DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki says he wasnt thinking about the last time the Dallas Mavericks blew a 30-point lead and lost. The biggest collapse in franchise history was a long time ago, and he was too busy trying to make sure it didnt happen again. Nowitzki scored 22 points, Devin Harris hit the go-ahead shot in the final minute and the Mavericks rallied in the fourth quarter after blowing their huge first-half lead, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 103-98 Friday night. "Youre just out there battling," Nowitzki said. "Theyre a very, very good team. They came back a lot quicker than we wanted it to be, but we kept fighting and got the win." LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 30 for Portland, including 18 in the third quarter when the Blazers went in front for the first time at 69-67 after trailing 44-14 early in the second quarter. But Nowitzki didnt pause to remember Dec. 6, 2002, when the Mavericks lost at the Los Angeles Lakers 105-103 after leading 66-36 early in the third quarter. Rick Carlisle wasnt dwelling on the blown lead either. "How many whatever-point leads have we blown this year?" the Dallas coach said. "Theres been tons of them. Weve got to work to prevent it. Theres no harder way to do it than what happened tonight." The score was tied 98-all when Aldridge missed a shot from the lane and Harris won the scramble for the rebound. He dribbled the length of the floor and hit a leaning shot on the baseline and was fouled by Damian Lillard with 24 seconds left. "He busted my mouth open, so I knew I wasnt all the way in front of him," Lillard said. "But I figured since that was the second time that he dipped his head into my face, I figured they would call offensive foul. We still had a couple opportunities after that that we didnt take advantage of." After Harris free throw put Dallas up by three, Aldridges pass went over Lillards head out of bounds. Monta Ellis missed two free throws, but Vince Carter slipped between a pair of Portland players for the offensive rebound and was fouled. Carter made both free throws, and Ellis had a steal to seal a wild win that snapped the Mavericks season-high three-game losing streak. "I had some big miscues down the stretch," said Aldridge, who had 17 rebounds. "I missed some shots down the stretch. Fighting all the way back, being up and having the opportunity to win and not taking care of business." Dallas took its first 30-point lead at 40-10 on Brandan Wrights alley-oop dunk from Ellis early in the second quarter, one of many easy breakaway baskets early. Thomas Robinson had six points on a 12-1 run that started Portlands comeback, getting the Blazers within 19. That was Dallas margin to begin the third quarter, when Aldridge took over, scoring six straight early in the period and another six straight later. The Blazers, who led by 38 in a blowout win over the Mavericks the last time they were in Dallas in January, wiped out the last of the deficit on a 3-pointer by Wesley Matthews to knot it 67-all with 4:02 left in the third. The Blazers went ahead for the first time at 69-67 on a putback by Aldridge. "It was unbelievable," Wright said. "We got outscored by I dont know how much after that first quarter being up 40-10. They went on a heck of a run, but all its going to say in the paper tomorrow is that we got the W." The lead changed hands three more times late in the third, setting up a back-and-forth battle in the fourth. Portland pushed out to an 85-78 lead on another 3 from Matthews, who had 26 points, and a jumper from Mo Williams, but Harris hit a 3-pointer to finish an 8-0 Dallas run for a 90-89 lead. The Blazers went back up 98-92 on an alley-oop dunk by Aldridge, but Dallas pulled even when Sam Dalembert stole the ball from Lillard and tossed to Ellis for a breakaway layup. Jose Calderon had 19 for Dallas, including 15 in the first quarter. Ellis had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Nowitzki had six assists and five rebounds. Harris finished with 12 points. NOTES: Robinson returned after missing four games with a left knee injury. He fouled out with 7:52 remaining. ... Ellis made his 500th career start. ... The Mavericks shot 53 per cent in their 115-110 loss to Denver on Wednesday. It was their best shooting percentage in a loss this season. ... The Blazers had season lows for points in a quarter (10) and the first half (38). The previous low for a first half was 41 in a 90-89 win over Phoenix. Cheap Jordans Nz . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week. Cheap Air Jordan Nz . You can watch the game on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt and listen to the game on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal. After starting the month of November on an 0-3-1 slide, the Canadiens have recorded wins in three of their last five outings (3-1-1). http://www.airjordannz.com/. -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons. Real Jordan Shoes Cheap . -- Hal Steinbrenner says Alex Rodriguez is "a great player" and "obviously an asset," but the New York Yankees managing general partner wouldnt discuss the third basemans possible return to the team following a season-long suspension. Air Jordan Nz .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16.SAN ANTONIO -- Tiago Splitter and the Spurs got out to a fast start, then hung on for a bumpier second half against the disorganized Los Angeles Clippers. Splitter had a season-high 22 points before he was hurt, Tim Duncan added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and San Antonio beat Los Angeles 116-92 Saturday night in their first game without injured All-Star Chris Paul. Tony Parker had 17 points, Manu Ginobili added 15 points and Kawhi Leonard had 10 points for San Antonio (26-8). Splitter left with 9:37 remaining, injuring his right shoulder after charging into Ryan Hollins chest. Jamal Crawford scored 24 points, Blake Griffin had 19 points and Darren Collison added 14 points and six assists starting in place of Paul, who separated his right shoulder Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Los Angeles gave up 70 points in the first half for the second consecutive night, but rallying proved tougher to do against a 35-point lead than the three-point deficit they faced against Dallas. "Its easier to do it once you play so bad the game before because you know the mistakes you made," Ginobili said. "We were really sharp from the beginning; our first half was great. Then we kind of stopped a little bit, but the first half was fun to watch. Everybody sharing the ball, attacking, being quick, rotations real sharp, really good first half." While the Clippers understandably stalled without their leader, who is expected to be out three to five weeks, the rest of their game disappeared, too. "No one has to replace Chris anything," Griffin said. "Not his voice, not his game, nothing. Everybbody does things differently.dddddddddddd. We dont have any other guys that talk like Chris. Itll work just fine. In the second half we were communicating with each other. Thats all we needed. We didnt need anyone to talk like Chris. That would be our biggest mistake, is to try to replace him with someone or something." Los Angeles had just one rebound in the first quarter while allowing San Antonio to score a season-high 37 points. "In the first half we looked more AAU," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "The ball stuck. I bet half the time it was one pass, shot; one pass, shot." After Collisons jumper with 2:20 left in the first, Los Angeles didnt score again until Matt Barnes layup with 9:40 left in the half. San Antonio extended its lead to 70-35 at the half, its season high for point in an opening half. NOTES: Spurs F Boris Diaw missed the game with an undisclosed illness. . The Clippers Stephen Jackson received a mixed reaction upon entering the game in the final 2 minutes. Jackson was waived late last season after reportedly butting heads with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. . The Spurs public address announcer mistakenly screamed "Manu Ginobili" in the opening minute of game, crediting him with an assist on Tiago Splitters basket even though the guard had yet to enter. The assist actually belonged to Marco Belinelli, Ginobilis friend and former Euroleague teammate. . When the shot clock resent incorrectly late in the third quarter, Rivers asked if they could start over. After official Monty McCutchen said they would reset it, Rivers said, "No, can we start the game over?" ' ' '