Team doctors determined that Devean George has a sprained MCL. The timing on this couldn't be better. With the all-star break coming up there is a chance he'll only miss tonight's game against Houston and be ready Thursday for the return of Miami.
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Sefko warns the Mavs not to get comfortable with their huge lead in the Southwest.
Although it's impressive the that the Mavericks have gone 43-5 since that 0-4 start, it doesn't mean a whole lot other than they are a really good team that has played well for three months.
What would mean more is having this sort of run in April.
That's not to say the regular season is a nuisance. It's a necessary means to building a team. The Mavericks are a more advanced team after 51 games than they were after 21 games.
They like being light years ahead of the pack in their division and it's encouraging that they are padding their league on Phoenix while Steve Nash is out.
Whether it means anything won't be known until the battles of April and May.
And Art Garcia has some quotes from Avery Johnson about how he keeps the team focused when things are going easy.
What would mean more is having this sort of run in April.
That's not to say the regular season is a nuisance. It's a necessary means to building a team. The Mavericks are a more advanced team after 51 games than they were after 21 games.
They like being light years ahead of the pack in their division and it's encouraging that they are padding their league on Phoenix while Steve Nash is out.
Whether it means anything won't be known until the battles of April and May.
Avery Johnson looks beyond the current eight-game winning streak when assessing progress. He also doesn't look at who the Mavs are playing or their record.
"Everybody, you've got to play post defense against," the coach said. "Everybody, you've got to guard the paint. You've got to rebound against everybody. You've got to get back in transition against everybody. You've got to be physical with everybody. You've got to make smart, hard fouls on everybody."
That's the point.
"We want to play mistake-free basketball, we want to play the perfect game, but that's never gonna happen," Stackhouse said. "We just want to get as close to it as we can."
---------------------"Everybody, you've got to play post defense against," the coach said. "Everybody, you've got to guard the paint. You've got to rebound against everybody. You've got to get back in transition against everybody. You've got to be physical with everybody. You've got to make smart, hard fouls on everybody."
That's the point.
"We want to play mistake-free basketball, we want to play the perfect game, but that's never gonna happen," Stackhouse said. "We just want to get as close to it as we can."
Dirk doesn't want to lose ever, but especially tonight.
"Obviously, we don't want to sit on a loss for a week during the All-Star break," said Dirk Nowitzki. "Houston's been playing great and I'm sure they're going to be ready for us."
--------------------------Dwain Price has an NBA 'Fact or Fiction'.
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Around the NBA: All the big trades out there are losing steam. It seems increasingly likely that Pau Gasol, Mike Bibby, and Jason Kidd won't be going anywhere.
Without Nash or Diaw, Seattle beat the Suns by 24. Jalen Rose actually played 3 minutes.
The Spurs ended their 8 game road trip with a win over Detroit. They were 4-4 on the trip.
Tim Hardaway, who played 54 games with the Mavs in 2002, isn't looking real good today.