Wesley Matthews helps Portland Trail Blazers beat Dallas Mavericks, 97-92: NBA Play-off Recap
Wesley Matthews scored 25 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers dominate the Dallas Mavericks 97-92, in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarter-final series.
The win pulled the Blazers to 2-1 in the first-round play-off series.
Brandon Roy came off the bench and finished with 16 points and four assists while LaMarcus Aldridge posted 20 points for the Blazers, who will have a chance to even the series in Game
4 on Saturday afternoon.
"We had a sense of urgency. That came from everybody," Matthews said. "It started when we took the court. The crowd was amazing. It was everything they said it would be. It was a must-win
for us, and we took care of it."
Reserve Jason Terry added 29 points and seven assists for the Mavericks, while Dirk Nowitzki ended with 25 points and nine rebounds.
Roy came into the play with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter and hit a 21-foot jumper to give Portland a 28-23 advantage.
In the beginning of the second quarter, Terry drained a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 31-28 edge and Nowitzki drilled a 10-foot jumper on an 11-4 run to make it 37-32.
The Blazers came back to even the game at 41-41 on Andre Miller’s layup. Roy’s 3-pointer then put the Blazers ahead 44-43.
The Blazers held the advantage until Nowitzki nailed a 3-pointer to equalise it at 52-52. Matthews then scored a go-ahead layup to give the Blazers a 54-52 edge at halftime
Terry hit another three-pointer to make it 57-54 for the Mavericks late in the third quarter. Dallas held a 72-71 edge with less than a minute to play in the third, but Roy and Nicolas
Batum made two free throws for the Blazer to cap the quarter.
Batum connected on a jumper and Gerald Wallace hit a 3-pointer to give the Blazers an 87-74 advantage with less than nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Nowitzki drilled a pair of jumpers to make it 87-81 midway through the period. However, Dallas could not draw even down the stretch.
Jose Barea’s layup cut the Mavericks deficit to 93-87 and Nowitzki connected on a turnaround bank shot to make it 95-90 with just 43 seconds to play.
“We hang our hat on defence,” Terry said. “We gave up 95 points to this team, which we hadn’t done in the first two games. That’s the reason why we lost.
"I love the way we battled back. We fought hard and guys stayed into it. We battled extremely hard, but we just couldn't overcome our bad start," Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle said.
Jason Kidd hit a long jumper with 13 ticks remaining but Mavericks ultimately could not catch the Blazers.
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