Dallas Mavericks Run Out of Gas In Overtime, Lose to Portland's Buzzer Beater

LaMarcus Aldridge is damn good.

- Dirk had Marion leaking out, and he blew the pass. There was nothing wrong with the decision -- he wasn't trying to thread the needle or anything. He just flat out blew it. It happens. I wish it didn't happen with the game on the line in overtime, I wish that Dirk had threw that pass right into the mitts of Marion and the Mavericks taken the lead, I wish that a timeout had been called and the Mavericks had been able to put up a potentially game winning shot and at the worst, gone to double OT. But I'm not going to second guess Dirk's decision, because it was right. The execution just was not there.

- Taking the foul at the end of overtime was certainly a questionable decision. After Felton lost the ball after some wild dribbling and recovered it, he was ten feet beyond the three point line with his back to the basket. In four seconds, he would have had to turn, elude Jason Terry, get back to reasonable shooting distance, shoot a rushed, contested jumper, AND make it. Instead, four seconds seemed like an eternity when used up off an inbounds play, and LMA was able to get several dribbles before releasing his game winning buzzer beater. With that said, it's a lot to ask of Terry to calculate all these factors in his head and decide NOT to take the foul, so I don't blame him too much.

- The third quarter was the Mavericks undoing. They were outscored 30-10, and so the trend continues. Whatever the problem is, the Mavericks consistently come out flat after halftime, losing leads and blowing chances to run away with the game. For a group of old veterans, it seems a bit surprising that they are losing focus like that. It's on Carlisle to figure something out.

- Jason Terry made himself felt in the clutch, once again. Two huge three pointers in the fourth quarter to answer Portland buckets, a beautiful pass to Marion inside to tie the game, and a steal off the following Blazer possession to eliminate even a chance at the win. However, a part of me dies every time he pulls up for twenty feet on a fast break where the Mavericks have numbers. That miss was a huge moment in OT.

- Fourteen boards for Dirk is nice to see. 23 points on sixteen shots is nice to see as well, but much more the norm. He's still as unworldly as ever, and I know he wants that pass back as much as anyone.

- The Brandan Wright-Ian Mahinmi seesaw was firmly tilted in Wright's way tonight. He was stellar.

- Raymond Felton was 12-18. That's like ten more shots than he should ever make on a nightly basis. Especially with Delonte West defending him.

- Five assists to zero turnovers for Roddy. Unfortunately, it was paired with five three point attempts to zero three point makes. If this Roddy that we're seeing right now, one that makes the right passes and plays lockdown defense, can actually find his shot back in 2010 where he left it, how can Carlisle NOT going to play him twenty a night?