The Portland Trail Blazers welcome the Dallas Mavericks into the Rose Garden tonight in a battle of Western Conference playoff contenders. Portland is sitting in 5th place in the tight conference race while Dallas is in 8th, but the teams are only separated by a game and a half. Portland really needs this win to keep pace in the West and Dallas is undoubtedly looking to build on a win in Phoenix last night. There are some good and bad things to consider for Portland when dissecting this game. The good news for the Trail Blazers is that they have been impressive at home all year and even more devastating on the home court as of late. The bad news is that Dallas has owned Portland in the last few years and they are one of only five teams to win in the Rose Garden this year. The Blazers should win this behind the rowdy Blazer faithful, but a let-down following the big win over the L@k*rs on Monday night is a definite possibility. Let’s look at some of the keys to the game:
- The Blazers need to come out with energy early and often. The Mavs are coming off a game last night in Phoenix and their tired legs should be no match for the younger, fresher Blazers.
- Nowitzki is obviously the lynchpin of the Dallas attack and keeping him relatively in check will be a key to Blazer victory. Teams have great success when they can limit Dirk to under 20 points. The Blazers accomplished this in their loss at Dallas last month but still lost by five. I will take my chances if the Blazer defense can manage to do this again on the home floor.
- Portland needs to establish dominance inside like they did against the Lakers on Monday night. Dirk is not a banger and Dampier is slow and foul-prone. I like it when Portland looks for Przybilla in the offense even if he isn’t the most dynamic scorer. Forcing the Dallas defense to worry about the paint should give the Blazer shooters plenty of open looks.
- Outlaw, Batum, and Przybilla need to rebound on both ends of the floor. Przybilla always does this and Batum will usually try to get involved on the boards, but Outlaw needs to scrap for second-chance opportunities and defensive rebounds as well. LaMarcus Aldridge will most likely be paired up with Nowitzki, whose perimeter game should neutralize much of Aldridge’s ability to get rebounds.
Overall Blazer fans should be hoping for intensity and passion from both the players and the crowd as the team tries to get a game from another playoff contender. A let-down after the L@k*r game is possible but coming down the stretch of the season the Blazers need to realize that EVERY game is important and play accordingly. A loss tonight would erase a lot of the good feelings from Monday’s thumping of K*be and Lake Show.
Prediction: Blazers 102 Dallas 95
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