ road trip on a sour note.
With Kaman already coming off the bench in the last two games, Carlisle continued to stick with the starting lineup of rookie Bernard James at center, 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki at the 4, small forward Shawn Marion and the backcourt of leading scorer O.J. Mayo and point guard Darren Collison. But the first unit would find itself in for a dogfight, despite taking a slight edge midway through the opening period while sharing the ball, as Marion assumed the early offensive responsibilities.
And even with veteran big man Elton Brand forced to sit with two fouls after playing just three minutes off the bench, the Mavericks entered the second period with a 32-28 edge after fourth-year guard Rodrigue Beaubois’ floater to beat the buzzer.
Behind swingman Dahntay Jones’ end-to-end play and Nowitzki’s scoring, the Mavs began to create some separation on the scoreboard to start the second stanza. But after an and-one score by Mayo on the break to go up 40-32, the Blazers forced a Carlisle timeout with 6:38 in the half after back-to-back hoops to cut the margin in half.
Mayo would settle down his team, however, connecting on a step-back 3 before Nowitzki’s vintage jumper put the Mavs up 11. Collison’s perimeter shooting then helped the Mavs take a lead as large as 19 before entering the halftime intermission up 59-42.
Behind the trio of Collison, Mayo and Nowitzki and a combined 33 points, the Mavs’ 50 percent shooting bettered the Blazers’ 40 percent at the midway mark while also hitting 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point arc. The Mavericks also held a 26-25 rebounding edge while committing just five turnovers through the first 24 minutes of play, converting Portland’s nine giveaways into 12 points at the other end.
James would get involved on the offensive end as the second half got underway, scoring with ease in the interior as the Mavs’ advantage continued to balloon. But after falling down by as much as 21, the Blazers (23-22) slowly started to chip away at their deficit. Aldridge’s score then forced a timeout by Carlisle with the Mavs up just 78-68 and 1:33 left in the third, before the Dallas team limped into the fourth up just six, 80-74.
Back-to-back jumpers by Nowitzki would get the Mavs off to a nice start to open the fourth, but Wesley Matthews’ 3-pointer inched the Blazers to within five. Marion then connected on a timely floater after the Blazers found themselves down just three. But the Blazers weren’t done yet, after Ronnie Price swished in a 3, followed by a Dallas turnover and a breakaway slam by Sasha Pavlovic to tie the game at 88-all with 7:26 left to play.
“Obviously give them credit. You know, give them some kudos. They kept fighting, made shots when shots were needed, got stops when stops were needed, and we can’t get comfortable. We’ve got to continue playing the entire game out and we’ve got to step on an opponent’s neck and not let them get going,” Mayo said.
“It shows this season we ain’t good at keeping leads,” Marion added. “You know, they made a comeback, they hit some amazing shots at the end and we should have never been in that position.”
But after Pavlovic’s driving score to put his team ahead, Nowitzki stopped the bleeding with a triple of his own to regain the edge on the scoreboard before another jumper after Brandan Wright’s defensive stand on J.J. Hickson to go ahead 96-92 with 3:52 remaining to close the game. Collison then banked in a 3 to beat the shot clock and answer Aldridge’s dunk-tip, before a spinning move by Wright lifted the Mavs to a 101-94 advantage.
Carlisle then switched to a small-ball lineup of Collison, Mayo, eight-time All-Star Vince Carter, Nowitzki and Marion at the center. But not even that could prevent the Blazers from climbing to within three, 101-98, after a 2-of-2 trip to the foul line by Matthews with 52.4 ticks left. A miss by Nowitzki and tip out of bounce by Carter then gave the Blazers 34.8 seconds left to tie.
Out of a timeout, the Blazers drew up a play for Nicholas Batum, who quickly dialed up a 3 from the wing that found all net to tie the game. The Mavs came right back, choosing not to call a timeout as the ball swung Nowitzki’s way for a 3 to go back in front with 11.4 seconds to close.
After an out-of-bounce sequence left just 3.2 seconds on the clock, the ball swung to Mayo, who drove to the hoop. But the budding star would be called for an offensive foul on his way to the basket, giving the Blazers the final 1.5 ticks to win it. And again it would be the Seagoville native, as Aldridge’s jumper over Wright sunk the Mavs to defeat at the final buzzer.
“Down the stretch, we weren’t very good. I mean, you can’t give up a 3, a 3 and a 2 to lose the game, that’s first of all. Maybe we shouldn’t have even been in that position,” Nowitzki said. “We were up 20, had the game under control and basically gave the lead away in just a couple of minutes. … We still should have won it. We didn’t do a good job of executing down the stretch. We had like two or three turnovers. One time we couldn’t get the ball inbounded, they run down and get two shots. And then like I said, to give up two 3′s and a 2 in three possessions to lose the game is tough.”
Both teams ended matters with 16 total turnovers, with Dallas scoring 19 points off Portland’s miscues while giving up 18 points at the other end. And albeit in defeat, the Mavs finished the night outshooting the Blazers, 50 percent to 45.3 percent, while Hickson’s 15 boards led Portland to a 46-40 advantage on the glass.
In the loss, Nowitzki finished with a season-high 26 points on 11-of-21 shooting to lead all five starters in double figures. Collison added 17 points, Mayo pitched in 15 points, Marion recorded 12 points and James registered 10 points all in the first unit.
Aldridge led all five Blazers’ starters in double figures with a game-high 29 points to go with 13 rebounds.
Both teams ended matters with 16 total turnovers, with Dallas scoring 19 points off Portland’s miscues while giving up 18 points at the other end. And albeit in defeat, the Mavs finished the night outshooting the Blazers, 50 percent to 45.3 percent, while Hickson’s 15 boards led Portland to a 46-40 advantage on the glass.
“The turnovers cost us. We didn’t make plays, we didn’t hit enough shots and we didn’t get enough stops. Simple as that. And you’ve got to give them credit. They made some phenomenal plays when they had to and it’s just very disappointing,” Carlisle concluded. “We had several situations where we’d have chances to build a lead if we could finish off a play with a rebound, and there were just too many times we couldn’t do it.”
“It hurt us, the rebounds and just the open shots at the end,” Marion echoed. “You know, they hit some contested shots, and the ones they were missing all game they hit at the end when they needed it. We shouldn’t have let them back in, but it’s been one of our Achilles’ heel this season.”
Note: The Mavericks will now continue their road trip by making a stop in Oakland to face the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night. The Warriors lead the season series 1-0, after handing the Mavs a 105-101 home loss back on Nov. 19. The game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest and nationally on TNT at 9:30 p.m. CT.
“Well, this is about as tough as it gets in this league, for sure. We played well enough to win,” Nowitzki admitted. “We sometimes find ways to lose instead of finding ways to win. That’s the sad thing. But hey, you’ve got to keep working. You know, this team is resilient and we’re going to come back Thursday and let it all hang out again.”
