Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers – NBA preview
On Friday night April 6, 2012 Dallas Mavericks will be hosting the match against Portland Trail Blazers here at the American Airlines Center.
Mavs are on the 6th playoffs spot in Western Conference and will be fighting to seek back to back games for the 1st time in 2 months. Portland are way out of playoff picture and are struggling under the stewardship of new interim coach
Kaleb Canales. He took over the reins of power after Nate McMillan was fired by the franchise. Blazers are 6-6 under Canales regime.
Both teams will be facing each other for the 2nd time in this season. They were at loggerheads on February 11 earlier and Mavs edged out Trailblazers’ 97-94 after a nail biting match that was decided in extra time. Dirk Nowitzki tallied 20 and
netted the decisive fade away jumper with 16.9 clicks left in double overtime to bank the dramatic victory against LaMarcus Aldridge (33 points) and Portland.
Portland are striving for a spot in playoff and the interim coach’s future could be decided on qualification. They require a minimum of 5 back to back games to escalate into the last spot for playoffs.
Raymond Felton who is averaging 10.8 points, 6.4 assists and 2.5 boards per game is yearning for a miracle to take them into the post season.
"We've got to figure it out," guard Raymond Felton said. " We've got to figure out how to go on a roll for like five games."
On the other hand, Mavs are looking to cement their qualification for the playoffs. They will have to look out for LaMarcus Aldridge, who has been averaging 21.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game in this season. He scored over 20 for the straight fourth time
on Wednesday against Utah Jazz. Trail Blazers handed a 101-88 defeat to Jazz by pulling a 19-3 sprint at the death. Portland will be using the confidence acquired from this game.
Mavs are looking forward to end their inconsistent stretch and they are all pepped up after outscoring Memphis Grizzlies, 95-85 on Wednesday night. After the match these two teams are tied on the 5th playoff spot in Western Conference.
Blazers are 7-19 on the road and they haven’t enjoyed a winning streak since January 23-24. The upcoming match will be of grave importance. They are 3 ½ games short of Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets, these two teams are tied at the final two spots for
the playoffs in Western Conference.
"It was a good bounce-back (victory) for us," Jason Terry who is averaging 15.0 points and 3.5 assists in this season said. "Obviously we're fighting with all these teams for playoff positioning and this was a crucial game for us, as are all of them."
A fascinating game awaits at the American Airlines Center.
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