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DALLAS – The decision to dump Lamar Odom didn’t just lift a black cloud from the Dallas Mavericks’ locker room. It also helped unleash Vince Carter.

Carter’s role changed when the Mavs had to adjust the rotation to make up for Odom’s absence. With Shawn Marion playing the vast majority of the minutes at power forward when Dirk Nowitzki rests, as was the case during the Mavs’ title run, Carter now comes off the bench and plays almost solely small forward.

“It gives us another attacker out there at the small forward position,” coach Rick Carlisle said, “so that’s a plus.”

That’s putting it mildly based on Carter’s recent production. He has averaged 13.3 points on 46.8 percent shooting in the last eight games, dating to the night in Memphis when Mark Cuban made the decision to get rid of Odom after their heated halftime conversation. Carter has put up an average of 20 points in the Mavs’ last three games, including scoring all of his team-high 19 points in the second half of Friday’s 104-94 win over the Golden State Warriors.

There were long stretches after the All-Star break when it looked like there wasn’t much life left in Carter’s 35-year-old legs. That’s no longer a concern, not after watching Carter have a handful of highlight-reel, high-above-the-rim flashbacks to vintage Vinsanity this week.

“I’ve taken the time to really take care of myself to make sure I’m ready and make sure I’m healthy,” Carter said. “I didn’t want to not be ready for this moment -- and that’s the playoffs. Just make sure I’m in my rhythm and make sure my body is feeling good. And I feel great.”

He looks great in his new role, which allows the 20,000-plus-point career scorer to utilize his quickness against bigger defenders. Carter’s 3-point range also spaces the floor for Jason Terry and Nowitzki to work when they’re on the floor with him.

“Like I told them from the beginning, I really don’t care what my role is, where he puts me on the floor, how he puts me in the game,” said Carter, an eight-time All-Star whose sole goal at this point of his career is to earn his first championship ring. “Just know when it’s my turn, I’m going to come in and be ready to play. I’ve been that way, and I’ve just tried to step my aggression up just a little more."

Carter adds that he’s not trying to step on any toes, but that’s far from an issue. The Mavs, who rank in the NBA’s bottom third in offensive efficiency, need him to be in attack mode.

Carlisle has emphasized to Carter that being aggressive is a major part of his job description. It isn’t a coincidence that the Mavs have scored 100 points in four straight games -- for just the second time this season -- and hit triple digits in six of the last seven games.

“He’s one of our most versatile players, and the fact that he attacks the rim is important for us because we don’t have a lot of guys that get in the paint that well,” said big man Brendan Haywood, who played at North Carolina with Carter way back when. “The timing is great. This is the time of the year that you want guys to be peaking, and it seems like that’s what he’s doing right now.”

Consider that a side benefit to sending Odom home to Los Angeles.

Our weekly look at Mavs newcomers:

Vince Carter’s role in the Mavs’ revamped, Lamar Odom-less rotation is clear. He comes off the bench at small forward, allowing Shawn Marion to slide to power forward when Dirk Nowitzki comes off the floor.

The question is whether Carter or Marion will join the Mavs’ closer committee of Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry during crunch time.

Coach Rick Carlisle’s answer in Utah was Carter, who played every minute during the fourth quarter and three overtime periods. That put three of the four most prolific active fourth-quarter scorers on the floor for the Mavs, as only Kobe Bryant has more career buckets in the final frame than Nowitzki, Terry and Carter. Carter also ranks below only Bryant and Nowitzki for game-winning shots made among active players.

Of course, it should be noted that the 35-year-old Carter’s production has dipped the most by far of that closer quartet.

Carter hit a couple of big shots – a pair of 3-pointers that were critical in forcing the first overtime – but those were the only shots he hit in the fourth quarter and overtimes of the loss to the Jazz. Meanwhile, the Mavs’ most valuable defender watched from the bench.

Carlisle, as tends to be the case, was vague about the reasoning for his decision to play Carter instead of Marion with the game on the line. He mentioned that Carter was playing well, leaving out the fact that Marion didn’t appear to have much in the tank, registering only four points and two rebounds in 23:51 during the Mavs’ fourth game in five nights.

Carlisle’s decision also could have been influenced by the Jazz’s lack of an elite wing scorer. It’s hard to envision Carlisle opting for Carter over Marion in crunch time when Dallas needs to defend someone like Bryant, Manu Ginobili or Kevin Durant during the first round of the playoffs.

