Thursday,  December 12 , 2024

Linkedin Pinterest
News / Sports / Blazers

Blazers can’t hold back Mavs

Mayo's 32 points leads Dallas to 114-91 win

The Columbian
Published: November 5, 2012, 4:00pm

DALLAS — O.J. Mayo scored 32 points, his second consecutive 30-point game at home, and the Dallas Mavericks used a fourth-quarter surge for a 114-91 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Mayo, one of a trio of Mavericks newcomers who scored in double figures, made six 3-pointers on his 25th birthday and capped his night with a running dunk with 1:18 left. He scored 30 in the home opener two nights earlier.

Chris Kaman had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Darren Collison had 14 points and 13 assists with only one turnover for the Mavericks. It was Collison’s second consecutive double-double.

The Trail Blazers are coached by Terry Stotts, a Mavericks assistant the past four seasons under Rick Carlisle.

LaMarcus Aldridge, a Dallas native, and Wesley Matthews had 20 points each for Portland. Nicholas Batum had 14 points, while J.J. Hickson had 11 rebounds.

Dallas led only 85-83 with 10:17 left before ending the game with a 29-8 run, even using plenty of its bench players. Kaman, who was 8-of-9 shooting in his Dallas debut, started that run by making his sixth consecutive shot.

The Mavericks shot 62 percent (48 of 78) from the field, and have been better than 60 percent in both home games.

The only sour note for Dallas, which is already without Dirk Nowitzki (recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery), was Shawn Marion leaving the game in the third quarter with a strained right knee. He had eight points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes.

Mayo hit 3-pointers from the right wing and then the left wing earlier in the third quarter. He hit another from long range to put Dallas up 70-67 with 5 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.

After Sasha Pavlovic beat the shot clock buzzer with a 3-pointer to get Portland within 74-73 late in the third quarter, Collison passed to Vince Carter for a 3-pointer. Mayo added another 3 before the end of the third to stretch the lead to 83-77.

Mayo scored seven points in the first 5 minutes of the game and had 12 of the Mavericks’ first 22 as they built an early 10-point lead.

Portland got even at 43 on two free throws by rookie point guard Damian Lillard before Aldridge’s three-point play gave the Trail Blazers their first lead, 46-45, with 4:16 left in the first half.

Lillard went to the bench only 3 minutes into the game because of two fouls.

Lillard had matched Geoff Petrie as the only players in Blazers history to score 20 or more points in his first three games. He had joined Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history with at least 20 points and seven assists in his first three career games.

But he couldn’t make it four in a row. Lillard finished with 13 points and five assists.

Notes: There was a moment of silence before the game in memory of ESPN radio announcer Jim Durham, who died last weekend at his home in Texas. Durham was the Mavericks’ television play-by-play man from 1993-2001. … Another former Mavericks assistant coach brings his team to the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night. Dwane Casey is in his second season as Toronto’s head coach.

Support local journalism

Your tax-deductible donation to The Columbian’s Community Funded Journalism program will contribute to better local reporting on key issues, including homelessness, housing, transportation and the environment. Reporters will focus on narrative, investigative and data-driven storytelling.

Local journalism needs your help. It’s an essential part of a healthy community and a healthy democracy.

Community Funded Journalism logo
Loading...