The Mavericks finished last week (2-2) with a very important win in the playoff race against the Houston Rockets. The playoffs have officially started for them and the analysts are not ready to move them out of the Top10 (yet). The Mavs hope to get Brendan Haywood and Delonte West back, but for now Lamar Odom still dominates the roundup:
NBA.com - John Schuhmann: 15th
The Lamar Odom situation in Dallas isn't getting any better. Odom is shooting 29 percent since returning from his four-game absence at the beginning of the month, picked up a DNP-CD in San Antonio on Friday and looked pretty awful in Saturday's win in Houston. You have to wonder what the future holds for Odom.
Cubes chastises Mavs fans for booing Lamar Odom.
SheridanHoops.com - Chris Sheridan: 7th
Gotta love the passion that comes out in Texas fans whenever these guys, Spurs and/or Rockets play each other. Memo to Easy Dave: Can we move OKC to this division and have more of the same? Two more left vs. Rockets, with Rick Carlisle telling team Saturday "the playoffs have begun" prior to OT victory vs. Houston.
Dallas continues to do enough to remain safely in the playoff bracket. Oddly enough, the incredible Lamar Odom saga continues to largely get ignored nationally. That's probably for the best.
Brandan Wright is becoming everything Calvin Booth was supposed to be, but they only want to talk about Lamar Odom in Big D. So here goes: As little as Dallas is getting from LO, no less an authority than Rick Carlisle believes that the Mavs' 0-6 record without him is proof they need him. Even if it's just to spell Dirk.
ESPN - John Holinger's Metric: 16th
Teamrankings.com - Power Ratings: 10th
HoopsStats.com - Efficiency Differential: 9th
MavsMoneyball - j0Shi's Schedule Adjusted Efficiencies: 13th