Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trailblazers  (December 20)

Jason Kidd did not play due to a sprained neck.

Clifford Robinson opened the game with a layup.  Dallas responded with a
layup and 2 free throws to take an early 4-3 lead with 11:03 left.
Portland then went on an 8-1 run to go up 11-5 with 8:30 to go.  Portland
led 18-11 with 5:50 left.  The team traded 3-pointers and Portland led
26-17 with 3:40 remaining.  Portland led 29-23 after 1.  Portland
dominated the Mavs in the paint by scoring 20 points inside while Dallas
only scored 4 points inside.  

The 2nd quarter started sloppy with lots of misses by both teams.
Sabonis hit 2 free throws to give Portland a 33-27 lead with 10:10
remaining.  Dallas scored the next 6 points to tie the game at 33-33 with
8:55 left.  Portland scored the next 8 points as Kenny Anderson converted
the 3-point play with 5:48 remaining to give Portland a 41-33 lead.  Chris
Gatling finally put some points on the board for Dallas with 2 free throws
with 3:40 left as Dallas had missed their last 10 field goal attempts and
hadn't scored in 5 minutes.  Gatling's free throws started a 10-4 run by
Dallas to close the half.  Portland led 49-45 at the half.  Portland shot
46% (19-41) FG and Dallas shot 35% (14-40) FG.  Portland shot 9-13 FT and
Dallas shot 16-22 FT.

Then came the dreaded 3rd quarter.  Jim Jackson scored the first points of
the quarter with an 18-footer with 11:30 remaining and Dallas wouldn't
score again for over 3 minutes.  During that time, Portland scored 7
points including 2 consecutive jams on the break from Isaiah Rider.  Eric
Montross looked pathetic as he fumbled away the ball several times.  
Jackson got a jam on the break to finally put more points on the board for
Dallas with 8:13 left.  Portland led 56-49.  Dallas again went dry over 1
minute 40 seconds while Portland scored 4 points in the paint.  Jackson 
hit a 19-foot turn around jumper to "cut" Portland's lead down to 60-51 
with 6:35 left.  Anderson left the game with a sprained ankle, but that 
didn't help the Mavs any.  Dallas again went scoreless for a period of
time, this time for over 5 minutes, as Portland rattled off 16 straight
points.  Portland led 76-51 with 1:22 remaining.  Oliver Miller got a T
for throwing and elbow and then got tossed for complaining.  Robinson
negated Gatling's 2 free throws by making both technicals.  Portland led
80-55 after 3.  Portland out-scored Dallas 31-10 in the quarter.  Dallas
committed 9 turnovers in the quarter and shot just 4-19 FG.  Rider 
scored 12 points in the quarter and Robinson scored 8 points in the 3rd.

The blow-out continued in the 4th.  Portland led 94-67 with 6 minutes left
and Portland won 107-77.


Portland out-rebounded Dallas 55-29 and outscored the Mavs 64-28 in the
paint.  Portland shot 50% (41-82) FG and Dallas shot 33.8% (27-80) FG.
Clifford Robinson led the way for Portland with 21 points including 7-11
FG and 3-4 3-pointers and 5 rebounds.
   
 
Quotes:
P.J. Carlesimo: "We went soft again in the second quarter after getting a 
10-point lead.  But in the third we came out from the start and took 
charge.  When we play defense and rebound and get stops we're a very good 
team."

Carlesimo: "I thought we struggled in the second quarter.  When the score 
was 43-33, I thought to myself that we'd made a nice little run and 
loked like we were going to take control but we went soft again.  That's 
why the third quarter was so pleasing.  We came out from the start and 
took charge."

Carlesimo: "I thought Reggie Jordan did a really good job for his first
time out in quite a while.  He rebounds and an aggressive defender and 
brings a lot of energy to our team."

Isaiah Rider: "It all started with our defense tonight in the third 
quarter.  We've got guys that can run and run all night, but we can't do 
it without the defense."

Clifford Robinson: "It always feels good to get a win, especially when 
we came out and play hard like that.  The more we can come out like that 
and play hard and give ourselves an opportunity to get the crowd in to it
and have a little bit more fun.  That's what it's all about."

Jim Cleamons: "In the third, we came back within two points.  Then we had 
a rash of turnovers, walks, and I burned a 20-second timeout and a full 
[timeout] but we just disintegrated."

Cleamons: "I was hoping we would shoot better in the second half after 
being down only by four points at halftime.  It turned out to be a bad 
shooting night and a bad rebounding night for us."

Cleamons: "We're not mentally tough enough and we don't have stamina to 
compete on the 2nd night [of back-to-back games].  At halftime, I saw 
some very encouraging signs, but then we fell apart."

Derek Harper: "It's disappointing.  It became embarrassing, as far as I'm
concerned.  You have to want to care enough not to just take a
butt-whipping and 'cool' on through it."

George McCloud: "We were right there.  We go through these lapses where we
don't score.  We got good shots.  I don't know if it's a lack of
concentration or a lack of execution."

Eric Montross: "They came out with an attitude to run us over in the 2nd 
half and they did just that.  We didn't execute well and our turnovers 
became our frustration."

Jim Jackson: "They're really big, one of the biggest teams in the league.  
But you've got to block out and we just didn't do that."

Jackson: "It's embarrassing to go through something like that.  We were in 
the game and it was like we just gave up.  If that didn't hurt our pride, 
we need to look ourselves in the mirror.  It's no fun to have the other 
team yawning and clowning around while you're losing by 30."

Dal-Por boxscore