Our weekly look at which Mavs stocks have risen and fallen the most:

STOCK UP
Delonte West – He’ll deal with significant pain in his surgically repaired right ring finger the rest of the season, but West is back and played a major role in the Mavs’ last two wins. He’s the starting point guard with Jason Kidd sidelined by a strained right groin, a stint that started in the fourth quarter in Orlando, when West scored seven of his 15 points and dished out two of his five assists in that comeback win. After an off game in the lopsided loss to the Clippers, West bounced back by scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the win over the Grizzlies. West, whose on-the-ball defensive ability lightens Shawn Marion’s load, has done a tremendous job taking care of the ball despite being limited with his taped and padded right hand. He has only three turnovers in 86 minutes over the last three games.

STOCK DOWN
Vince Carter – Carter’s scoring averaged has dipped below double digits and he’s been especially inefficient this week. He has a total of only eight points on 3-of-15 shooting in the two games so far on this homestand. It’s never a good thing when a starting shooting guard has more fouls (four) and as many turnovers as points over a two-game span. The 35-year-old Carter has been struggling since the All-Star break, averaging 7.9 points on. 349 shooting in that span, significant drops from his pre-break numbers of 10.9 points on .442 shooting. If Carter doesn’t snap out of his slump soon, it’s likely that West will start at shooting guard once Kidd returns.

It’s been a dozen years since Vince Carter won the NBA’s slam dunk contest. He can still morph into Half Man, Half Amazing at moments -- just ask New Orleans big man Emeka Okafor, Carter’s recent YouTube victim -- but the 35-year-old can’t envision himself as a participant in the featured event of All-Star Saturday ever again.

“I don’t think so,” Carter said, laughing. “I don’t know. I’d have to have an epiphany.”

You can count on Carter watching Saturday’s dunk contest that features four first-time participants: Minnesota’s Derrick Williams, Indiana’s Paul George, Utah’s Jeremy Evans and Houston’s Chase Budinger. He doesn’t like the changed format -- “endurance dunking,” he calls it -- but Carter will always be a dunk aficionado.

“I used to tape all the dunk contests and watch them over and over and analyze them,” Carter said. “I like to see just like a judge in gymnastics. I say gymnastics because I’ve been to a lot of my daughter’s gymnastics meets. They always look at body control, all the technical stuff, and that’s how I’ve always been with the dunk contest.”

Carter lists Julius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan and J.R. Rider as his favorite dunk showmen. You can see their influence in his spectacular routine during the 2000 contest.

He borrowed from Dr. J and Jordan with a variation of the free-throw line jam, taking off from a step inside the line but throwing it down with two hands. He also did a Jordan-esque side-leaning tomahawk, adding flair by hanging from the rim with his elbow.

Carter enhanced Rider’s between-the-legs jam by doing it after catch a bounce pass from teammate Tracy McGrady. And he delved into Dominque’s genre with two nasty windmills -- one a 360, the other a 180 after taking off from behind the basket.

In Carter’s opinion, it’s the details that make a contest dunk.

“I like to see guys do the windmill,” Carter said. “I always wanted to do a windmill with the arm straight, straight down. Not half-cocked. If you half-cock it, your arm is bent.”

Of course, it helps to have a 40-plus inch vertical.

Our weekly look at the Mavs' newcomers:

DALLAS – Mark Cuban considered it a no-brainer to sign Vince Carter for the mini-midlevel exception.

But Cuban readily admits that he’s getting a much better bargain than he anticipated for Carter’s $3 million salary.

PODCAST
Mavs guard Vince Carter talks about why he chose Dallas over other teams, crediting cryotherapy in helping him feel strong and ready throughout this short, quick season and much more. Listen

Everybody knew Carter could still score a little bit. After all, “Half Man, Half Amazing” is creeping up on 21,000 career points. Carter’s passing ability, especially out of the post, and defensive intensity have been pleasant surprises.

“Vinsanity is down to get dirty,” Cuban said.

Vinsanity is down to do whatever it takes to win.

If that means coming off the bench, Carter is cool with it, having done so 10 times this season. If that means starting, he’s happy to do it.

Carter came to Dallas because he desperately wants a championship ring. He’s even hungrier for that to happen after witnessing the banner-raising and ring ceremonies.

