Portland (30-17) trailed New Orleans by as much as 20 points Monday night and entered the fourth quarter 15 points behind.

Sparked by an injury to Hornets point guard Chris Paul and a surge from rookie point guard Jerryd Bayless, however, the Blazers outscored the Hornets 38-15 in the final period to escape with a 97-89 victory - their fifth straight.

"We never gave up," Blazers coach Nate McMillan told the team's official Web site. "Chris goes out of the game and our guys get some confidence and we score buckets and defensively we rattled them a little bit."

Bayless was instrumental in Portland's surge, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the game's final 14 minutes. Overall, he had six assists and went 7-for-9 from the field in 24 minutes off the bench.

"He was really the spark that turned everything around for us," said forward LaMarcus Aldridge, a Dallas native who led the Blazers with 22 points and 11 rebounds. "We got into a groove. We felt that we had it in our hands."

The Blazers hope to build on that strong finish by snapping a long road losing streak against the Mavericks (28-19). They've lost 16 of their last 18 games in Dallas, including 10 straight since a 100-93 victory on Jan. 26, 2003.

Portland has dropped each of its last four games at American Airlines Center by double figures, posting an average margin of defeat of 17.0.

"We want to go into Dallas and win," McMillan said. "We haven't won there in a long time. You want to continue to build off your last game."

Ending those struggles in Dallas could be a challenge against a Mavericks team that's won three straight games and six of eight since a four-game losing streak Jan. 9-14. Dallas has also won 14 of 17 at home after an 0-4 start there.

"We've had stretches where we've lost a few, but right now our guys are finding ways to help each other," coach Rick Carlisle said. "They're finding reasons to play harder even when the shots aren't going in. That's a winning formula."

The Mavericks' most recent victory may have been their most impressive of the season. They shot 53.4 percent from the field and led by as much as 20 in a 105-95 road win over Southeast Division-leading Orlando on Monday night.

"This was a great win," said Carlisle, whose team hasn't won four in a row since Nov. 29-Dec. 6. "I am proud of this team and how it battled tonight. I have seen more energy out of this team in the last week than I have all year. I hope we can keep this momentum."

Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki is likely thinking the same thing after scoring a total of 59 points on 68.6 percent shooting (24-for-35) from the field in back-to-back roads wins over Miami and Orlando.

Nowitzki scored 30 points and went 12-for-18 to lead Dallas to a 102-94 road win over Portland in the teams' first meeting on Christmas.

Blazers guard Brandon Roy, held to a season-low six points and 2-for-10 shooting Monday, had 22 points against the Mavericks.