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Monday, Jan. 10 10:00pm ET
Blazers struggle before coming to life | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Portland Trail Blazers struggled through the first half before Scottie Pippen woke them up. Pippen had 17 points, including three 3-point baskets in the decisive third quarter, to lead Portland to a 107-94 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. "We did a better job finding guys for layups and dunks in the second half," Pippen said. "We just took our time and were much more patient. We found the tempo we need to play instead of playing their tempo." The Blazers led 52-51 early in the third when Pippen hit his first 3-pointer from the corner. Pippen hit two more long shots during the next three minutes as the Blazers went on an 18-8 run from which the Mavericks didn't recover. Damon Stoudamire and Detlef Schrempf also scored 17 points for Portland, which has won 15 of its last 16 games against the Mavericks. Schrempf had 14 points in the fourth, when the Blazers took an 18-point lead. Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 19 points and Cedric Ceballos added 18 points and 11 rebounds. Rookie guard Damon Jones made four of his five 3-point baskets in the fourth quarter, finishing with 15 points. The Blazers took a one-point lead at halftime, before pulling away in the third quarter. Pippen, Stoudamire and Rasheed Wallace turned up the intensity at both ends of the floor. Stoudamire scored 10 points in the third and also had a pair of steals, while Pippen and Wallace each scored nine points. Pippen also had two assists and a steal during Portland's run. "We finally got into our defense in the third," Stoudamire said. "We knew we were going to get a lot of open looks the way Dallas plays -- with a lot of switching and things like that. It was like shooting practice for a lot of guys." The Blazers led 78-67 entering the fourth, when their reserves took over. The Mavericks closed the margin to seven points early in the fourth, but Schrempf responded with two quick baskets and the rout was on. Later, Schrempf made a pair of 3-point baskets. "We finally got used to their switching on defense and did a better job helping each other out making good passes," Schrempf said. "How many assists did we have? Thirty-two? Yeah, that sounds right." Jones had three points entering the fourth, but got hot from 3-point range when the outcome was settled. He made five of his six 3-point attempts in 24 minutes of play. "They have 12 players that can play, whether it's small ball or big ball," Nowitzki said. "They push the ball all the time because they always have fresh guys in there. They have so many weapons. Nowitzki's shooting kept the Mavericks close in the first half. The Mavericks trailed 38-30 when Nowitzki scored six points during a 10-0 run that put them ahead 40-38 with 3:05 left in the second quarter. "They have 12 players that can play, whether it's small ball or big ball," Nowitzki said. "They push the ball all the time because they always have fresh guys in thers. They have so many weapons. Brian Grant made two 15-foot jumpers late in the quarter to put the Blazers ahead 46-45 at halftime.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Dallas Clubhouse Portland Clubhouse Mavericks might be interested in Rodman
RECAPS Vancouver 112 Boston 103
Portland 107
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