“This is something that can complete my career,” Carter said. “I want it for a lot of reasons. I just feel like I’ve done a lot in the league, been through a lot, seen a lot, accomplished a lot, but that’s the ultimate goal. Having that chance, I’m excited about that.”

The 35-year-old Carter is putting up impressive numbers for a part time player, averaging 10.8 points while shooting .455 from the floor and .458 from the 3-point line, 3.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 23.5 minutes per game.

But his plus-minus total, which is by far the best on the team, is a better indicator of Carter’s impact. The Mavs have outscored opponents by 161 points in Carter’s 563 minutes. The only players in the West with better plus-minus totals are Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge and Gerald Wallace and the Clippers’ Chris Paul.

“He’s been phenomenal for us, just phenomenal,” Cuban said. “He’ll contribute in any way he possibly can. He’s one of those guys, all he wants to do is win.”

DALLAS – At first glance, a backcourt featuring Jason Kidd and Vince Carter appears to be an ill fit at their advance age.

After all, somebody has to guard all the good point guards the Mavs will see. And almost all of the Western Conference contenders have one: Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, the Clippers’ Chris Paul, San Antonio’s Tony Parker, Denver’s Ty Lawson, Houston’s Kyle Lowry.

Shawn Marion can solve a lot of problems, including the mismatch issues with the geezer guard combo. At least, that's what the early evidence indicates.

We got a glimpse of how the Mavs might approach the opposing point guard problem on Friday night, when Kidd returned from a six-game absence. The Mavs stuck with Carter as the starting shooting guard instead of putting Delonte West in that spot and gave Marion the assignment of defending rookie sensation Ricky Rubio.

“This is nothing new,” coach Rick Carlisle said of Marion’s ability to be a defensive problem-solver regardless of position. “He’s been one of the most versatile players that we’ve had at both ends of the floor in the game in the last decade. It helps. He’s always up for those kinds of challenges, too.”

It worked wonderfully against the Timberwolves. Rubio had a so-so outing, scoring 10 points on 2-of-8 shooting and dishing out eight assists. Meanwhile, Kidd keyed a Mavs win, as Dallas outscored the Timberwolves by 23 points in Kidd’s 27 minutes.

Marion’s ability to defend point guards keeps Kidd’s lack of elite quickness from being exposed and limits the wear and tear on the 38-year-old. It allows the Mavs to continue starting Carter, who has by far the team’s best plus-minus this season, and ensures that West will be available to play all the backup point guard minutes.

It worked against Rubio. What about against an elite point guard like Paul? We’re about to find out.

Vince Carter passed Michael Finley last week to move into 18th place on the NBA's all-time 3-pointers made list. With three more tonight, he'll zoom into 17th place.

Of course, Carter could land right back in 18th after Kobe Bryant closes up shop against Atlanta on Tuesday night.

The two are neck-and-neck in the career 3-point race with Kobe, in his 16th season, currently 17th with 1,460. Carter, in his 14th season, has 1,458. Adding more drama is No. 16 is also active. Orlando guard Jason Richardson, in his 11th season, has 1,461. The Magic play Minnesota tonight.

So it is possible that Carter could actually move all the way up to No. 16 after the Mavs play the Clippers tonight. Or Bryant could get there Tuesday. Or Richardson could hold off both. For now. Or maybe all season.

Carter has somewhat surprisingly been the Mavs' most accurate 3-point shooter throughout the season at 45.6 percent. His 68 attempts rank second on the team, but are not even half as many as Jason Terry's 154 attempts. Yet, Carter has made just 27 fewer 3s than Terry.

Compared to Kobe, Carter's 31 3-pointers are just 11 off -- Kobe is 42-of-141 for 29.8 percent -- and on 73 fewer attempts.

Carter has shot 40 percent or better from 3-point range three times in his career, but he hasn't hit that lofty mark since 2004-05 (40.6 percent) when he split the season between Toronto and New Jersey. Twice with the Raptors, in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, he recorded 40.3 percent and 40.8 percent, respectively.

His accuracy and efficiency this season don't appear to be a fluke.

After going 0-of-3 against Oklahoma City -- which followed a 5-of-7 performance in the previous game -- he is 7-of-14 in the last five games. He has been discriminating with the long ball and proficient in canning it in key situations.

But, which player among the three stands the best chance to finish the season in 16th place (or 15th, depending how Mike Bibby, playing for the New York Knicks and with 1,504 career 3s, finishes the season)?

