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Posted by Kevin Arnovitz

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7:52 PM: Watching Brandon Roy break down Devean George is a thing of beauty.  George is a very attentive defender and isn't easily suckered.  But Roy unleashes a devastating left-to-right crossover, puts his head down, takes one hard dribble, eludes the help defender, then elevates.  

7:56 PM: Style points for Batum, if nothing else. 

7:57 PM: Do I need to comment on the red & green uniforms, having already registered my disapproval for sartorial deviance in the NBA? 

7:59 PM: You get the feeling that it's one of those nights when three Dallas perimeter defenders will collectively use 12 fouls to contain Brandon Roy. 

8:00 PM: As Greg Oden tries to develop an offensive repertoire, that drag S/R with Steve Blake might be a good place to start. 

8:08 PM: He's been banged up so long that we tend to forget how complete a player Josh Howard is when he's healthy.  

8:11 PM: Aldridge needs to recognize when and when not to leave Nowitzki out on the wing.  More times than not, he needs to stay at home.  Nowitzki is shredding the Portland defense, and is now 6-8 from the field in the period. 

8:12 PM: Sergio Rodriguez would start at the PG for half the teams in the league. 

8:19 PM: We're seeing two of the best screeners in the league tonight: Joel Przybilla and Erick Dampier.  When Tyson Chandler is engaged, he'd qualify as well. 

8:24 PM: Jumpin' James Singleton is a nice energy guy and played well for the Clippers for a couple of seasons.  He can guard any wing, a lot of post players, will crash the glass, and can shoot the ball on occasion.  

8:28 PM: Dampier is a +9 right now.  Outlaw brings up the rear with a -6. 

8:32 PM: Dirk is tormenting Aldridge on every set.  Aldridge can't figure out if he should stay up on him, set himself for the dribble-drive, prepare for the coming screen, what to do when the screen comes.  The young forward is flustered.  

8:34 PM:  A nice mano-a-mano right now between Roy and Howard.  I like how Howard sealed himself off and claimed the baseline against Roy. 

8:40 PM: It's early yet...but Travis Outlaw handled Nowtizki in the post quite well.  He showed some good defensive footwork. 

8:44 PM: Steve Blake can't get caught on that rub, because Jason Terry is too good to be left alone. 

8:46 PM: Yep.  The Mavs are scorching Blake on that S/R with Dirk and Terry.  But Blake just struck back!

9:10 PM: Something Aldridge generally needs to do more of: Challenge defenders in the post.  The great thing about backing in...you can always pass out!

9:11 PM: I love that you can stick Batum, who's essentially playing the small forward, on the ball. 

9:12 PM: This is a positive adjustment for Aldridge, who looked lost in the first half:  He's challenging Dirk on both ends. 

9:15 PM: By forcing that fourth foul on Dirk, he earns a matchup against a much smaller defender in Singleton who, while scrappy, is less of a handful for Aldridge than Dirk. 

9:17 PM: Blake is usually perceptive, but he missed Aldridge, who had picked up Jason Kidd on a mismatch.  That only happens a couple of times per quarter, and those mismatches need to be exploited when they surface. 

9:20 PM: Singleton can pick up some smaller PFs, but Aldridge, at 6' 11", is just too much length for him. 

9:28 PM: Josh Howard ejected.  Dallas has been pretty cantankerous all night.  Bad break for the Mavs because Howard was starting to hum in the offense.  He was working a nice advantage on Steve Blake on the block.  They'll miss him down the stretch, especially with all the foul trouble. 

9:31 PM: Look, I know Jason Terry hit the 3PA, but how, if you're Terry, do you not go to Dirk Nowitzki when he's got Steve Blake on him all alone on the left side with nobody in close proximity to help?  

9:37 PM: Outlaw has been surprisingly effective on Nowitzki, relatively speaking.  Dirk is going to hit some of those fade-aways no matter who's on him, but Outlaw has deprived Dirk the kind of space he likes, and that's worth something.  

9:39 PM: Jason Kidd never put a body on Fernandez off the Blake miss.  

9:40 PM: Very fun period of basketball.  

9:50 PM: An enormous turnaround for Aldridge, who was struggling early. 

9:54 PM: Not a shot you want to see Fernandez taking at this juncture, irrespective of the fact that he drained it. 

9:55 PM: Portland is a remarkably unselfish team for as young as they are. 

9:59 PM: Here's what I like if I'm Portland.  Blake & Oden screwed the pooch on that first S/R from Barea and Bass.  But on they very next possession when Dallas returned to it, Oden made the adjustment. 

10:01 PM: And, again, Oden handles it nicely.  It's called a learning curve. 

10:02 PM: Jason Terry knows exactly where to go in transition -- to a spot just to the left of the top of the arc.  If you're Portland, you have to trail him there, and/or close quickly. 

10:03 PM: Dallas goes back to the Barea/Bass S/R.  This time the switch burns Portland because Blake can't possibly keep Bass off the glass. 

10:07 PM: Is Dallas going to ride JJ Barea and Brandon Bass to a big road win?  Will Portland let them? 

10:09 PM: An elite team knows how to avoid an undesirable switch, and Portland isn't quite there yet.  They got victimized down the stretch by a two-man game of Jose Juan Barea and Brandon Bass. 

10:11 PM: That's a nice win for Dallas.  Dirk found himself in foul trouble, and Howard got booted.  But they dominated the boards, and had the temerity to stick with something completely improbable that happened to be working.