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DALLAS – The Human Exclamation Point is an honest man.

Yes, Brandan Wright gets a certain extra sense of satisfaction out of lighting up his former team. And he’s given Golden State a good idea of just what they let get away in the Mavs’ two wins over the Warriors this month, putting up a season-high 16 points in last week’s victory in Oakland and bettering that by a point in Friday’s home win.

“It’s one of those situations that you want to play well against your former team,” Wright said with a smile. “That’s all I can give you on that. You want to play well; you want to beat those guys. Since I got traded, I haven’t lost a game to them.”

That’s technically true. Wright was dealing with a concussion and didn’t make the road trip when the Mavs lost to the Warriors in March.

Wright had 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a season-high-tying nine rebounds when he finally got the chance to play the Warriors with the Mavericks. He had 17 and seven in only 17 minutes Friday night, when he made eight of nine shots from the floor.

The 24-year-old Wright has gone from a lottery pick that Golden State gave up on to a major bargain for the Mavs, who will pick up the team option to pay him the NBA minimum next season without thinking twice.

Wright won’t see the Warriors until next season, but he’ll have no problem finding motivational fodder. He’s preparing to play in the playoffs for the first time in his career.

A few more notes on Friday’s win:

1. Azubuike’s Dallas debut: It was a special night for Kelenna Azubuike, although the ex-Golden State swingman probably won’t frame the box score. He was 0-of-2 from the floor and committed two turnovers during six minutes in his NBA return after a two-plus-year layoff after a devastating knee injury.

“The knee feels great,” Azubuike said. “Now, the game will come.”

It was his first NBA appearance since for the 28-year-old Azubuike since tore his patella tendon on Nov. 14, 2009 and had post-surgery complications. The Mavs signed him in March to a one-year deal with a team option for next season with the hopes that he’d be regain his form from 2008-09, when he averaged 14.4 points and 5.0 rebounds, in time to be part of the Dallas rotation next season.

Any contributions from Azubuike this season will be considered a bonus.

"It's like (Corey) Brewer last year,” said coach Rick Carlisle, who noted that both of Azubuike’s 3-point attempts were in and out and praised his defense. “If he can help us somewhere along the line -- one play, or a few good minutes in a game at the right time, it's all worth it.”

"He's worked hard and I'm happy for him. He's had a two-year ordeal to get back."

2. Minutes managing: Delonte West was the only Maverick to play more than 30 minutes against Golden State. Not coincidentally, the 28-year-old West is by far the youngest player among the Mavs’ starters and top two reserves. “Compared to the rest of our team, he’s a youngster,” Carlisle said.

3. Terrible tie: Carlisle put the Mavs’ off night from 3-point range (3-of-19) in perspective by pointing out that their perimeter shooting was prettier than the orange tie that he wore during the game. Carlisle offered a simple excuse for having an off fashion night. His wife Donna didn’t pick out the tie, allowing Carlisle to be a victim of his own questionable taste.

DALLAS – At long last, Lamar Odom is gone. Now what do the Dallas Mavericks do when Dirk Nowitzki needs to rest?

Shawn Marion essentially served as the backup power forward during the Mavs’ championship season, and that’s a possibility again, especially if Vince Carter logs significant minutes at small forward. Brian Cardinal’s playing time could increase dramatically, but “The Custodian” has struggled mightily in limited minutes this season. You can count on the Chinese media that has hung around all season to inquire about the potential for Yi Jianlian to crack the rotation.

But the best answer might be Brandan Wright, a former lottery pick whose NBA minimum salary has been a remarkable bargain for the Mavs but has rarely played power forward this season.

Coach Rick Carlisle has been hesitant to play the high-flying, 6-foot-10, 210-pounder at power forward because Wright doesn’t have the shooting range to be a perfect fit at that position in the Mavs’ scheme. But this is far from a perfect situation, and Carlisle said Monday that he plans to use Wright at power forward.

According to 82games.com, only five percent of Wright’s minutes with the Mavs have come at power forward.

“We’ve done it in certain stretches this year,” Carlisle said. “This morning we looked at the film of those stretches. There’s some adjustment, but we’re not going to reinvent our style of play. There’s got to be a few tweaks if he plays that position and we’ll go from there.”