Kobe is the logical pick, if he finds his range, and then Richardson (43-of-106, 40.6 percent this season) on sheer volume. Kobe averages 38.4 minutes a game, nine more than Richardson and 15 more than Carter and also averages the most 3-point attempts per game, 5.0 to 4.6 to 3.0, respectively.

For tonight at least, Carter has a chance to capture 17th place on the all-time list -- and maybe even 16th. Or not.

But, then there's always Wednesday night against the Nuggets...

DALLAS -- The Free Roddy B movement of two seasons ago was based on two things -- the kid's tantalizing quickness and mesmerizing marksmanship.

Rodrigue Beaubois finished that 2009-10 campaign as the only rookie in league history to shoot 50 percent from the field (51.8), 40 percent from 3-point range (40.9) and 80 percent from the free throw line (80.8). He played in 56 games and averaged 12.5 minutes, a large enough sample size to imagine what could be.

Nights such as that one at Golden State when he drained 9-of-11 beyond the arc and 15-of-22 overall for 40 points only reinforced the possibilities.

Then came the broken left foot that summer, and, well, the wait continues to see if that Roddy B will emerge again. We knew the injury had tapered Beaubois' quickness and confidence to penetrate. But his shot has also failed to develop.

Three strong games last week replacing Jason Kidd at point guard quickly raised the excitement level again until three duds (5-of-23 from the floor) just as quickly lowered it.

Wednesday's game at Denver will be Beaubois' 52nd since returning from the fractured foot almost one year ago and nearly matches the 56 games of his rookie season.

In his last 51 games, Beaubois is shooting 41.1 percent (159-of-387) from the field and 30.3 percent from 3-point range.

This season, coming off a second surgery over the summer to his foot and with ample time to heal and rehab due to the lockout, his numbers have disappointingly continued to drop -- 39.6 percent shooting overall, 30.6 percent on 3s and just 7.0 points a game in 17.9 minutes.

According to NBA.com Advanced Stats, Beaubois this season is shooting no better than 38 percent from every area on the floor except the restricted area, the portion of the key inside the lower semi-circle, or point-blank range. He's connecting on 65 percent of those shots, which make up 24.4 percent of his total attempts.

However, he's made just 9-of-28 shots (32 percent) in the paint, where 28.7 percent of his shots come. And he's shooting 32 percent (15-of-47) on mid-range jumpers, which includes anywhere outside the paint and inside the arc.

Nearly 30 percent of Beaubois' shot attempts come from behind the arc with 24.4 percent taken above the break, meaning behind the actual arc spanning wing to wing, and he's made just 30 percent of those (12-of-40).

His eFG percentage, which adjusts for the value of a 3-point field goal relative to a 2-point field goal, is 44.2, the worst among Dallas' five primary guards outside of the injured and slump-ridden Kidd.

Vince Carter has a team-best eFG percentage of 52.9, followed by Jason Terry at 52.5 and Delonte West at 47.9 (Kidd is 39.1).

Against Indiana on Friday, one game after going 3-of-13 from the field, Beaubois floated two airballs from the paint and was 2-of-8. The next night, coach Rick Carlisle removed Beaubois from the starting lineup. In 20 minutes off the bench in the ugly loss at Cleveland, he put up two shots and missed both.

No doubt Beaubois has been under pressure in taking over the point. He admits he's still far more comfortable playing shooting guard.

Unfortunately, his shooting is failing to mask his other shortcomings at a time when his team truly needs the dynamic player of two seasons ago.

DALLAS -- A day and a half later, a lot of folks are still buzzing about Blake Griffin’s ridiculous dunk over Oklahoma City big man Kendrick Perkins.

Mavs swingman Vince Carter, who is still capable of putting a big man on a poster at the ripe old age of 35, called Griffin’s dunk “amazing.”

“That just shows the true athlete that he is,” Carter said. “I look at and analyze things different. You got to think about the body control and what it takes to really, not only to just do that, but the impact you take from Kendrick Perkins, first of all, is a lot. For you to still have the body control to finish is second to none, because there’s not a lot of people that can really do that.”

Carter put Thunder star Kevin Durant on the short list of guys in the league right now with that type of body control. Mavs big man Brendan Haywood, the victim of a vicious Durant and-1 dunk during the West finals last season, can testify to that.

But Durant seems to feel that dunk doesn’t get its due.

