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Mavericks look to rebound vs. Trail Blazers

Apr 7, 2007 - 2:59 PM Portland (31-44) at Dallas (62-13) 9:00 pm EDT

DALLAS (Ticker) - With their dreams of 70 wins dashed, Dirk Nowitzki and his teammates can concentrate on beating up on a familiar punching bag.

Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks aim to get back into their winning groove Saturday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers, whom they have beaten 12 straight times.

Dallas suffered just its 13th loss of the season with Friday's 75-71 loss at Denver. Nowitzki scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Mavericks (62-13) who saw their chance of winning 70 games come to an end.

However Dallas, which has seven games remaining, can sew up the NBA's best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs with any number of wins and losses by the Phoenix Suns (57-19) totaling two.

The Mavericks expect to have back All-Star forward Josh Howard, who sprained his ankle in the first quarter vs. the Nuggets and did not return. After the contest, Howard was walking without a limp and vowed to be ready for the next game.

"The ankle is fine, I'm fine," said Howard, who is second on the team in scoring at 19.5 points.

The Mavericks face the Trail Blazers, who beat the Houston Rockets, 85-78, on Friday. Rookie Brandon Roy scored 24 points and Jarrett Jack added 23 for the Blazers, who are 0-2 vs. Dallas this season and have not beaten beaten the Mavericks since December 23, 2003.

Portland has not won in Dallas since January 26, 2003.