Wright has performed well in his few stints at power forward, his primary position until this season, averaging 24.5 points and 14.0 rebounds per 48 minutes. That’s an extremely small sample size, but those numbers compare favorably to his per-48 production at center (20.5 points, 9.7 rebounds).

Regardless of position, Wright tends to give the Mavs a spark with his athleticism and energy. He has flaws, such as his limited shooting range and lack of strength, but the Mavs never have to wonder whether he’ll play hard.

That alone makes Wright an upgrade over Odom.

DALLAS -- Brandan Wright arrived in Dallas as a lottery-bust power forward. He’s developed into a pretty intriguing big man.

OK, so he’s not so big at 6-foot-10, 210 pounds. He’s awfully skinny for a center. But The Human Exclamation Point -- a nickname that fits his slender frame and a game with a flair for the spectacular -- is still a pretty intriguing prospect as a center.

Just look at his lines from the Mavs’ home-and-home wins over the Houston Rockets. Wright followed up a 14-point, six-rebound, seven-block night in Saturday’s overtime win by putting up 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench in Tuesday’s 90-81 victory.

“He’s trying to do anything and everything to keep himself on the floor,” Shawn Marion said. “We need that. That’s a good sign. It’s a great sign.”

Is it a sign of things to come?

Wright has played the majority of the center minutes the last two games. That isn’t likely to continue once Brendan Haywood returns from a sprained right knee, which could be as soon as Thursday night in Miami.

However, it’s hard to envision Wright not having a role. Coach Rick Carlisle said the Mavs will continue to use the “three-headed monster” approach at center. Wright provides a different kind of threat than Haywood, a paint-clogging defensive presence, and Mahinmi.

Wright can get the Mavs buckets by the bunches in efficient and emphatic fashion. His stats from the Mavs’ last three wins, all against teams in the West playoff picture: 42 points on 20-of-25 shooting.

Dallas might have to play a different defensive style with Wright. He’s a phenomenal shot-blocker as a help defender, but he can get bullied on the block by low-post beasts. But he can also expose those big-bodied bullies on the other end.

“I’m going to be moving,” Wright said. “I’m going to be running around a lot. They’re going to feel it on the defensive end.”

They’ll probably see it on SportsCenter, too.

Wright, who has plastic-man arms and pogo-stick hops, is a tremendously entertaining game dunker. That’s a major reason he’s shooting 62 percent from the floor.

“He gets above the rim, but he can’t only just dunk,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “He’s got a nice touch around the rim and I like that little jump hook he’s got over the right shoulder. He can make some teams pay if they don’t pay attention to our 5s.”

Jason Terry gave Wright a DVD of Tyson Chandler pick-and-roll buckets soon after Wright signed with the Mavs for a minimum deal with a team option for next season. Wright has also developed a knack for making himself available in the right spots as a weak-side cutter.

Combine Wright’s ability to score as a complementary offensive piece and his tendency to reject shots, and it appears the Mavs have found quite a bargain on the scrap heap.

This isn’t just a 24-year-old, peach-fuzz-faced project. Wright looks like a guy that can help the Mavs in the playoffs.

“He’s an energy player and he needs to continue to bring that bounce,” Terry said. “We need it. That’s something that we miss with Tyson not being here. He’s providing some of that.”

That’s going to make it hard to keep the kid off the court.

HOUSTON -- Dirk Nowitzki has bumped four legends down the NBA’s all-time scoring list this season, but he was especially pleased to pass Charles Barkley.

Father Time had nothing to do with it, bro.

Yes, Barkley is the big mouth who declared earlier this season that Dirk’s days as an elite go-to guy were done. Nowitzki has acknowledged being motivated by that opinion –- he’s averaged 24.4 points per game since Barkley’s infamous appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3’s Galloway and Company –- but he’s definitely not bitter about it.

That’s because he has too much longtime love for Sir Charles, who dropped to the 20th leading scorer in NBA history.

“Charles was always kind of my hero,” Nowitzki said after his 31-point performance in Saturday’s win over the Rockets gave him 23,758 career points, one more than Barkley. “I always wore No. 11 in Germany, then I saw him wearing No. 14 in the Olympics in Barcelona, so then I changed my number to 14. Then when I came over, it became No. 41.”

There is a little irony in Nowitzki moving past Barkley in Houston, where Father Time caught up to the Round Mound of Rebound during a stint with the Rockets at the end of his career.

