The Mavericks defeated the Trail Blazers tonight 91-80 for their second consecutive win. A few statistical notes from the game:
- Once again, the Mavericks' solid free-throw shooting makes a big difference. The Blazers shot 12 of 19 from the line while the Mavs made more with fewer attempts in a 13 of 14 night. They currently sit at second in the NBA in free throw percentage at 83.3 percent, barely behind Toronto. The Mavs have also attempted 138 more free throws than the Raptors, so who's really been better from the line?
- The Mavericks were 4 of 9 from three-point range tonight (44.4 percent), while the Blazers were 4 of 14 (28.6 percent). It breaks a streak of seven straight games in which the Mavs had shot a worse three-point percentage than their opponent. In that stretch, they were barely better than .500 at 4-3. Very curious, indeed.
- Josh Howard quietly had his best game of the season. With 23 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and only one turnover, Josh came four short of matching his career high in rebounds and one short of tying his career high in defensive rebounds.
- Brandon Roy really stunk tonight. It's obvious that Josh Howard made even more of an impact than just rebounding and scoring. Assigned to Brandon Roy on defense, Howard gave Roy no room to work and forced the ball out of his hands on many occasions. Roy committed 2 turnovers and shot 3 of 12 for the night. When you take Roy out, the Blazers can't do much.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd
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