“I knew that wasn’t going to get attention because we never get attention like that,” Durant said. “We’re not an L.A. team or a Chicago team or a Miami team. All our plays get thrown under the radar.”

Durant, by the way, had no interest in discussing Griffin's aerial acrobatics that came at Perkins' expense.

“I have no appreciation for it at all,” said Durant, who admitted bias because he’ll always have his teammate’s back. “It was a layup, I think. He threw the ball in and got fouled and made his free throw, so it was three points at the end of the day, no matter how it happened, how it went in the basket. I really wasn’t impressed. He finished it. So what? We’ve moved on.”

Well, fine. But one of the best dunkers in NBA history was awfully impressed.

Blake Griffin’s beastly dunk over Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins got my mind racing about the best dunks in Mavs history.

Then I had to adjust it to the best dunks of modern-day Mavs history. Hey, my memory is foggy and YouTube is lacking on dunk footage from the Reunion Rowdy days.

Dunks victimizing Mavericks don’t count in this conversation, so don’t bother bringing up Tracy McGrady rocking Shawn Bradley into retirement or Kevin Durant dropping Brendan Haywood off on the 10th floor. Only dunks by Dallas players were considered.

With some help from my Twitter followers, I put together a six-pack of sick Mavs slams with accompanying YouTube links.

Yao-zers: Who cares about a one-foot height disadvantage? Not Michael Finley, who punched it hard on Yao Ming’s head after catching Cuttino Mobley cheating on a pick.

Vintage Vinsanity: Half Man, Half Amazing still has it in him. He left no doubt about that a couple of weeks into his Dallas tenure, driving baseline by New Orleans’ Marco Belinelli and putting big man Emeka Okafor on a poster.

Delivering on the Mailman: Finley slashed past three Jazz defenders, took off at the charge circle and threw down a tomahawk in Hall of Famer Karl Malone’s face. (Clip is about 25 seconds into the highlight package after a couple of Finley dunks on the Mavs while wearing a Spurs uniform.)

Take Dat Wit Chu!: Guest color commentator Dirk Nowitzki’s classic call became part of Mavs’ lore, but Tyson Chandler’s dunk stands on its own. It was the most memorable of Chandler’s many alley-oop finishes on lobs from Jason Kidd in the big man’s lone season with the Mavs. Chandler soared over a pair of Raptors for the ferocious two-handed finish on a pick-and-roll.

JET takes off: Chandler was on the wrong end of this one, the best of a pretty impressive collection of driving dunks by the 6-foot-2 Terry. After blowing by a Hornets defender near the top of the key, Terry took off from a step outside the charge circle, cocked the ball back and threw it down hard with two hands despite contact from the wanna-be shot-blocking big man.

Kiddin’ with Trix: Kidd puts the ball high off the glass on a fast break against the Clippers and leaves the hard work to Shawn Marion, who soars for the two-handed slam as Steve Blake (and a ballboy trying to mop up sweat) scramble to get out of the way.

The McDonald’s All American Games unveiled its list of 35 of the Greatest McDonald’s All Americans, released in celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the McDonald’s All American High School Boys Basketball Game.

The list includes current Dallas Mavericks Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, and former Mavs swingman Jerry Stackhouse. It also includes Dallas Skyline graduate Larry Johnson.

The Greatest McDonald’s All Americans list is comprised of some of the top names in basketball history, and features past and present Olympics, NBA and NCAA stars. Here's the full list of 35:

Earvin “Magic” Johnson (McDonald’s All American class of 1977), Clark Kellogg (1979), Ralph Sampson (1979), Isiah Thomas (1979), Dominique Wilkins (1979), James Worthy (1979), Sam Perkins (1980), Glenn “Doc” Rivers (1980), Patrick Ewing (1981), Michael Jordan (1981), Chris Mullin (1981), Kenny Smith (1983), Danny Manning (1984), Larry Johnson (1987), Christian Laettner (1988), Alonzo Mourning (1988), Bobby Hurley (1989), Shaquille O’Neal (1989), Grant Hill (1990), Glenn Robinson (1991), Jason Kidd (1992), Jerry Stackhouse (1993), Vince Carter (1995), Kevin Garnett (1995), Paul Pierce (1995), Kobe Bryant (1996), Jay Williams (1999), Carmelo Anthony (2002), Amare Stoudemire (2002), LeBron James (2003), Chris Paul (2003), Dwight Howard (2004), Tyler Hansbrough (2005), Kevin Durant (2006) and Derrick Rose (2007).

