Blazers demolished in Dallas
The Headline: The Blazers can’t do anything to stop O.J. Mayo, as they fall to the Mavs 114-91.
Portland Trail Blazers 91, Dallas Mavericks 114
When: 8:30 ET, Monday, November 5, 2012
Where: American Airlines Center (Dallas)
Officials: Joe Crawford, Kane Fitzgerald, Marat Kogut
Attendance: 19,521
Love ‘em
1. L.A. and Wes keep it going
The starters had a rough go of it tonight, but LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews stayed hot.
L.A. kept his streak going, hitting the 20 point plateau for a third game in a row. He also added seven rebounds, a steal and a block. When he was on the court, Portland played big and strong.
Wes had a great night shooting, hitting 8 of 15 shots for 20 points. He was 3-4 from the 3-point line, and had a steal on the night.
Both these guys just keep going, and hopefully they can keep it up for the remainder of the year.
2. Meyers Leonard
Meyers Leonard had some quality minutes off the bench tonight, and he made the best of his opportunity.
In 23 minutes, Leonard had nine rebounds, six points and a block. Four of his rebounds were on the offensive glass.
Leonard didn’t start the game, but he was a solid defensive sub off the bench. His strong play also allowed J.J. Hickson to get plenty of rest, and he responded with an energized night of his own (11 rebounds and 7 points in 25 minutes).
3. Crashing the boards
Playing against an undersized—and Dirk-less—Mavericks team, the Blazers dominated size in this one. They were able to play big for most of the night.
While it wasn’t their best defensive effort, they were still very good on the boards. Portland out-rebounded Dallas 48-37. The Blazers also had 23 offensive boards in this one, compared to the Mavs’ 2.
Those second chances helped Portland stay in the game all night, before going cold in the fourth.
Hate ‘em
1. Unstoppable Mayo
O.J. Mayo was everywhere in this one, and PDX had no answers. (Photo: Yahoo Sports)
Portland was not great on defense tonight, and it showed in O.J. Mayo’s stat line.
Without Dirk Nowitzki, Mayo become the primary scorer for Dallas. The pedestrian shooting guard finished with a very non-pedestrian 32 points on 12-18 shooting. He was 6-8 from the 3-point line.
Mayo was also a nuisance on defense, with two steals and a block.
The Blazers got the chance to play big in this one, and they should have been able to shut down the Mavericks. While they were solid in the paint, they just couldn’t do anything on the perimeter.
2. Ronnie Price
Portland’s bench is going to struggle, that’s no surprise. But if they’re going to have problems scoring, the least they can do is try their best to mitigate the damage.
Backup point guard Ronnie Price did no such thing tonight. In 18 minutes of play, he finished with 4 points, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 5 fouls. The starting five only had 3 fouls on the night, and Price finishes with 5.
If the bench isn’t going to be a threat offensively, they have to at least be sound defensively. Price was anything but tonight.
3. Ball control
Portland had a tough time running their offense tonight, and it showed in how they protected the ball.
The Blazers finished with 13 assists, but also 13 turnovers (5 of which came from Matthews). As a team, the Mavericks had 12 steals.
The Blazer’s offense didn’t run through anybody tonight, and all-in-all this was a disappointing group effort.
About Jonathan Irwin
