Mavericks, Trail Blazers chasing final playoff spot
Trail Blazers at Mavericks
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, American Airlines Center, Dallas
TV: FSSW
Radio: ESPN/103.3 FM; Univision/1270 AM (Spanish)
Records: Trail Blazers 22-30, Mavericks 20-30
About the Trail Blazers: Portland is one of the teams battling the Mavericks for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot. The Blazers are ninth in the standings, and the Mavericks are in 10th, and tried to close the gap Monday night in Denver against the eighth-place Nuggets. ... Portland has lost three of its past four games. The Blazers wasted a 29-point, seven-rebound effort from Damian Lillard in Sunday’s 105-99 loss in Oklahoma City. ... Portland is 8-19 on the road and have lost four of its past five road games. ... The Blazers have one of the NBA’s best backcourt duos. Lillard is averaging 26 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists. C.J. McCollum averages 23.4 ppg and is tied for 11th in 3-point shooting at 41.9 percent. ... Mason Plumlee is averaging 11.1 ppg and a team-high 7.9 rpg, and Allen Crabbe averages 10.7 ppg and is third in the league in 3-point shooting at 43.6 percent.
About the Mavericks: After going 0-9 in the second game of a back-to-back this season, the Mavericks beat Cleveland on Jan. 30 to break that skid. Harrison Barnes (24 points, nine boards) and Wesley Matthews (21 points) paved the way in that 104-97 victory. ... This is the final meeting of the season between the Mavericks and Blazers, with Dallas leading the season series 2-1. ... Damian Lillard poured in a season-high 42 points to pace the Blazers to a 105-95 win in Dallas on Nov. 4. The Mavericks responded with two wins in Portland. Barnes had 28 points and seven rebounds as the Mavericks won 96-96 on Dec. 21. On Friday, rookie Yogi Ferrell scored a career-high 32 points as Dallas won 108-104.
Dwain Price
This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Mavericks, Trail Blazers chasing final playoff spot."