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DALLAS -- Delonte West doesn't want to watch any more games from the bench. He's already missed a third of the season due to a gruesomely fractured right ring finger.

Now West is dealing with a fluke ankle injury, but he hopes it won't cost him any time. He's testing the ankle on the Mavs' practice floor, but he plans to play, as evidenced by the padding he put on underneath his jersey.

"These games are too important right now," said West, the Mavs' primary point guard while Jason Kidd recovers from a strained right groin. "I also don't want to hurt my team trying to be Superman."

The Mavs won't have Ian Mahinmi, who is out Friday night for the delivery of his first child. Coach Rick Carlisle said he hopes Mahinmi will rejoin the Mavs for Saturday's game in Memphis.

West has been getting treatment on his left ankle since the morning shootaround. He turned it when he landed on a ball after shooting a jumper.

"Unfortunate kind of deal," West said. "I was shooting a jumper, and the ball just came out of nowhere. I came down on it and tweaked my ankle."

DALLAS -- Ian Mahinmi broke into the league as a San Antonio Spurs rookie who looked up to Tim Duncan.

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Mahinmi, the Dallas Mavericks' starting center while Brendan Haywood is sidelined by a sprained right knee, will spend Saturday night banging with Duncan.

“It’s going to be a great experience and great challenge for me being able to play against him,” Mahinmi said.

It will also be a new experience for Mahinmi, who has emerged as a solid backup big man this season, averaging 6.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in 18.5 minutes per game. Mahinmi has practiced against Duncan plenty of times, but he’s played precious few minutes that mattered against the Spurs legend.

According to NBA.com’s advanced stats, Mahinmi and Duncan have been on the floor at the same time for only 12 minutes in Mavs-Spurs meetings the last season and a half.

Mahinmi has fond memories of his time as Duncan’s teammate, describing Duncan as a star who found time to “take care” of the young players. Duncan never asked for too much in return.

“But he does like a certain type of doughnuts,” Mahinmi said, “so on every game day, I had to go and get it.”

Don’t expect Mahinmi to bring any doughnuts to the American Airlines Center on Saturday night.

“Oh, hell no,” Mahinmi said, laughing. He has something else planned for Duncan. “I’ll bring a lot of energy, so be ready for that.”

Mavericks center Brendan Haywood will probably miss his second consecutive game due to a sprained left ankle.

“I don't think he's going to play tonight,” coach Rick Carlisle said after Haywood was a limited participant during the Mavs’ morning shootaround in Phoenix.

Backup big man Brandan Wright, who is recovering from a concussion suffered during Friday’s loss in New Orleans, did not make the road trip. That leaves Ian Mahinmi as the only healthy center with any significant experience with the Mavs.

Mahinmi has played well as the Mavs’ primary center since Haywood injured his ankle on the opening possession in Monday’s loss in Oklahoma City. He has averaged 11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in the last two games.

Mahinmi will have his hands full with Suns center Marcin Gortat, a former Mavs free agency target who has blossomed in his first season as a full-time starter, averaging 16.2 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

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.

STOCK UP
Dirk Nowitzki – After an extended slump, Nowitzki is performing like a perennial All-Star again. He has averaged 26.3 points on 61.5 percent shooting in the last three games, displaying the offensive arsenal that has made him one of the NBA’s toughest matchups for more than a decade. The only aspect of his game as a scorer that hasn’t fully returned to form is his 3-point shot (4-of-12 in last three games). He’s back to being a deadly midrange jump shooter who can create off the dribble when defenders try to close out on him. His legs feel strong again, as evidenced by his average of 8.0 rebounds in the last three games and his confidence to dip into his deep, quirky bag of off-the-dribble tricks.

STOCK DOWN
Ian Mahinmi – Coach Rick Carlisle insists Mahinmi’s DNP-CD in Cleveland isn’t evidence that the backup big man has landed in the doghouse, but Mahinmi is no longer guaranteed minutes on a regular basis. That’s because Brandan Wright has been remarkably productive in limited playing time, but it’s probably not a coincidence that Mahinmi sat an entire game for the first time this season after a two-point, two-rebound outing in a 16-minute stint during last week’s loss to the Pacers. Mahinmi responded to the benching the right way, though, putting up seven points and four rebounds in only 11 minutes during Wednesday’s win over the Nuggets. It’s notable, however, that Wright got more playing time in that game.

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.

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.

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 -- How is it that the shortest guy on the team is the Dallas Mavericks' best shot blocker?

