DALLAS _ While the Mavericks played Portland on Tuesday night in their next-to-last home game, two games not involving the Mavericks were of equal importance to them.
At halftime, with Dallas holding a one-point lead, word came from New York that Orlando had finished a 24-point blowout of the Knicks.
That, momentarily, left the Magic and Mavericks tied with the NBA's fourth-worst record, 23-54. Meanwhile, 22-win Atlanta blew a 7-point lead in the final six minutes at Miami and lost by 3
This left Tuesday nights' remaining lottery-position jostling to the Mavericks, who beat the Blazers, 115-109.
Despite Dallas "missing" the opportunity to take sole possession of the NBA's fourth-worst record, Tuesday night's results still leave a showdown of sorts Wednesday night, when Orlando hosts Dallas with obvious lottery implications.
Portland was within 105-99 and had the ball when Dennis Smith Jr. stole a pass, raced to the basket, bounced the ball high off the floor and dunked the alley-oop to himself, giving Dallas an 8-point lead with 1:19 left.
Dirk Nowitzki opened Tuesday's game by missing his first four field-goal attempts, all from 3-point range. He didn't make his first basket until 19 seconds remained in the first half.
Nowitzki, though, obviously doesn't care about Dallas' lottery odds. He's always been about winning games. He heated up in Tuesday's second half, finishing with 14 points in 25 minutes.
