The AP reports:
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Tyson Chandler wound up with 14 points and 20 rebounds, but his most important contribution might’ve been setting the aggressive, exciting tone the Mavericks needed to bounce back from a devastating loss and beat the Trail Blazers 93-82. Dallas leads the series 3-2, with two days to rest up before trying to close things out in Game 6 on Thursday night in Portland…
Dallas not only outrebounded its taller foe 49-37, the Mavs grabbed a whopping 20 offensive rebounds. Chandler had 13, and swatted several more to guards near midcourt. His offensive boards were the most ever by a Dallas player in the playoffs and the most for anyone in the playoffs since Shaquille O’Neal had 14 in 1995.
“They played like they wanted it more than we did,” said Portland’s Brandon Roy, who went from scoring 24 points in Game 4 to just five in 26 minutes…
Nowitzki led Dallas with 25 points, 11 coming in the third quarter, when the Mavericks broke open a tight game with a 15-5 run. Still, everyone was waiting to see whether they could protect it this time…
Jason Terry scored 20 points for Dallas and Shawn Marion added 14. Jason Kidd had 14 assists and four points, with his only basket coming long after the game was decided.
Andre Miller led Portland with 18 points and Gerald Wallace scored 18. LaMarcus Aldridge had only 12 points.
