Daily NBA Fix 3-8-14: Have We Mentioned Everyone Makes A Run?
By Phil Watson
Welcome to the Daily NBA Fix for Saturday, March 8, the morning after the Portland Trail Blazers emphasized the point that in the NBA, everyone makes a run.
And yet, after coming all the way back from 30 points down to take a lead, the Trail Blazers couldn’t hold it.
Why? Because the Dallas Mavericks made a run, that’s why.
Dallas jumped all over Portland, holding the Blazers to a season-low 10 points in the first quarter and taking a 44-14 early in the second period.
So what did Portland do? The only thing it could, of course. It made a run.
To be specific, Portland went on a 28-6 run in the third quarter to take a four-point lead.
The Mavericks response was—what else?—an 11-0 run to close the game.
It was an extreme representation of the thing that coaches and players will talk about until they are blue in the face. That would be the need to “go out there and play 48 minutes.” Seriously, if we had a nickel for every time we’ve heard this phrase, or one of its derivatives, we’d be wealthy people with a serious collection of nickels.
The Daily NBA Fix will still deliver highlights, game capsules, the top and bottom five players, the dreaded Goose Egg, Clean and Sober and Ironman awards, we’ll recap who’s circling the drain, there will be some interesting pieces of relevant (and not-so-relevant) information and we’ll look at today’s daily lines for those people who like to wager a buck or two.
Check out the highlights below from the night that was, then get into the game capsules (home teams in CAPS).