DALLAS -- The curious case of Brandon Roy heads back to the Rose Garden. It's up to the Dallas Mavericks to solve this riddle in Game 6 in Portland where Roy has devastated Dallas or face a Game 7.

The difference in Roy's performances from Games 1, 2 and 5 in Dallas compared to Games 3 and 4 in Portland is nothing short of remarkable, if not unbelievable.

In three losses in Dallas, Roy is 3-of-15 from the field for a grand total of seven points. In Portland, he's the All-Star that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle says he continues to game plan against. On his home floor, Roy is shooting 15-of-23 from the floor for 40 points. He more than quadrupled his road total with 18 fourth-quarter points in his phenomenal Game 4 that kept the series alive for Thursday's Game 6.

"He's been great up there so we've got to make sure we do a better job on him on Thursday," Dirk Nowitzki said. "He really took the game over, just got in a zone, making 3s, and-1s, shooting floaters off the glass, turnaround spins, I mean, he had the whole package going. We did a lot better job of getting into him and not giving him anything [in Game 5], but you know Thursday he's going to come out swinging."

In Portland, Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, J.J. Barea and Shawn Marion whiffed at guarding Roy. The Mavs turned to more zone defense in Game 5 in Dallas and also chose to challenge the Portland guard's further upcourt.

They'll look to utilize that aggressiveness on the road in Game 6.