Sports

 
                    === Mayo, Mavs outlast Trail Blazers ===
 
 Dallas,  TX (Sports  Network) - O.J. Mayo  poured in a game-high 28 points and
 dished  out five assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 105-99 win over the
 Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
 
 Vince  Carter added 17 points off the bench and Dirk Nowitzki finished with 16
 points  and  eight rebounds for the  Mavericks, who had dropped three of their
 last four games entering the contest.
 
 Shawn Marion finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the triumph.
 
 With the victory, Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle became the 28th coach to reach
 500 career wins.
 
 "It means I've been around a long time; I'm getting old. It's meaningful, but
 I'm not into those kinds of things," Carlisle said. "I'm into the day-to-day
 stuff. One relief I have is I think after tomorrow I won't have to hear about
 it again for a while, so that's good."
 
 LaMarcus  Aldridge  scored 27  points  and  pulled  down 10  rebounds,  Wesley
 Matthews  tallied 21 points and Damian Lillard scored 19 points and dished out
 six  assists for the  Trail Blazers, who saw their two-game win streak come to
 an end.
 
 "Well, it was a good game. It could have gone either way. They came up with
 some rebounds, they made shots when they needed to, and it was a well-played
 game by both teams, but they made the plays when they needed to," said
 Portland coach Terry Stotts.
 
 Nowitzki's  jumper with 8  1/2 minutes left sparked a 12-2 Dallas run that put
 the Mavs up 95-86 with just under five minutes left.
 
 The Blazers, though, used an 8-2 swing to pull within 97-94 with 1 1/2 minutes
 remaining.
 
 Carter  canned  a jumper from  the left wing, and  a pair of Rodrigue Beaubois
 free throws gave the Mavs a 101-94 lead with 19.5 seconds left.
 
 Matthews  buried a trey  from the corner to cut the lead to 101-97 two seconds
 later, but Portland couldn't get closer than four the rest of the way.
 
 The Blazers led, 33-27, after the first quarter and took a 61-57 lead into the
 break.  Dallas  outscored the Blazers,  23-21, in the  third period to cut the
 deficit to 82-80 entering the final frame.
 
                                   Game Notes
 
 Dallas scored  22 fastbreak points  and limited the Blazers to nine points  on
 the break ... The Mavs went 10-for-20  from three-point range ... J.J. Hickson
 finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the setback.
 
 
 
 02/06 23:36:55 ET