PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—Brandon Roy’s go-ahead bank shot with 39.2 seconds left capped Portland’s 23-point second half comeback and the Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks 84-82 on Saturday night, evening the first-round playoff series
at two games apiece.


Series at a Glance
vs.
Series tied at 2-2

Roy, who has struggled to find his place on the team since undergoing
arthroscopic surgery on both knees in January, had 18 of his 24 points in the
fourth quarter alone.
Both teams have held home court in their best-of-seven playoff series, which
heads to Dallas on Monday.
Trailing 64-41 in the third quarter, the Blazers started to rally. They
trailed 77-70 after consecutive jumpers by Andre Miller.
Jason Terry answered with a 3-pointer but then Roy drove down the lane and
finished to narrow it to 80-74 with 2:32 to go. LaMarcus Aldridge added a
turnaround jumper.
Roy’s long jumper pulled the Blazers within two, but Shawn Marion came back
with his own jumper for Dallas—before Roy made a 3-pointer and a free throw
with 1:06 left tied 82.
After Roy’s go-ahead jumper banked in, the Mavericks missed two 3-point
tries, the first from Jason Kidd and the second from Terry as time ran out. Roy
defended Terry on the final shot.
Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points to lead the Mavericks.
The Blazers started slow, going 0-for-4 from the floor with two turnovers,
and finished the first quarter shooting just 25 percent (4-for-16). Dallas
capitalized on the pace, taking a 22-13 lead early in the second quarter after
Terry’s jumper.
Aldridge didn’t score for the Blazers until a pair of free throws 7:36 mark
of the second quarter.
While successfully defending Aldridge, the Mavericks were spreading their
scoring around better than they had in the previous three games, and extended
the lead to 33-23 on Tyson Chandler’s layup.
Tempers flared with 3:21 left in the first half when Aldridge and Chandler
got into a shoving match under the Blazers’ basket, resulting in a technical for
each.
The scuffle seemed to bring the fans—and the Blazers themselves, back into
the game. Portland closed to 37-35 at the break after Wesley Matthews’ layup and
a pair for free throws from Aldridge.
Matthews led the Blazers with 25 points in Portland’s 97-92 victory in Game
3 on Thursday night, which drew the Blazers within 2-1 into best-of-7 series.
The Mavericks did not go to the free-throw line in the first half, while the
Blazers went 12-for-12.
Kidd’s high-arcing 3-pointer game the Mavs a 48-37 lead in the third quarter
and the Rose Garden crowd fell quiet. It touched off a 16-4 run by the Mavs
capped by Peja Stojakovic’s 3-pointer to make it 64-41.
The Blazers missed their first 15 shots from the floor in the third.
Roy had 16 points in Portland’s Game 3 win after grousing to a reporter in
frustration after going scoreless in Game 2. The three-time All-Star has played
off the bench since his surgery in January, and has at times had trouble
adjusting to his diminished role.
The Mavs opened the playoffs with an 89-81 victory. Nowitzki had 28 points—
18 in the fourth quarter alone—and 10 rebounds. The 7-foot veteran had 33
points in Dallas’ 101-89 win in Game 2.
Overall against Dallas, the Blazers have a 48-18 advantage at home in the
regular season, and they’re 8-1 in playoff games.
Dallas is 2-1 when it opened 2-0 in 15 previous best-of-7 series. The
exception was the 2006 NBA Finals when the Miami Heat defeated the Mavericks in
six games. The Heat were just the third team to claim a championship after
trailing 0-2.
The last time Dallas and Portland met in the playoffs was 2003. The Mavs
claimed the first three games before the Blazers won the next three. The
Mavericks took the deciding game in Dallas.
Notes: Minnesota forward Kevin Love, who grew up in Lake Oswego, Ore., sat
court-side… Lots of security was apparent behind the Dallas bench. Maverick
owner Mark Cuban, sitting in the seats just behind his players, said he was hit
in the face with an unknown object in the fourth quarter of Game 3. Cuban was
unhurt.