Mavs Put Trade Behind Them, Regroup And Blowout Blazers 96-76

Posted by Jeff Sack under Main

It will be forever known in Dallas as “The One That Got Away.” The Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets had everything in place to send Jason Kidd to Dallas in exchange for a combination of players, draft picks, and money. There was only thing wrong. The Mavericks forgot that reserve forward Devean George had a no-trade clause in his contract, which he exercised killing the deal. George did not help his popularity in Dallas Wednesday night, as he started in place of the injured Josh Howard (out with a bruised back) and went 0-11 from the floor and scored nary a point. But a huge effort from Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to a 96-76 thumping of the Portland Trail Blazers 96-76. And the beat goes on.

George missed the pre-game shoot around, as he was discussing with his agent about invoking his no-trade clause. In fact he did not know he was starting until getting to the Arena, just before game time. George acknowledged he had a terrible night on the court, as well as being the perceived villain right now in “Big D.” He said that he would take the responsibility of being in his words “the bad guy” with a big smile on his face according to reporters.

Dallas except for George, did not look like they were effected by the trade falling through? as they led from the opening tip, and jumped to a?28-15 lead after the first quarter. The?Mavericks saw their lead shrink to only 11 points, as they led Portland 54-43 as the two teams reached the half. Dallas got the lead back up to 14 points, at the end of the third leading 73-59. Portland was never able to get any closer than 11 points,?in the final period as the Mavericks just ran away and hid.

Nowitzki recorded a double-double, scoring a game high 37 points, grabbing a game high 12 boards, 2 blocks, 2 assists, 1 steal. Jason Terry scored 24 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, point guard Jose Juan Barea came off the bench and scored 11 points, 4 assists, 4 rebound. Center Erick Dampier also registered a double-double, as he scored 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block. ?

Brandon Roy scored a team high 25 points for the Blazers, he also had 6 assists, 6 rebounds in the loss. Steve Blake scored 13 points, 5 boards, 1 assist, and Travis Outlaw scored 13 points as well for the Trail Blazers, and 1 rebound as he came off the bench. Dallas will pick up the pieces, and move on, their record is now 35-17, Portland is 28-24.

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