TUALATIN, Ore. — The seedings say that the Dallas Mavericks are the favorites against the Trail Blazers. And the fact that they will have home-court advantage supports such an idea.
But according to Dallas guard Jason Terry, Portland is in fact the team to beat in the first-round playoff series that begins Saturday — at least it is if you listen to everybody else.
“We’re a team that everyone wants to play, for some reason or another,” Terry told the Dallas Morning News. “All seven other teams wanted to play us. Now, we’re the underdog and we’re going out fighting every night.”
There do seem a disproportionate number of national pundits predicting that the sixth-seeded Blazers will beat the third-seeded Mavs.
And many of those who picked Dallas admitted that it might have been their most tenuous prognostication.
But perhaps Portland forward Gerald Wallace best described the Blazers’ attitude toward their upcoming opponent when he was asked how he felt about playing Dallas.
“I feel good,” he said. “It’s better than playing the Lakers in the first round.”
That may be true, but you’re not going to find other members of the Blazers expressing relief in drawing Dallas.
Granted, the Mavericks have lost in the first round in three of the past four postseasons since falling to the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals. They also have a reputation for playoff futility, and since January have been without Caron Butler, who averaged 15 points per game this season.
But they still have All-Star Dirk Nowitzki, future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, big man Tyson Chandler as well as Howard. And if you ask around, that right there is enough incite some concern.
“We didn’t say any of that stuff,” said LaMarcus Aldridge, responding to a question about Dallas being the underdog. “They’re good. They started out one of the hottest teams in the NBA. We didn’t try to pick anyone. … That’s a really good team with a lot of options.”
Nowitizki being option No. 1.
The power forward is averaging 23 points per game this year for the Mavs, but a shade under 22 points in the three games against the Blazers. And the last time he suited up against Portland, he was held to 16 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
An anomaly, Blazers coach Nate McMillan says.
“I think he’s one of the toughest guys in the league to guard,” McMillan said. “Just because of his ability to take the small guy and shoot over the top, or if you put a big on him, he can take him out on the perimeter. I think he’s probably one of the toughest matchups in the league.”
The Blazers have been in this position in the two seasons before this one — poised for a playoff run only to be bounced in the first round. So the question is: what’s different about this year?
Well, for one, they made one major upgrade to their roster.
“I think we’re definitely more prepared,” Aldridge said. “I think with adding Gerald, there are a lot more things we can use in the playoffs.”
But McMillan was reluctant to deem this team more ready than those of year’s past.
Yes, he did say that “we don’t fear the Mavericks, but we do respect them,” and added that “we believe we can win,” but when asked if this team was more mentally prepared, he responded: “We’ll see.”
Coach of the month
McMillan’s name has been tossed around for Coach of the Year honors lately, although most of the chat seems to suggest than Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau will take home the award. Even so, McMillan was named the Western Conference Coach of the Month for April on Thursday.
The Trail Blazers went 5-2 this month, the best mark for any Western Conference team. In typical fashion, he didn’t give himself a lot of credit, saying it was the collective effort of his assistant coaches and players.
Matt Calkins can be contacted at 360-735-4528 or matt.calkins@columbian.com
