Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trailblazers – Game 6 – Free Pick
[ad#Betus-144]Dallas leads this series 3 games to 2 as it moves to the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. This game will be played on Thursday, April 28, 2011. Dallas has had considerable trouble winning on the road in playoff history. They are 2-18 in the last 20 on playoff road games. Both teams will need to control the rebounds in order to have a chance to win. In game 5 Dallas held a 49-35 rebounding advantage.
Portland will have to hold the Mavericks back while they have the homecourt advantage. One thing the Trail Blazers know is they can come from behind as they did in Game 4 when they were back 23 points in the third quarter to win the affair. LaMarcus Aldridge had nine boards and 12 points but will need held from Gerald Wallace who chipped in nine rebounds and 16 points in the last contest. Brandon Roy has to catch fire as he was cold in Game 4 with only 5 points on the night. Portland was the 3rd best free throw shooting team during the season with just over 80%. They scored just under 2 points a game more than their opponents.
The Mavericks had 14 points and a career best 20 rebounds from Tyson Chandler in Game 5 for Dallas to win going away. Dirk Nowitzki leads the team and he has scored over 20 points in each of the playoff game so far this series. Jason Kidd and Jason Terry added 14 and 20 points respectively. In the last game Dallas was 26 for 35 from the charity stripe. Dallas outscored the Trail Blazers 17-8 in second chance points in the last game. Forward Shawn Marion may be the key to this game as he added 14 points in the last game and shoots over 50% from the field. Dallas is in the Top Ten of three of the five main defensive categories in the NBA. They also score 4 points a game more than their opposition.
Look for this game to be a close affair in Portland. Dallas has too many offensive weapons to be shut down by a weak Portland defense. Dallas enters the game as the underdog at +4.5 for the game. Look for Dallas to cover that and may even win the game.
