I CORRECTED THIS IN RESPONSE TO A COMMENT, WHICH POINTED OUT THAT THE LOSS TO THE LAKERS ON FEB 26 WAS AT HOME, NOT AWAY.  STILL SAME BASIC CONCLUSION: BLAZERS ARE 0.625 AGAINST WESTERN CONFERENCE TEAMS THIS CALENDAR YEAR, WHILE MAVS ARE 0.200.

Reason for hope: Blazers have played much better than the Mavs against the best in the West since January 1:

Win-loss record against Western Conference playoff teams in 2011:

• Blazers 10-6
• Mavs 3-12

Home win-loss record against Western Conference playoff teams in 2011:

• Blazers 8-1
• Mavs 3-5

Road win-loss record against Western Conference playoff teams in 2011:

• Blazers 1-5
• Mavs 0-7

The key difference is that the Blazers haven't lost at home to a Western Conference team this year (8-1), while the Mavs have a losing home record (3-5).  Neither team has done much on the road, but the Mavs appear to be much more vulnerable at home.

GO BLAZERS!!!