PORTLAND, Oregon - The Portland Trail Blazers clawed their way back into their NBA playoff series with Dallas, edging the Mavericks 97-92 in game three with the help of 25 points from Wesley Matthews.

LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 20 points for the Trail Blazers who can level the series with a win at home on Saturday.

"We just played with heart," Matthews said. "Right now it is not about Xs an Os. It is about who wants it more."

Portland's Brandon Roy finished with 16 points and four assists as he rebounded from a disappointing performance in game two.

"It was tough for me when we left Dallas down 2-0 because I didn't feel like I was part of series," Roy said.

"We are trying to make something positive about this. I felt good all day. I got a lot of support and it meant a lot to me. I felt good the whole game and just tried to help my team."

Jason Terry sparked the Mavericks' offence by draining five three pointers on the night. He came off the bench to score 29 points.

Portland built a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter then held on for the win to cut Dallas' series lead to 2-1.

"Dallas took care of their home court now we have got to take care of ours," Roy said.

Dallas stormed back in the fourth as Germany's Dirk Nowitzki nailed back-to-back jump shots to cut the deficit to 87-81 with six minutes to go.

Nowitzki also hit a turnaround jump shot with just over 40 seconds left to make it 95-90.

Nowitzki had 25 points and nine rebounds while Terry finished with 29 points and seven assists in the loss.

The Mavericks' Jason Kidd made a jump shot from near the three-point line with 13 seconds remaining that was ruled a two-point play.

Kidd argued that his foot didn't touch the line and that it should have been a three-point play but the officials were not buying it.