Mavs win 20th

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 103-98 Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center.  With the win, the Mavericks recorded their 20th win of the season and improved to 20-5 on the year.  It marks Dallas’ best start through 25 games since 2002-03, in which the Mavericks went 22-3 to open the season.
The game was tied at 91 with 2:59 to go in regulation, but Dallas closed the fourth quarter on a 12-7 run en route to a 103-98 victory. Dirk Nowitzki scored eight of the Mavericks’ last 12 points in the game.
Mavericks forward Caron Butler tied a season-high with 23 points (10-19 FGs, 3-3 FTs) to go with seven rebounds and four assists on the night. The Mavericks improved to 3-0 on the year when he leads the team in scoring.
Mavericks guard J.J. Barea tallied 10 points (4-7 FGs, 2-2 FTs) off the bench for the Mavericks in the win. Dallas is now 7-0 this season when Barea scores in double figures.
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who entered Wednesday’s game ranked fourth in the league in scoring with 25.2 points per game, recorded just nine points in the first half for Dallas. But Nowitzki tallied 12 points after intermission (all in the fourth quarter) and finished with 21 points on the night.
Trail Blazers forward and Dallas native LaMarcus Aldridge recorded a season-high 35 points (14-26 FGs, 7-10 FTs) and 10 rebounds en route to his ninth double-double of the season. His previous high point total this season was 33, which he recorded against Chicago on Nov. 1.
The Mavericks next game is vs. Phoenix on Dec. 17 at 8:30 p.m. CT