Gerald Wallace scored 19 points on 8-10 shooting and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 as the Portland Trail Blazers earned a big win over the Dallas Mavericks -- a potential opponent in the first round of the NBA Playoffs -- on Sunday. Dallas was without Tyson Chandler and seemed to lack motivation; Portland led by as many as 21 before a couple late runs made the score more respectable.
Mavericks Vs. Blazers: Gerald Wallace, LaMarcus Aldridge Beat Up On Dallas
Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 points on 5-12 shooting, but played just 35 minutes as Rick Carlisle limited him to four minutes in the hopeless fourth quarter. Portland went with Marcus Camby in the starting five and Aldridge and Wallace at their natural forward positions, and Camby played Brendan Haywood to a stalemate. Shawn Marion gave Wallace some trouble (19 points on 8-11 shooting), but Jason Kidd and top reserve Jason Terry were awful, shooting a combined 1-12 for four points, five assists and three turnovers in 53 wasted minutes.
It's hard to tell what sort of impact Chandler would have made against Aldridge, who didn't shoot particularly well anyway (9-17) and is prone to inefficient nights against physical defenders. What remains clear, though, is that Dallas desperately needs more out of Kidd and Terry. Nowitzki is wonderful, and Marion and Rodrigue Beaubois (18 points on 6-12) are capable of big nights. But Kidd can't be a minus if he's getting more than 25 minutes a game, and Terry has to get into double-digits for this team to survive.
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