Questionable: Down In Big D

It would be nice to get a win in Dallas one of these days, but last night didn't seem like the ideal opportunity. And it wasn't. After stealing a win in New Orleans on Monday, pulling another heist in Dallas wouldn't really be fair. So we've got to wait until March 11 to get another crack at the Mavs, and with as well as Dallas seems to play the Blazers, I'd imagine no one is in a hurry for that date to come.

Onto the questions.

• Is there anything more annoying than winning three of four quarters and still coming away with a loss? If the Blazers make more than eight buckets in the second quarter, this game really goes down to the wire. Lay a 16-spot and go into the half down 12 and you put yourself in a very difficult position on the road.

By the way, it took Portland three minutes to get their first bucket in the second quarter. Brutal.

• Why is it that Brandon Bass plays like a Hall of Famer every time the Red and Black line up opposite? He scored 19 last night on 9-of-11 shooting, which is a very nice game from a backup power forward. And over the past two season, Bass has shot 27-of-45 against the Blazers, which comes to a blistering 60% field goal percentage. Maybe KP should consider signing Bass just to keep him from torching us four times a year.

• Did the NBA change the "clear path" foul rule without notifying me? Sergio Rodriguez's clear path foul on Jason Terry would lead me to believe that rule had in fact been tinkered with, because it looks like Serg was running nearly stride for stride with Terry before making a play for the ball.

• And can you make any contact with a player during inbounds plays in the fourth quarter? It didn't seem that way last night.

• Anyone else notice that Travis Outlaw tied for the team high in assists last night with four? That's a nice stat for Trav, but a terrible stat for the rest of the team.

• Finally, is there a hole in the ozone layer above Dallas? During last night's broadcast, Mike Barrett looked like he got about 6 months worth of sun in one day. Looking crazy bronzed for an Oregonian in mid-February.