Trail Blazers 106, Mavericks 104
PORTLAND, Ore. -- LaMarcus Aldridge's basket at the final horn gave the Portland Trail Blazers an improbable 106-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night at the Rose Garden.
The Trail Blazers (23-22) rallied from a 21-point, third-quarter deficit and trailed by seven with a minute and a half to play.
Aldridge scored 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Portland, which won for the third time in four games after losing six in a row. J.J. Hickson added a season-high 26 points and hauled in 15 boards for the Blazers.
Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 26 points for the Mavericks (19-26).
Dallas extended a 17-point halftime lead to 69-48 early in the third quarter before Portland rallied behind Aldridge, outscoring the Mavericks 26-11 the rest of the quarter to trail only 80-74 entering the final period.
The Blazers tied the game at 88-88 on a Sasha Pavlovic breakaway dunk after a turnover, then went ahead 90-88 on Pavlovic's driving layup with 6:43 to play.
Dallas outscored Portland 13-4 over the next five minutes -- keyed by Darren Collison's banked-in 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring -- to forge a 101-94 lead.
The Blazers cut it to 101-98 with 52.4 seconds to go thanks to four consecutive free throws -- two each by Aldridge and Wesley Matthews.
Nowitzki missed a jumper and Portland's Nicolas Batum knocked down a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left to tie it at 101-101. Nowitzki answered with a trey to push Dallas back in front 104-101 with 11.4 seconds to go.
After a Portland timeout, Aldridge buried a 3-pointer -- his first of the season -- and the score was knotted at 104-104 with 4.5 seconds remaining.
Following a Dallas timeout, Mavericks guard O.J. Mayo was called for charging with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Portland called timeout, then got the ball to Aldridge for the game-winner.
Dallas led by as many as 19 points en route to a 59-42 halftime lead.
NOTES: Mavericks center Chris Kaman was unavailable after suffering a concussion during practice Monday. Rookie Bernard James -- who got his first start in Sunday's 110-95 win at Phoenix -- and veterans Brandan Wright and Elton Brand shared time at the post. The trio combined for 20 points and 13 rebounds. ... Portland reserve center Jared Jeffries, who missed Sunday's 96-83 loss to the L.A. Clippers at Staples Center due to a hip injury, returned to action. He finished scoreless in seven minutes. ... First-year Portland coach Terry Stotts was an assistant under Rick Carlisle the previous four seasons in Dallas. "Terry has done a great job here," Carlisle said. "I don't know exactly what expectations were, but I know (the Blazers) have exceeded them, and he has had a lot of do with that." ... The Mavericks were on the first leg of a four-game road trip that includes stops at Golden State, Phoenix and Oklahoma City. "We've done some better things," Carlisle said, "but this is a very challenging part of our schedule, so we have to take those things we've done well and continue that and amp things up. We're going into some hostile places."
