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PORTLAND, Ore. -- LaMarcus Aldridges buzzer-beating shot had barely left his hands when teammate Nicolas Batum raised his arms in victory. Aldridges turnaround jumper fell as time ran out and the Portland Trail Blazers came back from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-104 on Tuesday night. "I knew," Batum said. "I knew he was going to make it." Aldridge finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds for Portland, which trailed 101-94 with 2:18 left. J.J. Hickson had a season-high 26 points and 15 rebounds for his 25th double-double. After Wesley Matthews made two free throws to pull the Blazers to 101-98 with 52 seconds to go, Batums 3-pointer tied the score. Dirk Nowitzki answered with his own 3 before Aldridge also had a 3 -- the first one hes made this season -- to tie it at 104 with 4.9 seconds left. O.J. Mayo was called for charging with 1.5 seconds to go, and Aldridge hit his jumper after the inbound from Matthews with 0.2 seconds left for the victory. "He (Batum) has his hand up. He said he had a lot of faith in me," said Aldridge, recently named to an All-Star reserve for the second straight year. "I had to watch it go in." As the confetti streamed down from the rafters of the Rose Garden, Aldridge was tackled by his teammates. "He was smiling like a rookie, like his first NBA game," Batum said about Aldridge afterward. "We needed those two shots (the 3-pointer and the game-winner). They show people that he really is an All-Star. He is an All Star. Hes a go-to guy." Dirk Nowitzki finished with 26 points for Dallas, which had won six of its last eight games. "We cannot let Aldridge get set on the block 10 feet from the basket and let him turn around and shoot a wide-open shot," Nowitzki said. "We make those mistakes, especially on the road, and you are going to get bit." The Mavericks were without centre Chris Kaman, who sustained a concussion in a collision during practice on Monday, according to coach Rick Carlisle. There was no timetable for Kamans return. He is averaging 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds this season. The injury comes as the Mavericks have juggled their centres, starting a different one in each of their last three games. Kaman, Elton Brand and rookie Bernard James have each taken turns. Brandan Wright also plays at centre for the Mavs. James made his second straight start against the Blazers. "It helps to have depth," Carlisle said. "We need all those guys but this (Kamans injury) is a big hit for us." In a first half marked by lacklustredefence on both sides, Nowitzkis long jumper put Dallas up 37-28. Nowitzki, who missed the Mavericks first 27 games after surgery on his right knee, hit another jumper that extended the lead to 47-36. Darren Collison scored 10 straight points and Dallas closed out the first half with 19-6 run to take a 59-42 lead. Portland struggled with its 3-point shot, going 2 for 12 in the first half. Mayos step back jumper pushed Dallas lead to 69-48 after the break. Batum, who had two triple-doubles last week for the Blazers, didnt hit from the field until a 3 with 4:43 left in the third quarter that made it 74-58. Luke Babbitt hit a 3-pointer and Aldridge made a short jumper to narrow it, and Portland pulled closer to 78-72 after Aldridge and rookie Damian Lillard each hit free throws. Portland finished the third on a 16-4 run to get within 74-80 to start the final period. Batums driving layup cut Dallas lead to 86-83 with 8:20 left. After Vince Carter made two free throws for the Mavs, Ronnie Price hit a 3-pointer and Sasha Pavlovic dunked to tie it up at 88. "This type of loss is about as tough as it gets in the league," Nowitzki said. "We played well enough to win it. Tonight we found a way to lose, instead of finding a way to win. Thats the sad thing." NOTES: The Mavs beat the Blazers 114-91 on Nov. 5 in Dallas. ... The Mavericks were flagged with a technical for six players on the floor late in the first half. ... Portland had 38 points in the third quarter, a season high. ... Aldridge and Hickson are the first Blazers to have at least 26 points and 13 rebounds in the same game since Clyde Drexler and Jerome Kersey on Dec. 2, 1987, against the Lakers. ... It was the 10th time this season the Blazers had won a game in which they trailed at halftime. ... Before Tuesday night, Aldridge had gone 0 for 9 from 3-point range. wholesale nfl jerseys . 