Mavericks forward Shawn Marion has been at the forefront of a stout Dallas defense that has stymied Gerald Wallace through five games in the series, helping propel the Mavericks to a 3-2 lead after Monday night's 93-82 victory at American Airlines Center.

"There's no way I'm going to let someone go for a real huge night," Marion said, summing up the one and only goal he carries into every game he plays.

After averaging 19.1 points per game and shooting 53.6 percent from the field over the final 13 games of the regular season, Wallace has been a no-show in the postseason, averaging an even-quieter-than-it-sounds 11.8 points per game and committing a team-high 14 turnovers.

Wallace is shooting 40 percent from the field (20-for-50) and 18 percent from three-point range (2-for-11).

Owner Mark Cuban engaged in an animated discussion with reporters before Game 5 about the state of the Mavs, who have never won an NBA title.

"Every game is a unique game, every series is a unique series,'' Cuban said. "Stuff about emotional baggage, I just don't see it and don't get it and don't understand it.

"We're just going to have to have group therapy, I guess. You know my feeling on that -- the same 25 people talking to the same 25 people talking about the same 25 things.''

The Mavs have won at least 50 games in one year for 11 consecutive seasons. But they've yet to win the series that matters most to Mavs' fans.

"Maybe we should blow it up, then we can go back to the 90's when everybody gets excited when you turn it around and start winning again,'' Cuban said. "That's not my DNA.''

Porland’s success has been directly linked to Brandon Roy's performance. In Game 5 against Dallas, the Trail Blazers were minus-18 with Roy on the floor.

In the three losses, Roy is just 3-for-15 from the floor and is averaging 2.3 points per game. In the two wins Roy was great, averaging 20 points per game on 65.2 percent shooting from the field.

After leading the Trail Blazers back into Game 4 with a series of isolation plays in the second half, Roy was not able to convert a single isolation opportunity in the second half of Game 5.

Video footage showed Roy has not made a shot on an isolation play in the second half of any Blazers loss this series

Dallas has struggled to defend the rim in their first round series against the Blazers, allowing 18 paint points in the final 12 minutes of Game 3.

"There are opportunities to take hard fouls that we have not taken advantage of and we're going to have to be more physical tonight than we were in Game 4," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "Again, it's all about playoff basketball. It's not about hurting anybody or anything like that. But, a physical series, you've got to be physical."

Chandler has gotten himself in foul trouble throughout the series, but have come on hard few fouls in the paint. In fact, Portland has been exceedingly efficient scoring inside the restricted area of the paint, converting at a whopping 70 percent, according to numbers crunched by NBA.com, when Chandler is on the floor. That percentage drops to 55 percent when he isn't.

The 70 percent figure would have led the NBA this season.

Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry gave coach Rick Carlisle a healthy share of the blame for the Mavericks’ fourth quarter collapse against the Blazers in Game 3.

Chandler and Terry brought up the lack of adjustments when asked how the Dallas defense could go from dominant through three quarters to dreadful. Shawn Marion, who complained about being treated like a "rag doll" during last year's playoffs, was also miffed he spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench instead of getting a chance to guard Roy before the three-time All-Star had heated into a ridiculous zone.

They were pointing out the obvious. They were also pointing the finger at Carlisle, although nobody called him out by name.

“We didn't make any adjustments, period,” Chandler said. “We didn't make any adjustments guarding him on the floor and we didn't make any adjustments any time. It was obvious."

Carlisle implored the Mavs to “stick together” during his postgame address in the losers’ locker room.

If the Mavericks reach the second round, Caron Butler could return to game action.

Butler suffered a torn patella tendon in his right knee at Milwaukee on Jan. 1.

Butler has been working out constantly following his injury, and the original estimate of four to six months for recuperation from the surgery would coincide with him being able to get back on the court soon.

The Blazers outscored Dallas by a 35-15 margin in the fourth quarter to even their first round series at two games apiece. Portland became the third team in the NBA's shot clock era to win a playoff game when trailing by 18 points or more entering the fourth quarter.

Previously, Boston overcame a 21-point deficit to beat New Jersey 94-90 on May 25, 2002; and Phoenix trailed by 18 before beating Houston 124-117 on May 11, 1994.

At one point in the second half, the Blazers were down 23 points.

Brandon Roy scored 18 of his game-high 24 points during a fourth quarter performance in which he made 8 of 10 field goals and recorded four assists.

Roy tied the game on an improbable four-point play with 1:06 left, making a three-pointer from the top of the key as Shawn Marion hacked him. 

"When I shot it, I threw it up (and) then I started to look toward the ground to land," Roy said. "I looked up and it went in. I'm thinking, 'Oh, this is going to be one of those finishes.'" 

For Roy, the performance was a complete reversal of Game 2 when his minutes were limited and he very openly expressed discontent with head coach Nate McMillan.

"Just one of those feelings where I was happy to have their support. It still just doesn't feel real yet. It was just an unbelievable game. To come back, with everything I've been through this season, it just all kind of came into that moment right there on the court with guys grabbing me and just cheering me on. It was real special." 

While the Pacers and 76ers are about to go quietly into the night, the Blazers won their Game 3 home game down 0-2 to stay in their first round series against the Mavericks.

• Chicago Bulls 88, Indiana Pacers 84

While the Pacers very well may be swept, they have been able to adjust to Derrick Rose and may provide the beginnings of a blueprint on how to contain him over a seven-game series, using bigger, athletic defenders like Paul George who try to trap him. Rose scored 23 points, but was just 4-for-18 from the field, needing his 13-for-15 from the line.

With Rose struggling and Carlos Boozer completely incapable on offense, the Bulls were boosted by the likes of Luol Deng and Kyle Korver.

For the Pacers, they outscored Chicago by a 38-16 margin on points in the paint, but George, Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert combined to shoot 7-for-33 from the field.

• Miami Heat 100, Philadelphia 76ers 94

Yielding second chance opportunities in high volumes to the Heat is an impossible proposition and that is exactly what happened in Game 3. Miami had 20 offensive rebounds, leading to 24 second chance points.

I still look at this matchup as being a bounce or two away from being a series, but this is the type of Heat team we were initially expecting, even if they still don’t have a competent point guard and play without one during the end of games as they did here with Joel Anthony and James Jones with the Big 3.

I’m not sure yet if the Game 4 result will say more about the 76ers or Heat.

• Portland Trail Blazers 97, Dallas Mavericks 92

The Blazers were finally able to make their depth a difference, with Wesley Matthews scoring big early and then Brandon Roy and Nicolas Batum making key plays down the stretch.

Dallas received 25 points from Dirk Nowitzki and 29 from Jason Terry, but very little else from their supporting cast on a night where Tyson Chandler fouled out in 15 minutes.

While Portland’s 57.1% on 14 three-point attempts was terribly pivotal, you can also look to the +5 advantage on points in the paint, as well as Dallas shooting an uncharacteristic 13-for-23 from the line.

Caron Butler went through a rigorous workout on Thursday on the court at the Rose Garden.

Butler is recovering from a knee injury, but he is still not ready to begin contact drills with the Mavericks.

The Dallas Mavericks will grant permission to the Houston Rockets to talk to assistant coach Dwane Casey about their head coaching position, but any interview will take place when their season is over.

The Rockets have made it clear, according to the sources, that they are in no hurry to hire a coach and that they will wait as long as necessary to interview Casey and numerous other candidates whose teams are in the playoffs.