Live from the Moda Center as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Dallas Mavericks.
Mirror on the wall, here we are again. Since Terry Stotts was hired away from the Mavs, these two franchises have been decidedly linked. Jump shooting big man? Check. Incredibly efficient offense? Check. Raymond Felton?!?! Uggggggh.
With spacing, three-point shooting, and an unguardable Dirk Nowitzki, Coach Stotts helped architect a championship-winning offense in Dallas. He used many of the same traits—albeit with a less-rangy big man, LaMarcus Aldridge, holding down the elbows—to create the second-best offense in the league in Portland last season.
But for as good as the Blazers were on offense last season, the Mavericks and Run DMC have been infinitely better to start this year. Yes, it’s another installment of Small Sample Size Theater, but so far the Dallas offense has been laying waste to the league. Time to see if that new and improved Blazers defense (top ten in the league!) is legit or also just a SSST-mirage.
Fix those headbands, it’s time for basketball.
PRE-GAME:
Dallas got the band back together! This offseason they traded for Tyson Chandler, getting their defensive lynchpin back after they let him walk in free agency three seasons ago. Not only that, they picked up JJ Barea off the scrap heap once he was dumped by the Timberwolves. If they could find a time machine and a way to pry Jason Terry away from the Rockets, the championship would be theirs.
After holding the team together last year with duct tape and paper clips—cut to a nodding Samuel Dalembert—the Mavs forked over some serious money to bring in Chandler Parsons. Hopefully the nightclub millionaire will be able to take the floor tonight. If I were him, I’d be collapsed in a ball muttering 0.9 to myself on repeat.
For the Blazers, tonight is another chance to prove themselves against the league’s elite. Four games in, their two wins are against the dumpster fire that is the Cleveland Cavs and the depleted Oklahoma City Thunder roster. A win on national TV, especially against what many consider to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference, would be huge.
Oh, and if anyone was curious, Monta Ellis does indeed have it all.
FIRST QUARTER:
11:15 - Chandler Parsons breaks the ice. I guess he isn't too traumatized after all. 2-0 Mavs.
9:28 - The Mavs are aggressively doubling Aldridge every time he catches the ball in the post. No matter. A pick and roll with Nicolas Batum lead to a wide open alley-oop. 6-4 Blazers.
7:40 - It only took five minutes, but already the crowd has had enough of this officiating. Scott Foster is making his presence felt, and Tyson Chandler is getting away with a lot of "verticality" calls that have been a little questionable. 11-6 Mavs.
5:14 - Chandler Parsons fumbled the ball out of bounds and received the loudest cheer so far tonight. You do you, Blazers fans. 11-8 Mavs.
3:54 - Robin Lopez with a jump shot is so weird. He has all the space in the world with Aldridge getting double teamed constantly, and he's hitting that twelve footer with ease. 13-12 Mavs.
1:42 - If you're going to get posterized, is there a worse player to be the posterer than Chris Kaman? Even his uncontested dunks are ugly, let alone throwing it down over a defender. 17-16 Mavs.
1:33 - CJ McCollum entered the game for the first time...and gave up a quick and one to Devin Harris. Oof. 20-16 Mavs.
0:00 - So much for all that offense. Both teams are slogging through this one, missing easy looks and coughing up the ball. They're shooting 50% from the floor still, but it feels closer to 5%. 24-20 Mavs.
SECOND QUARTER:
11:05 - Dirk is, by most accounts, the best dude ever. But Thomas Robinson is out here trying to get under his skin, and it looks like it's working. Dirk is visibly frustrated, and nearly picked up a technical arguing a foul call. 24-22 Mavs.
10:10 - CJ? More like 3J, amirite? Ugh, sorry, even I hate myself for that one. But McCollum did just knock back to back triples, forcing Dallas to call time. 28-24.
9:11 - Dirk has had just about enough of Robinson, knocking down back to back jumpers in his face. 30-28 Blazers.
6:12 - Points are being scored, but it's like pulling teeth. Sorry America, but this has been some ugly basketball. I promise the Blazers are more fun than this. 35-34 Mavs.
4:41 - Al-Farouq Aminu tried to stuff it on Lopez, but Robin stood his ground and blocked him at the rim. The rebound bounced to Dame, but Aminu was able to knock the ball out of his hands and it somehow found the bottom of the basket. 40-34 Mavs.
3:26 - Nothing is falling for the Blazers. They've had three or four good looks from deep, but everything is rimming out. They'll have to get points the hard way—Robin Lopez knocking down free throws. 40-36 Mavs.
