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Mavs roll into Portland

Jan 29, 2013 - 3:44 PM (Sports Network) - It appears the Dallas Mavericks are back to their recognizable style of play and look to remain on the right path Tuesday against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden.

The Mavericks will begin a four-game road swing against the Blazers, Warriors, Suns and Thunder, and are 7-16 as the visitor this season. They won for the sixth time in eight tries with Sunday's 110-95 victory over Phoenix as Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points apiece to lead the way.

Marion also registered a game-high nine rebounds and five assists in his 1,000th career regular-season game. Marion has scored 18-plus points for the fifth time in his last eight games.

"He played extremely well. He stepped up his game tonight and I thought he was very aggressive from start to finish," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of Marion. "When he's on the floor at forward, Dirk is off the floor. Those are big minutes for us because that's just the time of the game that's very critical. He's been holding the fort really since Dirk's been back in those stretches and did a really good job again tonight."

Vince Carter added 15 points for the Mavs, who rebounded from a loss to the rival San Antonio Spurs on Friday and have scored 100-plus points in each of the previous eight games, going 6-2 in that time and averaging 110.1 ppg. The Mavericks used a 34-12 run in the first and second quarter to take control.

Dallas has scored 110-plus points in three of its last four games.

Carlisle needs just two more wins for 500 in his career and Nowitzki passed 76ers great Allen Iverson (24,368) for 18th place on the all-time scoring list.

The Mavericks have won two in a row away from Big D.

Portland's short-lived two-game winning streak came to an end with a 96-83 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Sunday in the back end of a home-and-home series from the Staples Center.

LaMarcus Aldridge ended with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while rookie Damian Lillard and J.J. Hickson tallied 16 and 15 points, respectively, for the Trail Blazers, whose two-game winning streak came on the heels of a six-game slide and were coming off Saturday's 101-100 victory versus the Clippers.

"It's tough to beat a team back-to-back," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "The Clippers came out more aggressive."

Portland turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 18 L.A. points. After hosting the Mavs, the Blazers will begin a home-and-home series with the Utah Jazz on Friday night.

Meanwhile, Lillard leads all rookies in scoring (18.3 ppg) and assists (6.5 apg), and scored 13 points in a 114-91 loss at Dallas back on Nov. 5. The Mavericks were led by O.J. Mayo's 32 points in that one and have won two straight and three of the past four matchups with the Blazers.