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Portland Tries to Make History

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From Associated Press

The Dallas Mavericks started the season with 14 consecutive victories, one shy of the league record. They finished the regular season with 60 victories -- a franchise best.

Now, against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Mavericks are on the brink of making some history they want to avoid -- becoming the first NBA team to blow a 3-0 lead in the playoffs.

Portland has a chance to complete the unprecedented turnaround in Game 7 of their Western Conference series today at Dallas.

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Only twice in league history had a team won three consecutive games after losing the first three of a postseason series.

Who will advance to play the Sacramento Kings in the second round? History is on Dallas’ side. The only other NBA teams that went from 0-3 to 3-3 in the postseason -- the 1994 Denver Nuggets and 1951 New York Knicks -- lost the series finale.

Dallas hasn’t lost four in a row since March 2000 and is 4-2 in elimination games since returning to the playoffs two years ago. None of those was a Game 7, however.

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Five NHL teams have stretched a series to the limit by losing three then winning three, and only two also won the series: the 1975 New York Islanders and 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.

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The Detroit Pistons will try to avoid becoming only the third top-seeded team to lose a playoff series to an eighth-seeded team today at Auburn Hills, Mich., when they play host to the Orlando Magic in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference series.

The Magic, which once led the series, 3-1, hasn’t reached the second round since Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway played in Orlando. The winner will face the Philadelphia 76ers.

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Tracy McGrady has been hounded by the NBA’s best defensive team but has averaged 33.5 points. He has vowed to “be a little bit more selfish” today.

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