Nowitzki is probably done climbing the all-time scoring list this season. Boston’s Kevin Garnett is next on the list with 23,997 points and counting.

With a typical Dirk year, Nowitzki could move all the way up to 13th by the end of next season, passing Garnett, Allen Iverson, Patrick Ewing, Jerry West, Reggie Miller and Alex English.

A few more notes from the Mavs’ win over the Rockets:

1. Brandan Wright’s block party: This might have been the best performance of backup big man Brandan Wright’s career. It certainly was the 2007 lottery pick’s best performance in a Mavericks uniform.

Wright scored 14 points (one shy of his season high) on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbed six rebounds in 34 minutes off the bench. The stat that sticks out, however, is The Human Exclamation Point’s career-high seven blocked shots.

“He’s quick on his feet. He’s quick off his feet,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “Sometimes you think he’s got no shot to get to that ball, but one quick step and he’s basically elbow above the rim. He had some great blocks tonight.”

2. Matrix reloaded: No need to worry about whether the left knee that sidelined Shawn Marion for three games is still sore. Not after he put up 12 points and 15 rebounds on the butt end of a back-to-back.

It was the 400th double-double of Marion’s career.

“Marion’s back in a big way,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “He was terrific again. He’s guarding the key guy on their team, who was a point guard. He’s just really one of the unique guys that I’ve ever seen. The way he’s guarded every position on the floor this year, he’s Defensive Player of the Year material.”

3. Calvary coming?: There is a chance that Brendan Haywood (sprained right knee) and Delonte West (fractured right ring finger) could play Tuesday night against the Rockets.

"I'd like to think so," Carlisle said. "But I don't know that. I know the progress has been good. But we don't have a set timetable. I don't think it's impossible. The hope is sooner than later."

Our weekly look at the Mavericks' young players.

President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson recently spoke of three young big men the organization is excited about during an appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Ben & Skin Show.

All three were acquired in the past few months. The first of the three signed, Brandan Wright, is currently showing the most promise. A career power forward, the 24-year-old North Carolina product is adjusting to playing the center position and is pushing the struggling Ian Mahinmi for minutes behind Brendan Haywood. In his fourth season and finally healthy, Wright's minutes remain sporadic, but he's become a favorite of coach Rick Carlisle's because of the energy and enthusiasm he brings. He's become a fan favorite because of his propensity to throw down roof-scrapping two-handed dunks.

Sean Williams, whose contract was fully guaranteed last week, is in true developmental mode. He was assigned to D-League affiliate Texas Legends in Frisco early on and with virtually no opportunity to crack the Mavs' rotation he's remained there. The former Mansfield High star had his share of troubles when at Boston College and in his previous NBA stint, but Williams, 25, seems determined to do what it takes to stick. He's started 16 of 17 games for the Legends and is averaging 16.0 points on 54.4 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds in 28.4 minutes. He leads in blocks with 41.

And then there's the man with the contingent of Chinese press that surrounds his locker whether he plays or not. And lately the soft-shooting, 7-foot Yi Jianlian, 24, hasn't seen much action. Since logging 37 minutes in consecutive games on Jan. 25 and 27, he's played a total of 19 minutes in the last nine games and three minutes in the last five.

As for the team's main youngster in the backcourt, Rodrigue Beaubois' season and career remain a roller coaster. Hopes were raised once again for a sustained breakthrough from the soft-spoken 23-year-old early in Jason Kidd's latest injury absence. But, his performances waned and with Kidd back in the lineup, Beaubois has not gotten off the bench in three consecutive games.

What can he do to get back in?

Carlisle had a familiar answer to that question the other night: Just be ready.

DALLAS -- Lamar Odom's performances as a Dallas Maverick have been so underwhelming this season that on those nights when he shows a pulse, plays with a purpose and contributes to a victory, it gets bear-hug treatment from coach Rick Carlisle.

So when Odom played 23 minutes Saturday night with confidence, attacked and knocked down shots, contributing 10 points, five rebounds and no turnovers (and truth be told he was robbed of at least a pair of assists) in the wild 97-94 double overtime victory against Portland, Carlisle ranked the performance among the forward's best.

"I thought Lamar Odom played one of his best games of the year tonight," Carlisle said. "He had great energy, he was attacking, he was into the game. Dirk had some struggles early in the third, we went to Lamar, he made a couple big plays, hit a 3, it was stuff that kept us going during a tough spot."

