Thomas, Dallas Mavericks take down Cavaliers, 102-95 | DMN
While Thomas' showing in his first start of the season, after playing just 19 minutes in the previous six games and missing four of them altogether, was impressive, it was the Mavericks' commendable defense that helped them take up the slack of Nowitzki's absence. ... "When you lose a guy like Dirk, who is such a great shooter, it's a real blessing to have a guy like Tim ready to go," Carlisle said. "He stepped in and not only played well, but played really well."

Mavs' Team Depth Triumphs Over Shaq & LeBron: Your All-Access Pass | DB.com
Former Cav Drew Gooden, who scored 12, meaning all three bench guys reached at least the dozen-point mark. And talk about a breakout game: Gooden scored 10 points in the first half. … which is more than he’d scored in any game this month. In 23 minutes, Gooden added eight rebounds and two blocks – one of them a resounding stuff of his old buddy LeBron, causing James to chirp at the officials all night like he thought he was Josh Howard or somebody. Seriously, Gooden seemed to be all about what Bob Ortegel likes to call "purposeful movement.’’ He wasn’t just rambling about. Gooden was going places.

Dallas Mavericks' Nowitzki says his return should be soon | DMN
"The doctor has, [what seemed] like, his whole hand in my elbow trying to take out stuff," Nowitzki said. "It wasn't pretty. We washed it out for like an hour. The worst thing you can get is an infection in your elbow and have surgery. We definitely didn't want that. Washed it out and closed it up, took the X-ray, saw some more stuff. Went back in there, opened it up, washed it out some more, and then finally closed it up after a couple hours."

Infection avoided, Dirk is day to day | ESPNDallas
"I’m on every pill there is, so we’ll just see how it responds tomorrow and kind of take it day by day," said Nowitzki,

Monday Morning Donuts: Do Mavs Own The Southwest? | DB.com
"I think this is Dallas' division," Houston coach Rick Adelman said on Friday. "They've got all the talent, they're deep. They're the best team in our division and they're up there in the conference. I think this is a team that is very strong and is going to be there all year." The Mavs are 20-8, alone in second place in the West and holding a 3.5-game lead over Houston (and a four-game lead over SA) in the division. It's early. ... but the Mavs have endured heavy roadies, lots of B-2-B's (eight already, right?) and a host of injuries. ... so it's promising. ...