Good times in Portland "I don't think anybody on the Mavs have balls. They are all a bunch of KEN dolls. How u let that happen???"
This reeks of 2006. Mavs up 2-0 and looking in control needing to take at least one on the road. The big lead late in the game. Disappears. Like that. Like they never led by 23. Like they never held the Portland Trailblazers to like 15 straight misses in that third quarter. Like Brandon Roy doesn't have a total lack of cartilidge or that he wasn't weeping on the bench during game two.
84-82.
At the beginning of the series, I presented five things that I thought would determine this series. One of those is the big quarter. The Mavericks can not afford to allow 30-40 points in any one quarter against a good team.
The Mavericks had actually kept the bad quarters at bay. Until the fourth quarter today. Thirty-five points. Brandon Roy scoring 18 including a four-point play and the banked-in game winner.
Reminded me of the 2006 Finals so much. Right down to the four-point play. Remember in game 3 or 4 when Josh Howard fouled the ancient Gary Payton on that four-point play?
It all came flooding back today.
I'm going to honest: The Mavericks can come back here. They can go back home, regroup and still win at the American Airlines Center. It's not nearly as dire as Miami, I don't think.
Frankly, it's impossible to tell where everyone's head is at. Everyone knows this team's history. Everyone knows about 2006 and 2007 and everything in between. Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Co. didn't have to be here to understand what took place. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry certainly remember.
I'm giddy waiting for what the Mavericks do Monday night.
Notes:
1. J.J. Barea was simply embarrassing out there. It's shocking that Portland -- with those big guards -- haven't taken more advantage of the minutes he's played.
2. Rick Carlisle is taking it in the nuts regarding his ability or inability to make in-game adjustments, especially as Roy torched them in the fourth. Deservedly so. Plenty of guys -- Corey Brewer, DeShawn Stevenson, et al. -- to throw at him. Make him work.
3. Dirk: 33-80 for the series.
4. A lot was made of the free-throw disparity and whatnot. I think the Blazers were very aggressive in getting to the basket and, honestly, the Mavericks were extremely aggressive defensively, challenging players and getting physical. That's fine, but be prepared for fouls. As for the Mavericks, you don't get foul calls for the sake of evening as stat line. I didn't see many -- if any -- missed calls.
5. How do you know the Mavericks haven't panicked? Roddy Beaubois and Corey Brewer have yet to see the floor.
6. Chandler had six points, seven rebounds and five fouls. He has 30 rebounds, 16 points, 17 fouls in two blocks in the four games. That's what we call "quiet."
7. Per Barea, I can't believe Stevenson hasn't gotten more minutes. Maybe Carlisle really likes having Kidd-Barea out there together, but it doesn't seem to work. The Blazers' guards are too big. Barea and Kidd are too much of defensive liabilities together.