At the 7:11 mark of third quarter, Nowitzki fouled Gerald Wallace for and-1, didn't like the call, made his feelings about it known and got hit with a technical. He sat down for the next five-plus minutes with Portland scraping and scrambling to try to get back in the game.

Odom immediately drained a 3-pointer and Vince Carter followed with his own to balloon the lead back to 14. Odom hit another 3 with 8:51 to go that increased a shrinking six-point lead to nine. Moments earlier he put a spin move on Nicolas Batum and put it in off the glass.

"I think right now it's important for me to play well and give the big fella a little bit of a break without us falling off too much. And when I say the big fella, I mean Dirk," Odom said. "He deserves a rest and deserves to be able to come out of the game and for the team not too fall off too much."

Odom finished 4-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 in the second half when the Mavs needed it most.

"My body is getting back to where it needs to be," Odom said. "I feel a lot more comfortable and confident making moves. And not just making a move, but coming up out of the move, making a move or two and getting out of it and being explosive, being able to share the ball and make the right basketball play.

"Now, If I could hit a free throw then I'll be able to finish these games."

Odom, 0-of-2 at the line and shooting a woeful 57.5 percent on the season, might not be closing out games anyway. He won't be bumping Dirk Nowitzki out of the lineup, and Shawn Marion, who grabbed five of his team-high 12 rebounds in the second overtime, certainly won't go quietly.

But it's one step at a time, and on Saturday night Odom took another one.

Here's three more things to consider after the Mavs won their third in a row to move back to a season-high six games over .500:

1. Big Brendan Haywood: LaMarcus Aldridge showed why he's an All-Star with his 33-point, 12-rebound effort Saturday night. He made 14-of-26 shots and split his rebounds evenly at both ends. But, give the Mavs' 7-foot center credit, too. Dallas uses its centers to guard Aldridge, a power forward, because the Blazers don't have an offensive threat at the 5. That's a big job for Haywood, who must cover a lot of ground against the far more agile Aldridge, whose bread-and -butter is a beautiful mid-range fall-away. Haywood made his younger opponent work for his points and Aldridge had to double-pump in mid-air just to get his first overtime game-tying attempt up, and it bounced around the rim before dropping. Hawyood logged 38 minutes, nine more than his previous season high, leaving Ian Mahinmi and new fan favorite Brandan Wright mostly to watch from the sideline. Haywood finished with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-figure rebound game of the season.

2. Turnovers are weird: The Mavs were fortunate to escape Minnesota having committed 18 turnovers (mostly because the Timberwolves coughed it up a remarkable 28 times). So Dallas was even more fortunate to get away with 23 turnovers Saturday night against Portland. The return of Jason Kidd was supposed to help cut down turnovers, so 41 in the last two games is certainly a cause for concern. The Mavs were turnover-free after one quarter and then committed eight in each the second and third quarters. The Blazers converted the 23 turnovers into only 23 points. Carlisle noted his concern by saying, "We're doing some things that are just uncharacteristically weird out there with the ball, and it's not like us.''

3. Free Roddy B?: Well, the return of Jason Kidd has sent Rodrigue Beaubois back to the end of the bench -- the deep, deep end. In Kidd's two games back, Beaubois has not played a second, has not needed to remove his sweats. He had the nice bounce-back game at Denver, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting one game after it appeared his confidence was totally shot (again) at Cleveland. It's so hard to figure what Beaubois' future holds. With Delonte West playing well, the minutes are going to be limited and maybe reserved for garbage time or strategically placed during extremely busy portions of the schedule. As of now the latest Free Roddy B revival was a short-lived one.

DENVER -- Maybe this German dude has a few days left as a go-to guy after all.

It could be coincidence or perhaps it was just a matter of time, but Dirk Nowitzki has suddenly looked like himself ever since Charles Barkley declared that the best player in Mavs’ history was no longer capable of being "The Man."

Nowitzki has scored 79 points on 61.5 percent shooting in the last three games. He had 25 points on 11-of-20 shooting and nine rebounds in Wednesday’s win over the Denver Nuggets, putting up what’s pretty much been a typical performance for him over the last decade.

“All-Star performance, didn’t you think?” coach Rick Carlisle said, poking fun at the possibility that Nowitzki’s slow start could prevent him from extending his streak of All-Star selections to 11 when reserves are announced Thursday night.

