On the Trail Blazers side, their offense was somewhat sluggish, but with 3 offensive rebounds, the Trail Blazers kept the score tight.
Both sides exchanged baskets, going from 2:2 up to 12:12. The game proceeded smoothly with no stoppages.
Then the referee blew the whistle for an official timeout, as the TV station needed to insert commercials.
The NBA nowadays is like this. A game's quarter can't be played entirely smoothly; if it flows too well, officials will intervene to disrupt it.
Otherwise, how would TV stations recover ad costs? How would they agree to sign such large broadcasting contracts with the NBA?
On the Mavericks' bench, Mark Cuban pointed and shouted from the back, "Smash them, use our offense to smash them!"
Nielsen wanted Cuban to shut up, thinking if you're so capable, why don't you play? However, the Mavericks did indeed need to enhance their offensive firepower.
