Mavericks Vs. Blazers, Game 5: Dirk Nowitzki And Dallas Rebound From Game 4 Collapse, Win 93-82

Dallas blog Mavs Moneyball still found plenty more of praise to pass around.

Blaxers fans don’t want you to get any ideas. “The score is not really representative; the Blazers never really challenged in the second half of this game, as no player ever took control,” says Blazer’s Edge. Of course, they also pointed out certain statistical discrepancies on the evening:

via mocksession.com

Dallas blew a 23-point lead in Game 4’s 84-82 loss, falling back into a tie in the series. But Monday’s frontcourt performance and shutdown defense in the fourth quarter has the Mavs headed back to Portland holding a 3-2 series edge.

Dallas is working with a 36-27 rebounding advantage, 15-7 on the offensive glass and have taken 31 free throws, compared to Portland’s 11.

Be sure to check out our Mavericks vs. Blazers hub. For more on Portland, visit Blazer’s Edge. For more on Dallas, visit Mavs Moneyball and SB Nation Dallas.

Following the trend of their NBA playoff series thus far, the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers matched each other stride-for-stride in the first half. Heading into the break, the Mavericks hold a two-point advantage after Shawn Marion hit two free throws with under a minute to go.

Dirk Nowitzki led all scorers with 12 points in the first half. Jason Kidd failed to score a point, but dished out eight assists and grabbed four rebounds for the Mavs. Jason Terry was his usual, solid self off the bench, scoring nine first half points and providing a lift in relief, as he has all series. Marion had eight points while Tyson Chandler had a seven points and a team-leading nine rebounds in the half.

We’ll find out for sure at 8 p.m. on NBATV. But in a rush to paint a clear storyline, we’re forgetting that Game 4 probably won’t have much to do with Game 5. The Blazers can’t possibly count on another performance like that out of Roy, not without the home court to lift him. Conversely, the Mavericks probably can’t count on the Blazers’ abysmal shooting for most of the game, so Game 4 was really just a bunch of anomalies coming together.

We then have to try to find trends from Games 1-3 to figure this one out. In Games 1 and 2, the Mavericks were just too strong down the stretch. In Game 3, it was Portland that was able to execute and make the necessary plays to win. Game 5 is back in Dallas, so that would seem to favor the Mavericks. But of course, little in this series has made sense.