Dallas at Portland (March 14) The game started off looking to be a real good game as both teams were playing well and the scored stayed tight over the first 3 minutes. Just goes to show you that looks can be deceiving. The game was tied 9-9 with 9 minutes remaining and Portland rattled off the next 12 points to go up 21-9 with 6 minutes left. Portland's lead hovered around 10 points the rest of the quarter and Portland led 32-24 after 1. Rasheed Wallace had 17 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 10 points. Portland led 36-28 with 10:40 to go and scored the next 7 points to go up 43-28 with 8:44 left. Shawn Kemp and Chris Duley bumped heads during the quarter and Kemp went down with a concussion. He had to get 4 stitches and did not return. Portland pushed their lead to 10 points at 57-37 with 4 minutes left. A 3-pointer by Nowitzki pulled Dallas within 44-60 with 2:30 remaining. Then it got pathetic. Dallas turned the ball over on 4 straight possessions and Portland scored each time down. Then Dallas missed and Bonzi Wells converted the 3-point play to give Portland a 73-44 lead with 30 seconds to go. A 13-0 run in a 2 minute span. Nowitzki hit 2 free throws to end the quarter and Portland led 73-46 at the half. Wallace had 28 points. Dallas committed 12 turnovers in the half (they average just 12 per game) which resulted in 26 Portland points. Portland shot 59% FG and Dallas shot 47% FG. The debacle continued in the 3rd quarter as Portland easily pushed their lead into the 30s. Don Nelson expressed his displeasure with his team as Michael Finley and Steve Nash were on the bench to open the 3rd quarter and Nowitzki was pulled a few minutes into the quarter. Finley and Nowitzki did return to the court later in the quarter, but Nash sat the rest of the game. And for some reason it was Portland expressing frustration during the quarter as they collected 3 technicals and Dale Davis was ejected with a flagrant foul level 2 when he threw a roundhouse punch at the back of Shawn Bradley's head. Portland took their largest lead of the night at 108-62 with 1:24 remaining - yup 46 points. The 4th, like the rest of the 2nd half, was pure garbage time. It's not often that you can call a final margin of 26 points as not an accurate reflection of a game, but that was the case with this game. Portland won easily 132-106. That was pathetic (and, yes, I watched the whole thing). Dallas' recent poor play continued and this night they faced a team that was completely clicking. The result was the worst game of the season - even worse than the Orlando blowout where Dallas threw in the towel a few minutes into the 3rd quarter as at least Dallas was competitive in the 1st half of that game, while they were only competitive for a few minutes in this game. Here's hoping that this ugly performance lights a fire under the team and they go on to the rest of the season with a new attitude, starting with a trouncing of Golden State on Saturday - and not looking past the Warriors to Sunday's game against the Lakers. Dallas' terrible defense definitely hurt the team in this game, but it was the many turnovers that killed them. Though Portland did have a number of legitimate steals, most of Dallas' turnovers were purely fumbling the ball away and bad decisions. Dallas had a season high 22 turnovers which Portland converted into 34 points. Dallas could do nothing with Rasheed Wallace in this game and he had 37 points including 14-21 FG and 6-10 3-pointers and 8 rebounds. Derek Anderson had 20 points including 7-10 FG and 5-8 3-pointers. Scottie Pippen had a double-double with 14 points and 12 assists. Bonzi Wells had 16 points and 6 rebounds and Ruben Patterson had 15 points including 6-7 FG and 6 rebounds. No Mav player deserves mentioning. Quotes Maurice Cheeks: "That was as fine a game as I've seen. I wish I could bottle it up and take it on the road." Cheeks: "Things were happening so quickly. That stretch in the 2nd quarter, I didn't even look up at the scoreboard. I just ended up being a fan." Cheeks on Portland's run at the end of the 2nd quarter: "It was those kind of athletic plays that were really unbelievable. I'm sure the people watching that game really couldn't believe the things that were happening." Cheeks: "We're still not paying attention to where we are in the standings. We're just trying to get better each game. We still have a long way to go and if we continue to get better, the standings with take care of themselves." Bonzi Wells: "This was the greatest win