Dallas has played excellent defense in the first two games, holding the Blazers to just an average of 85 points per game. It’s the Mavs’ first 2-0 series lead in the playoffs since 2006. In the Game 2 101-89 Dallas win that really wasn’t ever in doubt, Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 33 points. He scored 18 in the fourth quarter of Game 1. Peja Stojakovic had his best game since becoming a Maverick in Game 2 by tying his career playoff best with five 3-pointers and had 21 points. Jason Kidd looks young again in this series – those few games off at the end of the regular season appear to have helped. Kidd’s nine 3-pointerss are the most in the playoffs. He's converting them at a 56.3 percent clip, up from his 29.8 percent in March and April. Kidd’s 21.0-point scoring average is nearly triple his season average of 7.9.

The Mavericks won’t be bothered by playing away from Dallas as the tied for the best road record in the NBA during the regular season at 28-13. However, Dallas was 0-2 in Portland this year. And the Mavericks have 16 of their 18 postseason games away from Dallas, a trend that started after they took a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA Finals. Portland was 30-11 at home this season. The Blazers need more from star LaMarcus Aldridge at crunch time. Aldridge has had a strong series, averaging 25.5 points and shooting 55.3 percent from the field. But he has just six field goal attempts in the two fourth quarters and has totaled nine points.

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