Blazers shoot down Mavs

PORTLAND – The excitement in this Pacific Northwest outpost may have been tempered with the knee surgery that ended Greg Oden’s season before it ever started.

But there’s still plenty for Portland fans to celebrate. Led by young talents Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, the upstart Trail Blazers handled the Mavericks 91-82 Saturday night at the Rose Garden.

“There’s no excuse,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “We didn’t guard them tonight, plus when you shoot [35 percent] on the road, it’s tough to win. That’s a little letdown after the big win in Golden State.”

The Mavs (4-2) returned home Sunday having split the two-game road trip that opened with the 120-115 victory at Golden State. Dallas plays its next four at American Airlines Center starting with Philadelphia on Tuesday and Thursday's visit from defending champion San Antonio.

“Should be a great week for us,” Nowitzki said.

Nowitzki also wanted to make the point that losses now aren’t just going to be accepted for the sake of the big picture.

“Every time we lose, we don’t want to say: Hey, we’re focusing on the playoffs,” he said. “That’s not how it works in this league, either. You have to work hard in the regular season and try to win all those games, so it’s not like every time we lose we’re just going to say once the playoffs come around we’re going to be great, we’re going to be great.

“That’s not how it works. We still have to improve. Our defense still is not really great right now. We’ve got a lot of things to work on.”