ever. If you had a tape of those guys' faces, you knew the fight was knocked out of them." Wells: "To beat a 1st place team like that, with those kinds of numbers, it sends a statement throughout the whole league." Wells on Portland's run at the end of the 2nd quarter: "If you didn't jump out of your seat, then you don't like basketball. That run we had, that was amazing. That was some of the best basketball I have seen in a long time. It was fun to watch." Scottie Pippen: "We're going to forget about this game after tonight. It's not going to happen like this very often. This might be a once in a lifetime type game." Derek Anderson: "It's definitely March Madness in the NBA. We had a good time. Everybody was sharing the ball." Don Nelson: "Not a whole lot to say. Just an old-fashioned butt whoopin'. We were out of it early." Nelson: "We got beat badly and it wasn't fun. They made everything. They got on a great roll and got confidence and were making all their shots. It made for a really long night." Nelson on Davis' thrown punch at Bradley: "That was a haymaker. If he would have hit him, he could have killed him. It's serious, serious stuff and our commissioner deals with that very harshly. We cannot accept that really as coaches, as players, as commissioners, as owners - you cannot allow that to happen. Really, it could have led to somebody being killed on the floor, and I expect that there will be a long suspension." Nelson on potential playoff opponents: "We'd rather play Memphis. There isn't anyone you want to play in the West. What are you going to say? Utah? I don't think so." Michael Finley: "They just whupped us." Steve Nash: "We couldn't guard them. We gave up 70 in the 1st half and it's hard to recover. We just played horrible defense. It's not that out of character for us. We have played bad defense all this year." Shawn Bradley on Davis' punch: "I got hit in the head. I was expecting it, but I took it." Bradley on Davis' punch: "All I know is I got hit in the head - and it didn't hurt. I just knew I needed to walk away. I never turned around and said anything to him or retaliated in any way because then I would have been sitting in the locker room, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to be on the floor." Avery Johnson: "I don't necessarily believe in statement games, but they were trying to send a message." Portland Trailblazers 132, Dallas Mavericks 106 at Portland (March 14) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Portland 32 41 38 21 - 132 .587 .481 .556 .760 Dallas 24 22 24 36 - 106 .563 .333 .526 1.000 Halftime: Portland 73-46 3rd Q: Portland 111-70 Technicals: Nick Van Exel 6:46 2nd, Dale Davis 6:45 3rd, Don Nelson 8:23 3rd Shawn Bradley 6:45 3rd, Adrian Griffin, 2:00 3rd, Steve Kerr 0:05 3rd, Rasheed Wallace 0:05 3rd, Ruben Patterson 4:54 4th Flagrants: Dale Davis 5:30 3rd (level 2 - ejected) Refs: Jack Nies, LeRoy Richardson, Michael Henderson Attendance: 19,980 (sellout) Portland Trailblazers REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Scottie Pippen 32 6-12 1-4 1-1 14 0-5 12 2 2 2 0 Rasheed Wallace 33 14-21 6-10 3-4 37 2-8 3 1 3 4 0 Dale Davis 24 3-6 0-0 3-3 9 1-5 3 0 2 0 3 Bonzi Wells 28 5-9 0-1 6-9 16 4-6 4 2 0 3 0 Damon Stoudamire 26 3-7 0-2 2-2 8 1-3 7 2 0 1 0 Derek Anderson 25 7-10 5-8 1-1 20 0-1 4 3 2 2 0 Shawn Kemp 6 1-3 1-1 0-1 2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Ruben Patterson 28 6-7 0-0 3-4 15 3-6 1 2 4 1 1 Chirs Dudley 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 1 0 0 0 0 Steve Kerr 13 3-5 0-0 0-0 7 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 Zach Randolph 12 2-7 0-0 0-0 4 1-1 2 1 1 0 0 Rick Brunson 10 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 2 1 1 0 0 Totals 48 50-90 13-27 19-25 132 12-35 40 15 17 13 4 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Michael Finley 27 8-13 0-0 2-2 18 2-4 1 4 1 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 24 5-13 3-7 6-6 19 0-3 1 5 2 2 0 Raef LaFrentz 27 3-7 0-2 0-0 6 1-4 0 0 4 1 1 Steve Nash 16 2-4 1-1 0-0 5 0-1 3 2 1 0 0 Johnny Newman 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Shawn Bradley 24 2-2 0-0 4-4 8 1-5 0 3 6 0 3 Greg Buckner 24 2-6 0-0 0-0 4 1-4 6 1 3 0 0 Nick Van_Exel 25 6-10 0-0 0-0 12 0-1 1 3 1 0 0 Eduardo Najera 20 3-6 0-0 0-0 6 2-5 2 1 2 0 0 Adrian Griffin 8 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0-2 3 1 1 1 0 Avery Johnson 24 4-5 0-0 7-7 15 0-1 7 1 1 3 1 Wang Zhizhi 14 5-8 0-2 3-3 13 0-2 0 1 0 1 0 Totals 48 40-76 4-12 22-22 106 7-32 24 22 22 9 5 patricia