Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers: Postgame Grades and Analysis
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds, Nicolas Batum had 15 and 12, and the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away from the Dallas Mavericks, 94-75, at the Moda Center Thursday night for their fifth straight win.
The victory did not come without some bad news, though, as Wesley Matthews tore his Achilles and will miss the remainder of the season, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:
Matthews' teammates were obviously devastated. Per Amy Schwartz of 750 The Game:
Matthews is remaining optimistic. Per Joe Freeman of The Oregonian:
This game was ugly most of the way. At halftime, the Blazers held a 40-36 edge after the Mavericks only mustered 13 points in the second quarter.
Portland heated up in the second half, but it still finished the night shooting only 42 percent overall.
Monta Ellis and Amar'e Stoudemire were the high scorers for Dallas, scoring 12 points apiece.
The Mavericks shot just 38 percent from the field and went 2-of-16 from three-point range.
| Dirk Nowitzki | D |
| Rajon Rondo | B- |
| Monta Ellis | F |
| Tyson Chandler | B- |
| Richard Jefferson | B |
| Rest of Team | C+ |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | A- |
| Damian Lillard | C- |
| Nicolas Batum | A- |
| Wesley Matthews | Incomplete |
| Robin Lopez | B+ |
| Rest of Team | C |
Dallas Mavericks
This was an ugly night for Dirk Nowitzki.
The All-Star scored 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting, missing open looks and shots that came with guards defending him off switches.
Nowitzki went 0-of-4 from three-point range and grabbed only four rebounds in 27 minutes.
Worse still, Dirk recorded a game-worst minus-24.
Rajon Rondo: B-
Rajon Rondo had a strange evening.
The mercurial point guard came close to a triple-double, tallying 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. However, he turned the ball over four times.
He also made several mid-range jumpers, but then missed some easy layups.
It was the definition of a Jekyll and Hyde-type performance for the once-elite floor general.
Rondo shot 5-of-13 from the field on the night.
Monta Ellis: F
Ellis simply could not a buy a bucket Thursday night.
He went 5-of-20 from the floor despite only taking one three-pointer. He missed several layups and also misfired on numerous open mid-range looks.
Ellis' perception was clearly off, as he frequently shot long.
He also forced some shots.
Head coach Rick Carlisle took part of the blame, per ESPN's Mike Peasley:
Peasley is right. Ellis had plenty of good looks.
Ellis ended up with 12 points, five assists and three steals.
Tyson Chandler: B-
Tyson Chandler was solid on the glass, grabbing 14 rebounds, but otherwise, he was quiet.
The pick-and-roll just wasn't there for Chandler on Thursday night, as he took only four shots, making one. Credit the Blazers defense for taking away Chandler's trademark alley-oop slams off of rolls.
Chandler also did not provide much in the way of rim protection, blocking only one shot. It's not entirely his fault, though, as his lack of a presence defensively had a lot to do with the fact that he had to guard LaMarcus Aldridge away from the basket much of the night.
Chandler scored four points.
Richard Jefferson: B
With Chandler Parsons nursing an ankle injury, Richard Jefferson got the start.
He was effective in his 33 minutes, tallying nine points and six rebounds and going 4-of-6 from the floor. He did a solid job of leaking out for transition opportunities, which resulted in easy dunks.
Jefferson also knocked down a triple.
Rest of Team: C+
You have to appreciate what Stoudemire brought to the table in limited minutes.
The big man scored 12 points in 14 minutes of action, going 5-of-7 from the floor and flashing his solid mid-range jumper.
Otherwise, it was slim pickings.
Devin Harris scored seven points, but he did so off of an inefficient 3-of-8 clip. Harris injured his right thumb during the game, per Earl K. Sneed of DallasMavs Insider:
J.J. Barea was even worse, going 2-of-8 from the floor and missing badly on some open looks.
Portland Trail Blazers
LaMarcus Aldridge: A-
This was a solid night for Aldridge.
He set the tone early, getting off to a red-hot start, scoring 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first quarter. He pulled Chandler out to the perimeter and drained jumpers, and he created mismatches with switches and hit turn-arounds.
Aldridge did not do much offensively the rest of the game, scoring only six points after the first quarter, but the damage he did early was monumental given Portland's offensive struggles.
The big man pulled down 12 rebounds, too.
Aldridge shot 7-of-16 from the field.
Damian Lillard: C-
Damian Lillard's struggles from Wednesday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers carried over into Thursday night.
While he did not go 1-of-13 like he did against the Clippers, he shot 4-of-10 and turned the ball over five times.
His stat line of 14 points, six rebounds and five assists doesn't look so bad on the surface, but it's evident that his game is off right now.
Of course, it's more than likely just a mini-slump, and Lillard will almost surely break out of it soon.
He showed signs of doing so in the third quarter, in which he scored eight points and hit a couple of treys.
Nicolas Batum: A-
Nicolas Batum got off to a rough start in the game, missing six of his first seven shots, but he was eventually able to find his groove.
Batum made five of his last six field-goal attempts, finishing 6-of-12 from the field. He made a pair of three-pointers and filled up the stat sheet.
The Frenchman posted 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
He committed three turnovers early on in the contest with some very sloppy passes, but he rebounded very well in the second half.
Wesley Matthews: Incomplete
Wesley Matthews tore his Achilles during the third quarter of the game.
Matthews struggled during his 18 minutes, going 1-of-5 from the floor (0-of-3 from three-point range) and scoring four points. He did add three assists, however.
Of course, given the circumstances, giving him a grade would not be appropriate. Let's hope he makes a great recovery for next season.
Robin Lopez: B+
This was a typical night at the office for Robin Lopez.
The center tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, shooting a solid 5-of-10 from the floor.
Lopez was active on the offensive glass, grabbing four boards on that end of the floor, tipping in misses and keeping balls alive for fresh possessions.
His rim protection was also impressive, as he altered several other shots to go along with his trio of blocks.
Rest of Team: C
Dorell Wright gave the Blazers a nice lift off the bench, scoring eight points and knocking down a pair of three-pointers in his 11 minutes.
Chris Kaman had an up-and-down night. He contributed six points and seven rebounds, but he shot only 2-of-7 from the floor and committed three turnovers. There were a couple instances in which he forced tough shots in the post instead of kicking the ball out to reset the offense.
Alonzo Gee provided a nice spark, going 3-of-3 for six points. He also threw down a monster transition dunk off of a steal that brought the crowd at the Moda Center to its feet.
Then there was Arron Afflalo, who struggled big time.
Afflalo went only 2-of-9 from the field and missed all three of his long-range tries. He had some good looks, but just could not get them to drop.
What's Next?
Things don't get any easier for the Mavericks, as they will head down to Oracle Arena on Friday to take on the Golden State Warriors at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The Blazers, on the other hand, will have a very winnable road game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.