Nowitzki really doesn’t care whether or not he makes the All-Star game. (Actually, he’d probably prefer to stay home and take a break during that long weekend.) His concern is only about whether he’ll be capable of leading a contender.

Any doubt that crept into Dirk’s mind during his slump has been eliminated.

“Feel good, feel good,” Nowitzki said. “You know, I’m just more confident in everything -- in the movement, in the shot, just all-around game.

“It was a long road, definitely. I was fighting an uphill battle over the first third of the season, but I feel good now. I have confidence in the leg strength again. I can make moves, I can spin, all of that stuff I need to do to get my shot off. Before that, that wasn’t the case.”

Some other notes from the win over the Nuggets:

1. Grounded Jet? Jason Terry’s road woes continued with a 1-of-9 shooting night, but Carlisle’s concern was about Terry’s health. Terry didn’t play the final five-plus minutes because of a sore hip flexor. “He’s got to get some treatment tomorrow and we’ve got to get him ready for Friday and Saturday,” Carlisle said. “It’s something that’s been bothering him the last couple of days, so that’s something we’ll have to monitor closely.” Terry certainly isn’t sounding any alarms, however. “No, no, no, no, not at all,” Terry said. “I’m good. It was just tight. Nothing to worry about at all.”

2. Wright on again: For the second consecutive game, high-flying, high-energy Brandan Wright made a big impact off the bench. Wright, who is sharing the backup big man role with Ian Mahinmi after earning more minutes, scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting, grabbed four rebounds and blocked a shot in 16 minutes against the Nuggets. He scored six of his points while playing the final 10:51. “We don’t run plays for him,” Carlisle said, “but he has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.”

3. Roddy B. breaks slump: Rodrigue Beaubois' play was a problem during the Mavs’ three-game losing streak. He scored a total of 13 points on 5-of-23 shooting during the skid, prompting Carlisle to challenge him to play more aggressively. Beaubois responded by scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half against the Nuggets. Beaubois didn’t score in the second half, but his performance was still a positive. “Roddy’s first half was really key to our win,” Carlisle said. “Second half, he hit some rough spots, but that’s part of learning. That’s part of learning that position. He’s got to take it all in like a sponge, correct the stuff that needs to be corrected and build on the good stuff.”

DENVER -- Two of Rick Carlisle’s favorite words sum up the roles of the Mavericks’ reserve big men right now: “Be ready.”

The only certainty regarding the Mavs’ center position is that Brendan Haywood will continue to be the starter. Carlisle has explained to Ian Mahinmi and Brandan Wright that their playing time could be unpredictable.

That isn’t an excuse for a lack of production from the backup big men.

“When called upon, they have to go in there and give us energy and rebounding and the things we ask our five men to do within our system,” Carlisle said. “Sometimes there aren’t enough minutes to play everybody. And really, it’s a decision I got to make but it doesn’t mean Ian has fallen out of favor or anything like that. It just means Wright earned the opportunity the other night and played well enough to earn the opportunity to stay in the game.”

Mahinmi has been a bright spot most of the season, averaging 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds in 20.2 minutes per game, but Carlisle opted not to play him Saturday night in Cleveland.

That wasn’t necessarily meant as a message to Mahinmi. Wright simply has produced consistently in limited opportunities, leading Carlisle to expand the high flyer’s role.

“Brandan plays above the rim better than anybody else on our team,” Carlisle said. “He has some unique abilities that help us and so does Ian. Look, we’ve got to turn our center position into one of our strengths. And for a long stretch, it was. And I still believe it is. Those guys got to be a three-headed monster for us.”

Mahinmi said he didn’t try to read anything into his DNP a few nights ago. He gets that he isn’t guaranteed minutes, but Mahinmi’s mindset isn’t changing.

“I still see myself as Brendan Haywood’s backup,” Mahinmi said. I’m going to be ready to go any time [Carlisle] calls my name.”

Our weekly look at the Mavericks' young players:

And suddenly there's intrigue at backup center.

The full-game benching of Ian Mahinmi came as a surprise Saturday at Cleveland. So did the fact that Brandan Wright logged 29 minutes and 18 consecutively when he re-entered the game midway through the third quarter. Wright has certainly come to understand the Rick Carlisle mantra of "Be Ready." Against Oklahoma City, Wright played 25 minutes, then got just four minutes two nights later against Indiana.

