Inside Report: No. 3 Mavericks (2-1) at No. 6 Blazers (1-2) — Game 4 preview

Earl K. Sneed previews Saturday's Game 4 between the Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers, as the Dallas team tries to steal a game at the Rose Garden and return to Big D with a 3-1 series lead.

PORTLAND, Ore. — The opportunity is there for the taking.

After falling to a 97-92 defeat in Game 3 of their opening-round series with the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, the Dallas Mavericks head into Saturday’s matinee Game 4 tip-off knowing plenty is on the line.

While the Blazers will be looking to hold serve on their home floor — as did the Mavericks in Games 1 and 2 — the team from Dallas will have an opportunity to open up a 3-1 edge in the series. But in order to do so, the Mavs will first have to break a seven-game trend between the two squads, after four regular-season games and the first three games in the postseason all went the home team’s way.

“In order to beat the best on the road you have to play a very good game at both ends of the floor,” Mavericks leading scorer Dirk Nowitzki said when looking ahead to Game 4.

“That game lead means nothing if we don’t get the win [on Saturday],” sixth man Jason Terry added. “Again, not allowing them to tie this series up is very important to us and it’s key for control of the series. … They play tough at home, as do we. But if anybody is gonna break through on the road I think it will be us, just because of our experience and our veteran leadership.”

Still, the fact remains that the Mavs have a chance to put a stranglehold on the series with a win in the Rose Garden before returning with the possibility of closing the best-of-seven matchup out on their home floor on Monday night. With that said, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t view Saturday’s showdown as a make-or-break game, adding that his team has to concentrate on the opportunity that lies ahead by remaining focused on playing a full 48-minute ballgame and not necessarily on whether or not the end result is a win or a loss.

“We’ve got to work the game,” Carlisle said. “And the second you start thinking ahead to something in the future you take your mind off what’s important right now. And a 48-minute NBA game is an eternity, there’s so much that could happen. There’s over 200 plays offensively and defensively. So, you’ve got to work the game possession by possession and try to win segments from timeout to timeout, and then go from there.”

The coach also knows that by night’s end the final score of the game will be the most important result, with the Mavericks hoping to head into Game 5 with a two-game edge when the two teams reconvene at the American Airlines Center, where the Dallas squad scratched and clawed its way to victories in the first two games. But if the Mavericks are going to be the first team to snatch a win on their opponent’s home floor, it may take more than just the collective offensive production from their top two scoring weapons, Nowitzki and Terry.

After averaging just 10.0 points in the first two games of the series, Terry exploded for a game-high 29 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 4-for-5 from 3-point range in Game 3, breaking out of his sluggish offensive slump and adding a nice complement to Nowitzki, who scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a losing cause.

“I hate to waste an effort by JET [Terry] like that. He hasn’t looked like that probably since we went to the Finals in ’06,” Nowitzki said with high regard for his teammate’s performance. “He had a really amazing game. We were down early and he really took it upon himself to bring us energy and get into the paint. He was big all night long, so I hate to waste an effort like that.”

But the two sharpshooters were the only Mavericks to score in double figures in the loss. And with plenty of help likely needed to lend assistance to the two stars, the Mavs admit that somehow the team will need to have more balanced production on the offensive end if they are to combat Portland’s rugged style.

“Well, we’d like to get more guys involved and able to score a few more points, but if you’re not gonna have a balanced game you’ve got to have a couple of guys that go for big numbers. So, there’s no set formula for us. We don’t say that Dirk’s got to be the first guy and JET has to be the second guy. It just doesn’t seem to work that way for us,” Carlisle pointed out.

Saturday, however, the Mavs may need more than just balanced scoring if they are going to redeem themselves after making several uncharacteristic mistakes in Game 3.

Despite outshooting the Blazers, 51.5 percent to 48.0 percent, the Mavericks walked away in defeat thanks in large part to unforced errors and miscues. Dallas’ 16 turnovers led to 16 points for their opponent at the other end of the floor. Meanwhile, the Mavs struggled from the free throw line, knocking down just 13-of-23 from the charity stripe.

“It’s something we’re gonna have to focus in a little bit more on. We missed 10 [free throws], very uncharacteristic of us,” Terry explained. “Again, free throws, turnovers, we hang our hat in those areas. Those are little things, but those are the little things that can come back and bite you in the end.”

But according to Carlisle, even the Mavericks’ inability to succeed at the little things in Game 3 will not derail the team from its ultimate goal. And even after suffering their first loss since April 6, a 104-96 defeat to Denver, the coach says that his players remain on an even keel, knowing that with a victory on Saturday the Mavs could be in position to advance to the second round with a win in front of their hometown fans.

“Listen, we’re disappointed with the loss and we know that we can play better,” Carlisle concluded. “But this is a long series, seven games is a long time, and so you can’t get too high or too low. We’ve gotta focus on the things that are important to us from quarter to quarter and go from there.”

Note: Game 4 of the opening-round matchup will tip off on Saturday at 4 p.m. CT, airing nationally on TNT and locally on TXA 21.

The Mavericks will now host Game 5 at the American Airlines Center next Monday night, in a game that will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT. Game 5 will air locally on TXA 21 and nationally on NBA TV. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

The first-round series between the two teams continues as follows:
Game 4 - Sat. April 23 Dallas at Portland 4:00 p.m. CT TXA 21/ TNT
Game 5 * Mon April 25 Portland at Dallas TBD 7:30 p.m. CT TXA 21/ NBA TV
Game 6 * Thu April 28 Dallas at Portland TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat April 30 Portland at Dallas TBD TBD TNT

Playoff tickets for Game 5 against the Blazers are on sale now! Tickets can be purchased online at Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS. Game 5 will be played on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. CT. For details, visit Mavs.com. Be There! Rowdy, Proud and Loud!

The Mavs will host FREE watch parties for fans at Hard Rock Cafe for the away games during the First Round of the 2011 Playoffs. Fans can join Mavs ManiAACs and the Street Team. Fans will also have the chance to win autographed gear and Mavs playoff tickets. The next watch party is scheduled for Saturday with festivities kicking off an hour prior to tip-off.