Roy leads Blazers over Mavericks

Brandon Roy scored 23 points and the Portland Trail Blazers held off a late challenge to beat the Dallas Mavericks 108-105 on Saturday night.

The Blazers led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but Dallas chipped away and kept it close throughout the second.

Eddie Jones hit a layup for the Mavs to make it 101-97 before Dirk Nowitzki made two consecutive jumpers to tie it at 101 with 58 seconds left.

LaMarcus Aldridge's layup and a free throw put Portland back ahead for good at 104-101, before Jason Terry made a pair from the line for Dallas.

Travis Outlaw hit a jumper from the right baseline with 28 seconds left to extend the lead to 106-103.

Channing Frye fouled Nowitzki, who made both shots, and Jones fouled Jarrett Jack on the other end. Jack also made both shots.

Terry missed a layup and a 3-point attempt in the final seconds as the Mavericks fell short.

Aldridge had 22 points and Jack had 19 points and 10 assists for the Blazers, who evened their record at 40-40. Portland, which will miss the playoffs, is hoping for its first winning record since 2002-03.

Nowitzki scored 28 points for the Mavericks, who had won their last three and were among the teams jostling for playoff position in the Western Conference.

Dallas was without Josh Howard, who aggravated a bruised right knee Thursday against Utah. He originally hurt it last Saturday when he collided with Shaquille O'Neal.

Jones started in Howard's place and finished with 16 points.

The Blazers went up 28-16 in the first quarter after Aldridge's dunk and free throw. Before the quarter was over, Aldridge would dunk again to make it 37-21. It was Portland's highest-scoring first quarter of the season.

Jack, on a fast break, made a perfect pass to Roy, who dunked it and put the Blazers ahead 58-43 in the second quarter. Portland led 64-50 at the half, tying its season-high first-half total.

Dallas closed to within 72-68 on Jason Kidd's jumper midway through the third quarter, as the Blazers cooled off considerably.

The Mavericks kept the Blazers' lead within single digits the rest of the way.

Notes:@ The Mavs were still without Jerry Stackhouse because of a right groin strain, although he has practiced and could return Sunday night at Seattle. ... The Blazers were again without starter Martell Webster, who was examined for an irregular heartbeat after he was briefly hospitalized with dizziness and flu-like symptoms last week. It is not known whether Webster will be able to play the final two games of the season. ... Portland snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Mavericks with a 91-82 victory on Nov. 10