21 at Kansas Speedway. Patrick is driving a 10-race schedule this season and the final event was not announced until Tuesday. cheap nfl jerseys . -- The Florida Panthers have acquired centre Casey Wellman from the New York Rangers in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2014 draft. http://www.authenticchinacheapnfljerseys.com/ . Mark Fraser was a homegrown product of the New Jersey Devils, but after five years and 98 NHL games he had been deemed expendable, shipped westward to the Ducks in December before landing with the Leafs in another trade two months later. cheap jerseys from china . Hes been allowed to attempt just eight in this - his third NFL season. And all of this has raised doubts over whether there will be a quarterback home for him next season with the New York Jets. cheap jerseys . The school said Friday it awarded an 8.3 per cent increase annually in his guaranteed compensation over the remaining seven years of his deal now worth $36.Only once in the history of the Toronto Raptors has the club selected eighth overall in the NBA draft, and that was to make their biggest draft blunder as an NBA franchise. Back in 2004, the Raptors passed on Andre Iguodala (and Al Jefferson and Josh Smith and Jameer Nelson) so that they could bring Brazilian center Rafael Araujo into the fold to man the middle with his comically short arms. Unsurprisingly, the GM responsible for that decision was fired the next season (but not before passing on Danny Granger, Andrew Bynum and David Lee so he could take Charlie Villanueva and Joey Graham in the subsequent draft). Raptors fans will hope for better this year when the draft goes down a month from now in Newark, New Jersey. Heck, you could probably throw a dart at the list of draft-eligible players and not get stuck with someone as bad as "Hoffa", so maybe just improving on the 2004 draft is not enough of a barometer of success for Toronto this spring. Who might the team be looking at in anticipation of the big day? Well, heres a quick look at the players floating around the eighth pick that could bring someone of value to a Raptors club looking to make the playoffs next season. DAMIAN LILLARD - 62" - Point Guard Weber State Kawhi Leonard has made a huge name for himself this year as a player from a small school that exploded onto the NBA scene with the league-dominating Spurs, and Lillard is looking to follow in his footsteps next season. While Weber State is hardly a basketball powerhouse, Lillard himself sure was. He was second in scoring in the NCAA last season (24.5 ppg), was second in PER (33.58), shot a great percentage from three (.409) and has been winning over scouts across the NBA with his play in games and in workouts. He started the year as a borderline first rounder and now appears to be firmly in the conversation as a lottery pick this spring. His appeal for the Raptors is obvious. For a team with no players who can create their own shot consistently, hed be a transformative player in that regard. Hes a legit athlete with speed and quickness which he uses to get to the basket and create space for himself to get off his jumper. Hes a willing passer, although his instincts in that regard need work. His three-point shot would help open up the floor for DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani, and his ability to penetrate will help shift defences that can be attacked with smart passing and aggressive shooting. With Jerryd Bayless a free agent this summer and Jose Calderon a free agent next summer, the Raptors have to be exploring options for their future at this position, and if they choose to use the draft to address it, then Lillard would be an obvious, and compelling, choice. PERRY JONES - 611" - ForwardBaylor There is no bigger hole on Torontos roster than small forward, and if Perry Jones pans out, then there is no better small forward in this draft than him. Thats a huge if though. Jones was played mostly as a post player at Baylor and put up middling numbers in that role (13.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, .500 FG%). Worse than the numbers, though, was Jones lackadaisical approach to the game. He looked completely disengaged far too often for comfort and that has caused his stock to crater this season. All that said, Jones boosters insist that if he was given a chance to play on the perimeter, where his superior size and ball handling could have been exploited, he would have looked a lot better than he did banging in the post with his wispy frame. In such a role, hes evoked names like Tracy McGrady and Paul George, but thats all speculative since no one has seem him play small forward consistently at a high level of competition. If he could reach those heights, he could remake Toronto as a franchise. He has the kind of versatility that opposing teams dread game-planning for. His combination of size, length and skill means he can punish both smaller and bigger players alike by utilizing the full array of tools in his toolbox. Plus, that kind of length and athleticism put to work in Dwane Caseys defensive schemes could be stifling if Jones committed to it. For the Raptors to take a chance on Jones, though, theyd have to be bowled over by his potential and utterly convinced he could