2:01 - Another rough finish to a quarter—Dallas has their largest lead of the night. Dirk is doing his best Dirk impression, knocking down a three and a (perfectly) contested jumper in back to back possessions. 45-38 Mavs.
0:54 - Dirk fell down on a three-point attempt, so Dirk drew a foul. Kaman contested the shot but didn't touch Dirk, and this crowd is letting the refs know what they thought about that call. 48-42 Mavs.
0:11 - Another call in favor of Dallas, this time as Lopez and Tyson Chandler battled for position on a rebound. Two free throws two makes. Portland will have one last look before the end of the half. 50-44 Mavs.
0:00 - A broken play—Lillard nearly turned it over—led to a little floater by McCollum that came up an inch short. Aldridge was able to get a hand on the rebound and volleyballed it back up and in as the clock expired. Dallas is only shooting 39% from the floor but have the lead thanks to nine Portland turnovers. 50-46 Mavs.
THIRD QUARTER:
11:33 - The good news is Monta Ellis picked up his fourth foul and will be on the bench for the rest of the quarter. The bad news is Dame missed a wide open three and is now 2-8 on the night, including 0-4 from distance. 50-46 Mavs.
9:26 - Parsons raked Dame across the arm on a driving layup attempt—no call. Not to pick on one ref, but Scott Foster was right there and didn't call it. I, of course, have the benefit of replay, but I don't know how he swallowed his whistle on that one. Thankfully Portland got the ball out of bounds, and LaMarcus was able to drain a jumper. 53-52 Blazers.
8:06 - Matthews caused a turnover, Batum lead the break, and Dame had a nifty reverse layup around Dirk. Here comes that offense. 59-55 Blazers.
6:37 - Oh, nothing, just a quick 12-0 run by Portland. 65-55 Blazers.
5:06 - Batum finally sunk a three—he had been 0-3 on three good looks—and shook his head in disgust. The make was nice, but he knew he should have had the others as well. 68-59 Blazers.
4:34 - Matthews! Three more! Dallas needs time. 71-59 Blazers.
3:35 - Batum faked a three, watched his defender fly past, then drove and dunked it home. No basket, as the refs called three in the key on Lopez instead. 71-62 Blazers.
1:56 - Richard Jefferson is guarding LaMarcus Aldridge? Is this real life? 73-66 Blazers.
1:00 - After that Chris Kaman jumper, Portland's bench has 22 points on the night, or ten times what they averaged as a unit last season. 78-66 Blazers.
0:00 - With four seconds left in the quarter, the Blazers were unable to go the length of the floor and get a shot off. That was about their only blemish on an otherwise amazing quarter. Also, the Nicolas Batum triple-double watch is on—he enters the fourth with eight points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. 81-68 Blazers.
FOURTH QUARTER:
11:23 - Monta Ellis gambled and missed on a steal. Dame recovered and found CJ in the corner for three! 84-70 Blazers.
11:15 - And almost immediately after, Thomas Robinson picked a pass off near mid-court and drove all the way down for the easy layup! 86-70 Blazers.
10:03 - Kaman with the offensive rebound and put back at the rim, and Dallas already needs a timeout. 88-70 Blazers.
8:07 - Steve Blake successfully guarded Dirk in the post, then Dame knocked down a step back jumper over two defenders. When things are going right... 92-74 Blazers.
7:22 - Okay, Dame is back. Good lord. Another step back jumper, this time from behind the three-point line and with a hand right in his face. Nothing but net. This might be the last we see of the Dallas starters tonight. 95-74 Blazers.
7:22 - A scary scene here at the Moda Center. During the timeout, a stretcher had to be brought on the floor and a woman was carried out of the 100 level. As she was being wheeled off the court, an EMT was performing CPR. Hard to think about playing basketball after that. 95-74 Blazers.
5:47 - The benches are emptied. The only thing left is for Meyers Leonard to fulfill his destiny as the new Luke Babbitt and sink a three for free french fries. 98-74 Blazers.
4:32 - Dorell Wright, how you gonna steal that three from Meyers like that? 101-74 Blazers.
3:00 - Meyers Leonard: Three-Point Assassin. 104-80 Blazers.
1:18 - I'd try and update more during this last minute, but nobody wants to hear anything about Richard Jefferson or Charlie Villanueva. 107-83 Blazers.
FINAL: 108-87 Blazers. Well, that was something. Coming into tonight Dallas had the best offense in the league by a mile, and Portland completely shut them down. This new and improved Portland defense might just be good after all. After a somewhat shaky start, the Blazers now sport a comfortable 3-2 record overall.
