Wright's wrong for Blazers Aldridge has

double double

wasted in loss

JASON QUICK

Another Rose Garden miracle was in the works Wednesday, with a trademark Trail Blazers comeback about to be completed in the final minute when an improbable steal of Jason Kidd appeared to lead to a game-tying, fast-break layup.

But then, it happened.

In the blink of an eye, Dallas forward Antoine Wright swooped in and stepped in front of a pass intended for Brandon Roy, thwarting the Blazers' chances and helping extend the Mavericks' mastery of the Blazers.

With too much Dirk Nowitzki, a rare not-enough-performance from Roy and some wayward shooting, the Blazers saw their 12-game home winning streak snapped by longtime nemesis Dallas on Wednesday night in the form of a 93-89 loss.

Dallas beat Portland for the 18th time in the last 20 meetings, and completed a three-game season sweep of the Blazers, including two wins at the Rose Garden, where the Blazers entered with the NBA's third-best mark at 27-5. In the process, the Mavericks (40-25) moved within a half-game of Portland (40-24), as the Blazers slipped from fifth to sixth in the Western Conference standings.

"It's such a tight race, and you know, I ain't never been to the playoffs, so I mean, if we are going to make a push, I want to make it right now," said Travis Outlaw, who had 20 points.

It was Outlaw who appeared to make the play of the game for the Blazers, stripping Kidd, the future Hall of Fame point guard, near half court with 41.9 seconds left and the Blazers trailing 88-86. As he went to retrieve the ball, Outlaw got tangled with Kidd and fell to the court. He dove on the ball and passed to teammate Steve Blake, one of the most reliable passers in the NBA.

With players scrambling and darting all over the court, Blake spotted Roy sprinting toward the basket and zipped a pass from beyond the three-point arc and across the lane.

"I thought I put it right on the money," Blake said. "I thought we had a layup."

But Roy would never receive the pass. Wright, who was trailing the play, stepped in front of Roy and secured it with 38.4 seconds.

"I never saw him," Roy said of Wright. "He came in at the last second."

Don't feel bad if you've never heard of Wright. He was on the court for 30 minutes on Wednesday and had done close to nothing of note: He made 1 of 6 shots, grabbed one rebound and had four fouls. Nothing else. Except one very big steal.

The Blazers still had a chance, but like he did all night, the 7-foot Nowitzki made a tough shot with 17.1 seconds left to ice the victory. Nowitzki finished with 29 points on 13 of 24 shooting, almost all of them in the same fashion: A series of pump fakes near the free throw line before fading away and drawing nothing but net.

LaMarcus Aldridge, who was draped all over Nowitzki when he made a key jumper with 1:03 left to give Dallas an 88-84 lead, could do nothing but shrug after the game.

"He made like three or four moves, I thought I did a pretty good job," Aldridge said. "But he's a good player."

Aldridge was stellar throughout the night, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds, his third consecutive double double. After he was done with his media session, he uncharacteristically stayed at his locker and engaged in a long conversation with Blake about the game's strategy and certain plays. By the end of their talk, Aldridge and Blake had shaken their streak-snapping blues and were chuckling.

As they started packing up to head out into the March night, Outlaw entered the locker room after finishing a weightlifting session. Outlaw, despite his 20 points and key defensive play, was dragging his feet and hanging his head.

"Hey!" Aldridge called out, extending his hand. "It's one game. We've got a lot more, and then the playoffs."

The two slapped hands and Aldridge surveyed the rest of the locker room, which was nearly barren.

"Not to de-value this, but if guys get down, it's easy to fall into a slump," Aldridge said. "We lost, let's learn from it and get the next game. We should have had this, but if you get your head down, it can mess with you, and we don't need that right now."

Notes:

Rudy Fernandez said his chest and right side of his body still hurts after his fall on Monday night after being fouled by the Lakers' Trevor Ariza. Fernandez said he still has trouble breathing, and said he feels "lucky" he didn't suffer any broken bones. He gave no timetable for his return. . . . Blazers forward Nicolas Batum suffered a strained right shoulder in the third quarter and did not return, but was cleared to return to action. He said he will have an MRI on Thursday. . . . Joel Przybilla had nine points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. He is averaging 11.6 rebounds in the last six games. . . . Roy finished with 22 points, but struggled through a 7 for 20 shooting night, which included 1 for 5 in the fourth quarter.

Jason Quick: 503-221-4372;

jasonquick@news.oregonian.com

To read his "Behind the Beat" blog,

go to http://blog.oregonlive.com/

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