capitalize on it. They want to win now, they arent looking to make a two-to-three year investment in a player that they have to develop unless they can be sure they are getting a superstar out of it. There is no doubt that Jones has the talent to get him into the conversation, buut its unlikely that he is going to be able to convince the Raptors to take a chance on him, given that doing so would go completely against where they are hoping to get themselves to starting next season.dddddddddddd. Sure the talent is there, but it was there for Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright and Austin Daye, too, and none of them have exactly contended for All-Star berths since entering the NBA. Still, if he did blow them away between now and the draft, so much so that they felt compelled to take him, youd have to at least wonder how good the team thought he could be to make that selection, given all of the above reservations. DION WAITERS - 64" - Shooting GuardSyracuse Waiters is a controversial figure in this draft. Run-ins with Jim Boeheim caused all sorts of red flags for scouts that few are willing to ignore, despite Boeheims about-face regarding Waiters. A bad rep is a very hard thing to shake heading into the draft, but if he can do it, then Waiters could make some sense for the Raptors on draft night. Waiters is a bulldog shooting guard, the kind of guy that attacks the rim vociferously and has the build to absorb contact and finish around the rim. Hes got the handle of a point guard (in fact, some believe he could even log spot minutes at the position, and he couldnt be worse in that role than Gary Forbes was) and would be an interesting James Harden-esque sixth-man for the Raptors if they went in that direction. Some question how hell adapt to playing in an NBA-style defence after running Boeheims zone at Syracuse, but Dwane Casey is one of the NBAs most ardent supporters of the zone defence, negating (to a degree) that concern with regards to Waiters. The question for Toronto is whether or not Waiters fits into the construction of this current Raptors squad. With DeMar DeRozan logging heavy minutes at shooting guard as a starter, youd either have to move him to small forward for stretches or allow Waiters to play point guard for stretches to get him enough minutes to make an impact. Both might be fine alternatives if the Raptors fall in love with Waiters talent, but Bryan Colangelo has a history of steering away from "red flag" players and that might be enough to keep Colangelo out of love with Waiters and out of contention for Torontos pick. JEREMY LAMB - 65" - Shooting GuardConnecticut Lamb possesses great length and strong defensive fundamentals, but his style is eerily reminiscent of DeMar DeRozans and his penchant for passivity would only exacerbate the culture that Casey is trying to eradicate in Toronto. TERRENCE ROSS - 66" - Shooting GuardWashington This would be a reach, especially since there are better guards ahead of him that will be available at Torontos pick, but hes explosive and can shoot the three (unlike Lamb) and will probably at least be brought in for a workout to strut his stuff for Torontos brass. TYLER ZELLER - 70" - CentreNorth Carolina While the Raptors are already bringing in Jonas Valanciunas next season, Zeller is more NBA-ready and could step in and play right away if the Raptors decide to let Aaron Gray walk in free agency. If the Raptors dont fall in love with any other prospects, this could be a smart, safe pick, though unfair comparisons to Hoffa would be inevitable if the Raptors went this route. TRADE THE PICK Since the Raptors failed to vault up into the top three, this option is still very much in play. While there are players floating around eight that could be solid additions to the clubs nucleus, if the Raptors can parlay this pick into a standout veteran, theyll do it. For instance, if packaging the pick with players nets the club Andre Iguodala, they are making that trade. If they could send this pick to Houston to get Kyle Lowry, they are making that trade. If swapping picks with Milwaukee gets them Brandon Jennings... okay, you get the idea. The point is that the Raptors want to start winning now. They have their prized rookie for next season already secured, and the club wont bat an eye at moving this pick to make the team better and more competitive. This is NOT one of those drafts where the Raptors are out hunting for more picks. They want to start surrounding their young core with veterans in their prime who can put this team securely into the playoffs. If that trade doesnt exist, then theyll be fine taking Lillard or Waiters or whomever, but understand their first priority is getting better, and if ditching their pick is the way to do that, then that is what they are going to do. ' ' '
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