It’s back to the drawing board for the Portland Trailblazers. After a spirited performance in the Rose garden, the Blazers saw their playoffs hopes dashed yet again and the Dallas Mavericks finally got the first round monkey off their back.
It was a scrappy game to begin with, and the way the Blazers started the game, it looked like they were going to force a game 7. That was until the Blazers Chris Johnson took things a little too far with a cheap flagrant foul on Dirk Novitzki in the second quarter. The cheap shot seemed to awaken the veterans on the Mavericks.
Suddenly, Jason Terry became The Jet again, Shawn Marion turned into the Matrix and Disco Dirk and J Kidd started balling out.
The Mavericks would go on a 13-2 romp to erase the great start by the Blazers and they would never look back.
It was refreshing to see Dirk respond in the manner in which he did. For years he’s been plagued as the one super-star that couldn’t consistently lead his team past the first round and his critics have always maintained that the 7 ft scorer might be a little too soft for the playoffs. Not this year.
Leading the way with a 30 point outburst, Nowitzki and the Mavericks eliminated the Blazers in six games, crushing the hearts of the Rose Garden faithful in game 6 with a definitive 103-96 victory.
As for the Blazers, there will be many questions surrounding the future of this team and Brandon Roy. LaMarcus Aldridge has proven he’s ready to take the reigns as he looked unstoppable down the stretch. Brandon Roy’s health problems and ability to lead the team will certainly be a hot topic in the offseason.