Each of the players was selected by members of the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee. In determining the list, all past McDonald’s All Americans were considered based on his high school career and performance in the McDonald’s All American Games, success at the collegiate and professional level, and post-career accomplishments.

Each of the 35 Greatest McDonald’s All Americans will receive a custom-designed basketball to commemorate this special honor.

Our weekly look at the Mavs' newcomers:

Not many Mavs have defined roles, and certainly none of the newcomers do.

“You can tear up any rotation sheet,” coach Rick Carlisle said last week. “It’s going to be by the seat of our pants.”

Vince Carter accepted a reserve role early in the season and played well. He has excelled in the last couple of games as the starting shooting guard, scoring a season-high 21 points in the win over the Spurs and matching it the next night in a victory over the Suns.

Lamar Odom is back to coming off the bench after an up-and-down stint as Dirk Nowitzki’s fill-in at power forward. At this point, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year is pretty much the Mavs’ eighth or ninth man, still searching for consistency as he works on his conditioning and tries to find a comfort zone in Carlisle’s system.

Delonte West, perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the first month of the Mavs’ season, is coming off the bench again after starting 14 games at shooting guard and another four at point guard during Jason Kidd’s previous injury layoff.

West’s shot had abandoned him for about a week, when the defensive tone-setter was also dealing with hamstring tightness that caused him to sit out Friday’s win over the Jazz. He was 3-of-15 over a three-game span before the Mavs headed to Phoenix. However, there is clearly no need to worry about West’s game after he scorched the Suns for a season-high 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and dished out six assists in 28 minutes.

The Mavs will continue to be patient with Odom and hope he emerges as the kind of impact player he’s been for most of his dozen-year career. And they’ll hope that Carter and West continue to be among the NBA’s best veteran bargains, regardless of the roles they’re asked to fill.

DALLAS – If Vince Carter keeps playing like this, he’ll be one of the better bargains in the NBA this season.

The eight-time All-Star came to Dallas for the $3 million mini-midlevel exception and a lot of questions about how he’d fit with the Mavericks. The answer: He’ll fit however the Mavs need.

Carter has bounced between the bench and the starting shooting guard spot but has been a consistent contributor even though he struggled with his shooting early in the season.

“He makes good things happen for us offensively and defensively he’s been pretty solid,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s a major weapon for us, a big part of what we’re doing.”

The Mavs are getting a good idea lately of just how much Carter can help them.

After scoring a season-high 21 points in Sunday’s win over the Spurs, Carter is averaging 14.2 points on 57.1 percent shooting in his last five games. That’s a span that includes a five-game layoff due to a sprained right foot, but that didn’t interrupt the rhythm Carter established before going down.

“I’m starting to feel comfortable,” said Carter, who was 8-of-15 from the floor against the Spurs. “I take pride in trying to learn the offense and learn a couple positions. It’s getting easier and easier and I’m getting more comfortable. And it helps that I can finally make a shot.”

DALLAS – As soon as the Mavs learned that Jason Kidd didn’t suffer a torn Achilles tendon, they recognized the silver lining to their gray-haired point guard’s injury.

The reins will be handed to Rodrigue Beaubois for at least a week while Kidd recovers from a strained right calf.

“This is where you learn a lot in a short period of time,” coach Rick Carlisle said.

Carlisle meant that this will be one heck of an on-the-job educational experience for the 23-year-old Beaubois, who showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie but endured a disappointing, injury-ruined sophomore season. But it’s also a chance for the Mavs to learn a lot about a kid who has a chance to be a huge part of the franchise’s future.

So far, the Mavs have learned that Beaubois isn’t overwhelmed by the role.

All he’s done the last two games is outplay veterans Devin Harris and Tony Parker while playing a major role in a pair of Mavs wins over teams in the West playoff picture. Beaubois has stuffed the box score with 36 points on 16-of-31 shooting, 14 assists, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots since Kidd limped off the court.

Oh, and he has committed only three turnovers in 72 minutes.

“It’s an opportunity for me to get better, learn as a player and for sure help the team to win,” Beaubois said after a 14-point, seven-assist, three-block performance in Sunday’s overtime win over the Spurs. “If coach is making me play that many minutes, it’s because he believes I can help the team. I just need to be ready for that.”

It’s a different challenge for Beaubois, as Carlisle put it, than coming off the bench and primarily playing shooting guard.