It starts with the 6-foot-2 (and that might be a stretch) Rodrigue Beaubois' insanely long arms. He is making mid-air swats on opponents attempting to drive, as he did Friday night in flicking away Devin Harris' baseline penetration. But he's also getting more than his share of blocks on perimeter jumpers.

That's all about good defensive positioning and timing. Last week at Utah, Beaubois got his right arm fully extended and blocked 6-foot-8 forward Paul Millsap's jumper at the point of release. On Friday against the Jazz, Beaubois did the same to guard Earl Watson. Beaubois then tapped the ball forward to Jason Terry, who flew in for an uncontested layup.

That block was just one of a career-high four on the night for the third-year guard, who has 11 blocks in the last five games and 15 on the season. He ranks second on the team in total blocks, just three fewer than 7-foot starting center Brendan Haywood and two more than Beaubois' buddy, 6-foot-11 backup center Ian Mahinmi. Beaubois, though, has logged 156 fewer minutes than Haywood and 126 fewer than Mahinmi.

"God gave me long arms and I'm just trying to use it," Beaubois said. "Sometimes I am going to block shots, sometimes I don't. But when I can I am going to do my best to block shots."

At this rate, Beaubois' .83 blocks-per-game average will soon exceed Haywood's team-best .90 average. Beaubois also has 20 steals on the season. That ranks fifth on the team in total steals, but first in steals per minute played.

As equally impressive is that Beaubois is creating turnovers without fouling. This has been a major issue for him over his first two seasons and particularly last season after he finally returned from the broken left foot. It wasn't surprising for Beaubois to pick up two quick fouls and find himself back on the bench.

He still has a fairly high number of fouls (29) for his minutes played, but he hasn't had more than three in a game since the second game of the season, and he hasn't been nailed by cheap, quick fouls in succession that force him to sit.

"My first year I was fouling a lot and it's something that the coaches tried to talk to me about, something I needed to get better at," Beaubois said. "I'm just trying to play defense without fouling, using my length without touching the guy too much and just trying to get better with it."

DALLAS – With all due respect to Tyson Chandler, the Mavericks are doing just fine with their tag team in the middle.

The Mavs have the NBA’s third-ranked defense and have held foes under 100 points for a franchise record 15 games with Brendan Haywood and Ian Mahinmi sharing minutes at the big man spot. That duo both scored in double figures during Monday night’s win over the Suns, a first this season.

Haywood and Mahinmi are combining to average 13.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game, numbers that aren’t far off those produced by the Chandler-Haywood duo last season.

“We have a good tag team just because we offer two contrasting styles of basketball,” said Haywood, who had 10 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes against the Suns. “We’re both confident in what we can do. It’s worked out pretty well for us so far. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

Haywood is the traditional paint-protecting, glass-cleaning big man. Mahinmi, who had 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 29 minutes off the bench against the Suns, is more athletic and has more finesse to his game.

“It’s Super Bowl time. It’s like the Giants,” said Haywood, the biggest football fan in the Mavs’ locker room. “You’ve got Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Guess which one I am.”

That comparison confused the Frenchman Mahinmi: “I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

That’s OK. All the Mavs care about is how Mahinmi fills his role, and he’s doing that just fine.

A few more notes from the Mavs’ seventh straight home win:

1. Who needs Hall of Famers?: The Mavs went 4-0 while point guard Jason Kidd rested his sore back earlier this season. They’ve won both of their games without power forward Dirk Nowitzki, who will sit out at least two more as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer goes through a personal training camp and deals with a sore right knee. “It shows how deep we are. I mean, it’s that simple,” Kidd said.

2. Raves for Roddy B.: Rodrigue Beaubois’ line in the box score was butt ugly. He had four points on 0-of-5 shooting and only one assist in 18 minutes, but coach Rick Carlisle offered praise for the young guard’s performance. “He stayed in the game mentally,” said Carlisle, who was particularly pleased with Beaubois’ defensive effort. “He was in a stance and he was a positive factor.”

3. Ason Watch: Jason Kidd’s 3-point problems might be contagious. His primary backcourt partner appears to have caught the bug. Jason Terry was 1-of-5 from 3-point range against the Suns, which actually improved his long-distance percentage over the last five games (.194, 6-of-31). Kidd is 15-of-60 (.250) from 3-point range this season.

LOS ANGELES -- Rick Carlisle has used 13 players more than once and he's gone as deep as 11 before halftime. But, in meaningful, high-intensity games, it is apparent that Carlisle will shorten his bench, too.

