Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks look to break Portland's 4 game home win streak in the last of the NBA's five Christmas Day games.
Dallas (16-11) has won 14 of its last 18 to surge back into contention for a ninth straight playoff berth. Nowitzki has led the charge, averaging 27.8 points and 10.1 rebounds over that span while hitting on 91.1 percent (113-of-124) of his free throws.
Nowitzki led the team with 21 points in a 100-82 win over Memphis on Tuesday, as the Mavs cruised to victory even though they matched a season low with 42 first-half points.
Instead, they held down the Grizzlies, who shot 38.3 percent from the field as O.J. Mayo scored just seven points - only the second time in 28 games the rookie has failed to reach double digits.
"With the lineups we've been starting, we have to be good defensively because we don't have a dynamic offensive team from one to five out there," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've really got to be good defensively and get our offense predominantly off stops."
Lately, Carlisle has been starting veteran Devean George along with center Erick Dampier and point guard Jason Kidd, leaving Nowitzki and Josh Howard as the only true scorers in the lineup.
