Mavericks 114, Trail Blazers 91
DALLAS - O.J. Mayo scored 32 points and the Dallas Mavericks pulled away in the fourth quarter to down the Portland Trail Blazers 114-91 Monday night at American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks improved to 3-1 with their second consecutive win at home, while Portland dropped to 2-2. Mayo's performance followed a 30-point showing - his highest-scoring game in three years - in Saturday's win over Charlotte.
Mayo has transitioned nicely to the starting lineup in Dallas after spending much of the last two years coming off the bench in Memphis. The fifth-year guard has drilled 13 of 18 three-pointers in the last two games.
Dallas point guard Darren Collison added 14 points and 13 assists, his second double-double in a row. Chris Kaman had 16 points off the bench.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Wesley Matthews paced the Blazers with 20 points apiece. Rookie point guard Damian Lillard had 13 points and five assists.
The Mavericks turned a close game into a rout with a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to open up a 95-83 lead. Kaman and Dominique Jones each scored four points during the spurt to give Dallas its first double-digit lead since the first quarter.
The Blazers were able to stay close for much of the game, which featured a battle of similar styles. Portland and Dallas are near mirror images of each other offensively, and it makes sense. First-year Blazers coach Terry Stotts spent the previous four years on Rick Carlisle's staff in Dallas.
Mayo's sizzling performance in the third quarter kept the Maverick ahead going into the fourth. He drilled all four of his shots, each coming from beyond the arc. Excluding Mayo, Dallas was only 4-for-15 from the floor in the third quarter.
Dallas went into the locker room holding a slim 57-55 halftime lead behind 16 points from Mayo. The Mavericks led throughout the half, but weren't able to shake the scrappy Blazers despite shooting 63.4 percent.
Portland shot 50 percent through the first two quarters and kept close by pounding the glass, especially after missed shots. The Blazers had eight offensive rebounds, leading to an 11-3 edge in second-chance points.
Aldridge had 15 points and Matthews added 12 by halftime. Lillard (eight points) and Meyers Leonard (six points, seven rebounds) were also productive in the first half.
Kaman came off the bench for Dallas with 10 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting. Collison had eight points and eight assists in the first half.
Mayo had the hot hand early for the Mavericks, continuing his recent strong play. The fifth-year guard scored 12 of Dallas' first 22 points as the home team took control early.
The Blazers found themselves down 20-10 after Mayo drilled a 3-pointer midway through the opening period. Portland began to crawl its way back behind Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Lillard.
NOTES: Inactives were Dirk Nowitzki and Roddy Beaubois (ankle) for Dallas, and Victor Claver and Elliot Williams for Portland. ... Stotts was an assistant for four years with the Mavericks. "I always thought he was a guy who had a lot of strengths and few, if any, weaknesses," said his former boss, Carlisle. ... Former Mavericks and ESPN play-by-play announcer Jim Durham died unexpectedly Monday. "He was irreplaceable," Mark Cuban said.