That's what he did in Monday's loss at the Los Angeles Lakers. Carlisle matched L.A. by limiting his bench to four players. Carlisle ultimately played his reserves longer, with Jason Terry logging a team-high 34:21 and Lamar Odom and Ian Mahinmi each playing about 24 minutes.

Mahinmi, it is clear, is the one young Dallas Mavericks player who has earned consistent playing time, and even more time in some games, than starter Brendan Haywood. A most intriguing aspect to Mahinmi is his ability to catch the basketball, make a fluid move and score. He's shown smooth moves down low and going off the glass as well as a soft jumper from the baseline and up top.

Mahinmi has made Carlisle's life a bit easier by shoring up the center position after Tyson Chandler's departure. The Mavs desperately tried to add big bodies just in case, but Mahinmi's progress has meant Sean Williams is playing in the D-League and Brandan Wright being relegated mostly to garbage time.

Against the Lakers, Mahinmi had nine points and 10 rebounds, while Haywood managed a free throw and seven boards.

The Mavs' other young players will just have to take their minutes when they can get them, against weaker opponents, in garbage time, in back-to-backs or at the end of long stretches like this season's popular four-games-in-five-nights sequence.

Dominique Jones was assigned to the Texas Legends on Sunday and even with Vince Carter's sprained foot taking him out of the lineup for at least one game and likely more, Jones won't be recalled just yet. And then there's Rodrigue Beaubois, the third-year guard who did not get off the bench in Monday's game, but could be looking at another window of opportunity in light of Carter's injury.

Jason Kidd's recent four-game hiatus with back spasms allowed Beaubois to get increased minutes and after some initial criticism by his coach, Beaubois turned in some steady performances the Mavs will need as Carlisle carefully navigates minutes through the compressed schedule.

"I don’t know the way he is going to use me, so I have to be ready," Beaubois said after Tuesday's practice. "I have to bring my energy on D."

The lithe, 6-foot-2 combo guard is averaging 5.3 minutes on just 37.3 percent shooting (and worse on 3s), but he did have a 15-point outburst last week and Carlisle credited him for playing a more disciplined brand of defense.

"He's in the picture always," Carlisle said of Beaubois' status in the rotation.

Only now, for a second time in as many weeks, he has a chance to bring more clarity to his role.

Team basketball catapulted the Dallas Mavericks to a championship. After that team was half-dismantled, the big question was whether they could recapture the unselfishness and ego-less play.

During this stretch of six wins in eight games and three in a row after taking a road back-to-back at Detroit and Boston, coach Rick Carlisle believes the team game is surfacing.

"We needed everybody," Carlisle said of Wednesday's 90-85 win against the Celtics. "There were timely plays made the entire second half and guys like Rodrigue Beaubois coming in and getting a steal here and there and making a couple of shots. Ian Mahini gave us good energy. I loved Lamar Odom in the second half. He played with great energy.

"A game like this, it comes down to a lot of little things. The sum total of our game is a lot of good solid plays being sandwiched together. The guys did a good job of that the second half."

The Mavs won a season-best three in a row without injured point guard Jason Kidd. Delonte West has filled in, moving from starting shooting guard to the point, with a feisty, aggressive approach and he got things going in Boston scoring the team's first six points as Dallas bolted to an early 10-2 lead.

"He’s active, he’s not scared, he competes on every play; he’s tough in the post, he’s got great hands, great anticipation and he just plays hard," Dirk Nowitzki gushed. "He really sets a great tone for the whole team because he competes on every play."

Carlisle also said, "I also want to give a lot of credit to the guys on our bench."

That's a bench that lost Vince Carter to the starting lineup with Kidd sidelined and still produced 76 points, 31 rebounds, 18 assists and just 11 turnovers (only four against the Celtics) in the two-game road sweep.

Carlisle's mantra of "Be ready," a phrase he has used since his arrival remains particularly relevant during this compacted regular season. He has used all 13 players available such as in the blowout win against Detroit on Tuesday and still used 10 players in Wednesday's tight contest against the Celtics.

The nature of the schedule is forcing Carlisle to use his depth, but it's up to the depth to produce and enable Carlisle to trust them. That is taking place and just one reason why Dallas is 6-2 after the 0-3 start.

"The team’s finding itself a little bit," Carlisle said. "This is a very challenging year on a lot of levels. But the guys are taking the challenge. Getting momentum is tough, keeping it is tougher. But right now, we’ve got some, and we’re going to keep it."