It’s a fascinating test of the things the Mavs believe Beaubois has improved the most since arriving in Dallas after playing in a midlevel European league: his mental toughness and his basketball IQ.

“He’s a competitor,” Jason Terry said. “He just hasn’t been in enough of these situations. It’s kind of a blessing in disguise that J. Kidd is out, because [Beaubois] is kind of forced into the role of having to assume the role of leading the team, starting at the point guard position.

“He’s going to take his lumps, but he’s going to do more right than wrong. We definitely encourage him more than beat him up.”

Beaubois has done much more right than wrong the last two games, including outstanding defensive efforts against Harris (10 points, four assists) and Parker (nine points, 2-11 FG, four assists).

Beaubois isn’t playing with the fear that seemed to paralyze him during the rare occasions that he got on the floor last season, which was bookended by significant foot injuries. He’s playing with confidence and aggression, as evidenced by the two driving buckets, two blocked shots, assist and rebound he had in the final 1:32 of regulation to fuel the Mavs' rally from seven points down.

By no means is Beaubois perfect as a point guard. There is much room to grow, especially with his ability to balance being aggressive while getting his teammates involved. For instance, there’s no way that it takes Dirk Nowitzki goes the first several minutes of a game without a touch if Jason Kidd is running the team.

But the Mavs’ veterans will happily live with those blemishes as long as Beaubois keeps bringing the intensity that the coaching staff has spent two-plus years coaxing out of the kid.

“This is a great time for him,” Vince Carter said. “He’s playing well, he’s very aggressive. He’s going to make mistakes, and I think young guys when they make mistakes and are playing in games like this, if you make them, you keep going. You don’t have to look over your shoulder now. We’re going to need you to play.”

Added Nowitzki: “I like what he’s doing. That’s being aggressive, looking for his shot. That’s his game. He will never be a Jason Kidd. I think we all understand that. He’s got to play his game and be aggressive and make stuff happen off the dribble.”

He’ll never be Jason Kidd, but it’s going to be a lot of fun to see who Roddy B. becomes. We’ll get a great glimpse over the next week or few.

DALLAS -- So much for Vince Carter’s concern about coming back rusty after a five-game layoff.

All Carter did after returning from a sore foot was light it up as soon as he stepped on the floor, which was a heck of a lot sooner than he anticipated.

Carter, who had been out with a sprained left foot, got the call from Rick Carlisle when Jason Kidd strained his right calf just more than two minutes into the game. Carter drove for an eight-footer on the next possession and knocked down a long jumper the next trip, finishing with eight of his 12 points in the first quarter.

“I felt like a kid in a candy store,” said Carter, who got to the arena earlier than usual to work up a sweat and try to get in a rhythm on the Mavs’ practice court. “I was expecting to do the heat pack, take my time, mentally prepare. They were like, ‘Let’s go,’ so I was like, ‘Let’s go for it.’ But I felt good.”

Carter played much more than he anticipated with Kidd and Delonte West (hamstring) sideline, logging 28 minutes. He acknowledged that all those minutes took their toll, but he felt relatively fresh all things considered.

“I was ready to go,” said Carter, who also had four rebounds and three assists. “I wasn’t going to come back if I wasn’t ready to go and hurt the team.”

A few more notes from the injury-depleted Dallas squad’s convincing win:

1. Brendan Haywood plays big: This was such a well-rounded performance by the Mavs that a double-double by the big man was an under-the-radar occurrence. This might have been Haywood’s best performance of the season. He scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting, grabbed 12 rebounds (seven offensive) and blocked two shots. He more than held his own against Jazz low-post beast Al Jefferson, who finished with 19 points on 9-of-19 shooting. “Haywood was a force,” coach Rick Carlisle said.

2. Jet finds his range: Jason Terry snapped out of a pretty nasty slump from 3-point range. He knocked down three of five 3-point attempts during an 18-point performance, highlighted by a clutch off-the-dribble trey after the Jazz trimmed the Mavs’ lead to two points late in the third quarter. Terry was 4-of-28 from behind the arc in the previous four games.

3. Welcome back, J-Ho: This was Josh Howard ’s first game back at the AAC, and well, he picked up right where he left off. Howard, who was injured every time Washington came to town when he was with the Wizards, had as many turnovers as field goals (two). He went 2-of-8 from the floor. Hey, you can’t control what the ball do, man.