Dirk Nowitzki had 33 points and 11 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks withstood a furious Portland comeback to beat the Trail Blazers 103-96 Thursday night and take the first-round playoff series in six games. The Mavericks advanced to face the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, who beat New Orleans 98-80 Thursday night to take that [...]

Tyson Chandler is the active, energetic big man the Dallas Mavericks have never had before. He’s also a pretty good strategist.   Knowing the season was basically on the line in Game 5 of their first-round series against Portland, Chandler went to coach Rick Carlisle on Monday morning with a suggestion. Instead of always playing [...]

Brandon Roy’s season had been fraught with uncertainty, first over the stability of his knees, then over his diminished role with the team. All those doubts melted away on Saturday when he led the Portland Trail Blazers to one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history.   With 39.2 seconds left, Roy made a [...]

Before Thursday night’s playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy got a text message from Charles Barkley.   The text encouraged Roy to keep his “head up, have fun out there and stay positive.” Roy, who has struggled in the second half of the season after double knee surgery, had [...]

The Portland Trail Blazers must feel like they are in an NBA time warp. First they got beaten by Jason Kidd, now Kidd and Peja Stojakovic.   Even the Dallas Mavericks are feeling the retro mood. They’re up 2-0 in a playoff series for the first time since 2006. Stojakovic tied his career playoff best [...]