In his two high-minute games in the last three, Wright produced 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and nine rebounds (eight coming Saturday at Cleveland).

"He’s just been active and productive," Carlisle said. "A combination of those two things is a real positive. Activity, energy, he’s a positive vibe-type kid and he’s getting better. He’s working really hard on his game. A lot of good things."

Those are all things Carlisle has said about Mahinmi in the opening third of the season.

But, the 6-foot-11 Frenchman, who was actually splitting minutes evenly with starting center Brendan Haywood, has dipped recently. Since going for 17 points and nine rebounds on Jan. 23, he's managed just 28 points and 31 rebounds in the last 6 games (4.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg).

So it will certainly be interesting to see which way Carlisle goes in tonight's game at the Denver Nuggets and Nene.

On a second front, Rodrigue Beaubois' recent slump has come at bad time with Jason Kidd still nursing a strained right calf and, more importantly, Beaubois trying to prove he's a valuable rotation piece to this puzzle. Beaubois was removed from the starting lineup at Cleveland after four consecutive starts at point guard and five overall. After playing 32 or more minutes in three of four games, he's logged just 20 and 21 in the last two games and he's mired in a 5-of-23 shooting slump in the last three games.

Does Carlisle stick with Delonte West as the starting point guard tonight with Kidd likely out for a sixth consecutive game? Either way, Beaubois figures to be on the court at some point. The question becomes will Beaubois earn do enough to stay on the floor in a game Dallas desperately needs?

It all leaves intrigue on two fronts.

DALLAS -- Brandan Wright had no idea that when he entered Saturday's game at Cleveland with 6:48 to go in the third quarter he wouldn't come out again.

He made the most of his 29 total minutes in that game, with 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. While he played and played, backup center Ian Mahinmi, who has had an impressive season, sat and sat, registering his lone DNP-CD of the season.

It makes for an interesting situation entering Wednesday's game at Denver as to how coach Rick Carlisle will handle the center rotation.

If it were up to Jason Terry, Wright -- who has played in 14 of 25 games and has averaged 10.5 minutes a game -- would be in the rotation.

"I’ve already put my bid in for Brandan Wright," Terry said. "I’ve already expressed that he should play every night, whether it’s five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, but he has to play. I mean just because he’s an energy guy. For me, off the bench, he’s good with that unit that I have. He automatically gets the ball." Many on alley-oops from Terry.

Mahinmi's hot start (which has hit a bit of a wall over the last week) kept Wright, who has played mostly power foward and not center in his career, on the bench. Then the addition of Yi Jianlian added more competition.

But Wright has continually produced when given the opportunity.

"I appreciate Jet saying that," Wright said. "Jet is one of the guys that has taken me under his wing, trying to show me everything, trying to build something so we can do something special this year."

With really no minutes available at power forward, it's going to have to be center or bust for Wright and Yi on most nights. With Brendan Haywood seemingly entrenched as the starter and Mahinmi surely not on the outs as the primary backup, the competition for minutes at the 5 should be intense.

"I’m comfortable [at the 5] because one of my best strengths is I can finish around the basket," Wright said. "My length, jumping ability, athletic ability, I can jump over guys. That’s one of my best assets even though I like to play the 4, but playing the 5 is fine. You get good matchups, guys have trouble covering me and then on the defensive end I can block a lot of shots also."

Whatever the Mavs are doing at halftime isn’t working.

They’ve been absolutely awful in third quarters during this three-game losing streak.

“We talked about having bad efforts coming out of halftime,” Dirk Nowitzki said after Saturday’s loss to the Cavaliers, “and this was another perfect example of it.”

How bad has it been? The Mavs have had more turnovers than field goals in the third quarter of each loss during the skid.

They were 3-of-19 from the floor with four turnovers in the third Wednesday night against the Thunder, when the Mavs were outscored 22-14.

They were 5-of-17 from the floor with six turnovers in the third Friday against the Pacers, when the Mavs were outscored 24-16.

They were 6-of-19 from the floor with seven turnovers in the third Saturday against the Cavs, when the Mavs were outscored 27-13.

Add it all up, and the Mavs have 14 buckets and 17 turnovers in the last three third quarters. They’ve shot .255 from the floor in those frames. And they’ve been outscored by 30 points.

1. Wright stuff: Backup big man Ian Mahinmi didn’t play in a game for the first time this season, watching from the bench while coach Rick Carlisle opted to give Brandan Wright extended minutes. Wright took advantage of the opportunity, scoring 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking four shots in 29 minutes. “Wright has produced virtually every time we put him in a game,” Carlisle said. “He’s doing a terrific job.” Mahinmi, who was coming off a two-point, two-rebound performance against the Pacers, has tailed off recently.

2. Roddy B. benched: Rodrigue Beaubois came off the bench for the first time since Jason Kidd suffered a strained right calf. Delonte West started at point guard, losing for the first time in that role as a Maverick. Beaubois impressed during his first three games as the primary point guard, but he’s been in a nasty shooting funk since then and has looked timid the last two nights. He’s 5-of-23 from the floor in the last two games and attempted only two shots in his scoreless outing against the Cavs.

3. Dirk keeps climbing: Nowitzki’s 24 points give him 23,154 for his career, pushing him past Lakers great Elgin Baylor for 22nd in NBA history. Next up: Adrian Dantley with 23,177 points. Nowitzki is also likely to pass Robert Parish (23,334) and Charles Barkley (23,757) this season. Boston’s Kevin Garnett is between Parish and Barkley but has a 459-point cushion on Nowitzki.

DALLAS -- Brandan Wright knew minutes would be tough to come by with the Dallas Mavericks, but he expected a lot of time.

So far, this season has gone about as well as the 24-year-old former lottery pick hoped.

“This is one of the places that they really take time with the young guys to develop you and have you ready to play when you get the opportunity,” Wright said, adding that he hasn’t had a head coach work with him so much on an individual basis since Roy Williams at North Carolina. “I just think it’s a great place for a young guy even though it’s a stacked roster with veterans who are going to play a lot of minutes.”

Wright, a 6-foot-10, 210-pound pogo stick who plays primarily center for the Mavs, has rewarded Rick Carlisle by consistently producing when he does get on the court.

Wright, who is behind the productive big man tandem of Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi, has averaged only 9.6 minutes in the 12 games he’s gotten off the bench. But Wright is stuffing the box score with per-36-minute averages of 19.7 points on .667 shooting, 7.2 rebounds, 3.1 blocks and 1.3 steals.

With Haywood sidelined by a sore back, Wright was a bright spot in Wednesday’s loss, when he scored 11 points and blocked three shots in 22 minutes.

“He’s been terrific,” said Carlisle, who called Wright a “sponge” and is working with him to develop a mid-range jumper. “He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s making it tough for the coach not to play him. …

“The minutes are tough to come by and with Haywood coming back, they’re going to be tighter. But the thing he’s done is he’s worked really hard, he’s gotten better. He’s sent the message that he’s ready.”

Our weekly look at the Mavericks' young players:

Whether Jason Kidd's second injury of the season is truly a blessing in disguise, as Jason Terry put it, might have to be answered by Kidd. Yet, even he acknowledged that being forced to the sideline will give Rodrigue Beaubois a chance to play prime point guard minutes he might otherwise not be afforded.

That is true. Beaubois has logged 24, 36 and 36 minutes in the last three games, respectively with Kidd nursing a strained left calf. Prior to Kidd's injury that took him out of Friday's game barely two minutes into it, Beaubois, averaging 16.9 minutes, had logged 20 or more minutes three times all season. He's getting valuable court time in a variety of pressure situations, such as Sunday's overtime win against the Spurs in which he made crucial plays late at both ends.

"It was great for Roddy Beaubois to be in the situation he was [Sunday night], a playoff-type atmosphere," Terry said. "Those are experiences you're only going to get in a game. He'll learn and grow from it."

Beaubois passed a tough test against the Spurs' Tony Parker and tonight he gets Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, arguably the game's most explosive guard at getting to the rack.

As for the other member of the French Connection, center Ian Mahinmi, could he be slowing down just a tad? Since his 17-point, nine-rebound game against Phoenix on January 23, he has matched his longest streak of the season, four games, without scoring in double figures. His minutes are right about at his season average, but he's averaged just five points in those four games with a field-goal percentage of just 42.1 (8-of-19), well below his 62.1 percent season average. And, he's made just 4-of-10 free throws.

Then again, his rebounds are up a tick to 6.0 a game in the last four-game stretch.

Other Mavs youngsters such as Brandan Wright and Yi Jianlian received some extra minutes during Dirk Nowitzki's four-game absence, but since then neither has found much of place in hearty matchups against the likes of the Spurs, and that would likely include little to no playing time -- unless foul trouble dictates otherwise -- tonight against the Thunder.

DALLAS -- One side benefit to Dirk Nowitkzi missing the last four games was it provided opportunity at power forward for Brandan Wright and Yi Jianlian.

Wright has displayed some ridiculous skywalking ability, while Yi has shown a soft mid-range jumper. But the 7-footer from China also revealed that he can get up -- or at least get up as much as a 7-footer needs to to throw down a slam. Late in the fourth quarter with the Mavs pulling away from Utah in Friday's 15-point win, Yi faced up Jazz rookie big man Enes Kanter on the baseline, drove by him and finished with a two-hand slam.

Yi then balled his right hand and pounded his fist, American style, over his heart.

"That felt great," Yi said. "To get a dunk and win the game is exciting."

He drained a 15-foot jumper soon after to give him eight points for the game on 4-of-9 shooting. He also had four points in the second quarter on a pair of arching jumpers and pulled down five rebounds, two on the offensive glass. The shot that has been most available for Yi is the 18-to-20-foot jumper from the top or side of the circle, the shot that he and the coaching staff work on most, the elbow jumper.

Yi was 4-of-11 from the floor in Wednesday's game, but many of those shots he missed were clean looks that could have gone down. As the last addition to the team, Yi has had to learn everything on the fly, and that included a brief stop with the D-League Texas Legends before officially joining the big club.

"The first couple weeks I was learning the team and running the plays, offensive and defensive things," said Yi, whose English is not half bad. "The players and coaches have really been helping me. This season with the schedule you don’t have real practice time, so for me it’s just watching and watching."

With Nowitzki expected to return to the starting lineup tonight, which would push Lamar Odom back to a reserve role, it's uncertain how much time will be available for Yi and Wright. Carlisle called it a coin flip over the last four games as to which big man would get more run with Dirk out.

Carlisle said he likes the way Yi is coming along in a short period of time.

"We’re spending a lot of time with him on his shooting and there’s some things I really like about him," Carlisle said. "I love his size, his aggression. He really understands what we’re doing defensively. He’s physical and puts his body on people and he’s working hard on the midrange shots. Those are the shots that are going to be there for him."

With Dirk set to return, now we'll just have to see how many minutes are going to be there.

DALLAS -- When 6-foot-10 Dallas Mavericks skywalker Brandan Wright is in the game, it's almost expected now that an alley-oop is going to happen.

It happened Wednesday night in spectacular fashion.

Coming off a Minnesota turnover in the first half, Jason Terry and Wright broke upcourt chasing the ball as it scooted along the floor in front of them. Wright, running on the left wing, reached down and pushed the ball over to Terry running parallel to him down the middle of the floor. Terry, right at about at the 3-point arc, reached down, but instead of picking up the ball, he scooped it and in one motion lobbed it way, way up.

Wright launched himself, grabbed it with both hands, his 7-foot-5 wing span rising straight up well above the rim, and then with his outstretched body leaning forward, flushed it home with ferocity.

"I didn't know he was going to throw it up," Wright said. "It was just instincts. Believe it or not, you work on crazy stuff like that in practice. It's part of the game and you've got to be ready for anything."

The fourth-year pro out of North Carolina said his vertical leap was 36 inches back in school. Now? Try 41 inches, Wright said of his most recent measurement prior to the season.

"Long offseason," he said. "You can do a lot of work on a lot of stuff."

The alley-oop was so spectacular that Dirk Nowitzki, who was sitting this one out and sitting in on the television broadcast from the bench at the time, went absolutely bonkers. As Wright soared and slammed, Nowitzki unleashed, "Ohhhhh, shut it down! Let's go home!"

Wright and Terry have paired on a few alley-oop dunks. A few games back, Terry sent a lob from near the baseline that forced Wright to reach back with his outstretched left arm and throw it down. Nothing, it seems, is out of his reach.

"He trusts me that I can get the job done," Wright said. "We talk about it all the time. He says if he sees a small window he'll make me look good."