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DALLAS -- Jason Terry figured he'd have no problem keeping his rhythm after returning to the sixth man role.

That hasn't happened, however.

Terry went 4-of-15 from the floor in last night's loss to the Thunder. He is 2-of-8 against the Suns.

"It’s just one of those nights," Terry said in Oklahoma City. "You’ve got another opportunity tomorrow. Gotta forget it quick."

Same goes for the first half.

DALLAS -- Amare Stoudemire has been simply dominant, racking up 15 points and 10 rebounds midway through the second quarter.

His (soon-to-be-ex?) teammates aren't giving him a whole lot of help.

The Suns' perimeter shooting has been especially awful. Phoenix is 1-of-10 from 3-point range.

A lot of those misses have turned into transition opportunities for the Mavs, who have a 42-35 lead.

DALLAS -- Rookie Roddy Beaubois' legion of fans aren't going to be happy.

JJ Barea came off the bench for Jason Kidd again. Beaubois' stint as the primary backup point guard was pretty brief.

There's no question that Beaubois has more talent than Barea. The rookie is taller, longer, quicker, a better leaper and a better shooter.

But Barea has more experience and more trust from coach Rick Carlisle. That's still true despite the fact that he's 2-of-11 from the floor in the last two games.

DALLAS -- After a slow start, the Mavs scored the final 11 points of the first quarter.

Dirk Nowitzki had seven of his 11 points during the run, which spanned the final three minutes. The Suns missed their last six shots.

Dallas' defense allowed the Mavs to get out in transition. That's something several Mavs said after last night's loss to the Thunder that they haven't done enough.

The Mavs were credited with seven fast break points in the quarter, but they had a handful of other baskets when the Suns were still setting up their defense.

Mavs 28, Suns 23

DALLAS -- Caron Butler doesn't look like an uncomfortable newcomer in the first quarter.

Butler, following Rick Carlisle's orders to be aggressive, has six points on 3-of-6 shooting.

With no practice time, Butler often looked tentative during last night's loss to Oklahoma City. That hasn't been the case so far against the Suns. It's helped that several of Butler's shots have come in transition, since he hasn't had much time to study the Mavs' halfcourt sets.

DALLAS -- If anything, Amar'e Stoudemire seems to have extra motivation for his potential finale with Phoenix.

Stoudemire has been extremely active in the early going. He has four points, six rebounds, two assists and a block in the first five minutes.

Both teams are playing the butt ends of back-to-backs, but the Mavs haven't been able to match the Suns' energy. Phoenix has jumped out to a 15-9 lead.

DALLAS -- Only one thing is certain about Amar'e Stoudemire's future: He'll start for the Suns tonight against the Mavs.

Will he still be a Sun tomorrow?

"I'm still 50-50," Stoudemire said regarding the possibility that he'll be traded. Miami is the most likely destination for the perennial All-Star after Cleveland pulled off a three-team blockbuster to get Antawn Jamison.

Stoudemire said the swirling rumors will have no effect on his performance in a key Western Conference game tonight. The Suns can move past the Mavs into fourth place in the West with a win.

"It's all about being professional," Stoudemire said. "Hopefully you guys have seen my character over the last 7 1/2 years and more so the past two years with the trade talks. I'm still going to remain a competitive force on the basketball court if it doesn't happen. We're going to fight to make the playoffs, if not go further."

DALLAS -- Brendan Haywood has yet to practice with the Mavs, but he's the only healthy true center on the roster.

Erick Dampier is out for up to a month with an open dislocation to his right middle finger, which was surgically repaired today in Oklahoma City. That means Haywood will log heavy minutes.

The Mavs have limited options to back up Haywood. Tim Thomas is on indefinite leave to deal with a serious family matter. Eduardo Najera will hustle and bang, but he's only 6-8. Dirk Nowitzki might have to see significant time at center, but the Mavs would like to trim his minutes down the stretch.

That means Haywood will rarely leave the court unless he gets in foul trouble.

"This is going to be great for Brendan," coach Rick Carlisle said, trying to put a positive spin on a bad situation. "It’s being thrown right into it. He’ll learn quick."

The Mavs realize they desperately need another big man and plan to pursue Zydrunas Ilgauaskas if, as expected, the Wizards give him a buyout after he arrives in Washington as part of today's three-team blockbuster deal.

DALLAS -- Caron Butler didn't shoot the ball well in his Mavericks debut, but he did exactly what coach Rick Carlisle wanted.

Carlisle told Butler before the game that the Mavs needed him to be aggressive. Although Butler struggled to finish, he attacked the basket repeatedly.

Butler also showed a bit of the attitude that earned him the nickname "Tough Juice." He got in Thunder big man Serge Ibaka's face after getting smacked with an elbow.

"I like the spirit he plays with," Carlisle said.

Tuesday’s fall-from-ahead loss at Oklahoma City marked just the second time this season that the Mavericks dropped a game in which they held a lead of at least 10 points.

A loss in Phoenix on Jan. 28 was the only other time it’s happened to Dallas, which had the Mavs tied with Charlotte for the fewest such defeats in the league this season until Oklahoma City held them to 32.3-percent shooting.

Could be worse, though. Boston, for example, might be one of the favorites in the East, but the Celts have blown second-half leads of double digits eight times already this season, tops in the NBA.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- When the ball isn't moving, the Mavericks are a bad offensive team.

That's true even with Caron Butler, who provides Dallas another player who can create his own shot.

Exhibit A: The second half of Tuesday night's loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Mavs managed to score 32 points in 24 minutes. They shot 22.2 percent from the floor in the second half.

Shawn Marion expressed his frustration that the Mavs played at a slow pace and were stagnant offensively. Jason Kidd said they played too much individual basketball when things started to go bad.

"Our game is not to pound it," Dirk Nowitzki said. "Our game is to keep moving the ball and find the open guy. We’ve got to stick more to that. When the game gets more in the grind-out mode, we’ve still got to have some movement and create some shots for each other."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- You can't blame this one solely on the newcomers.

Caron Butler and Co. had a Dallas debut to forget. But veterans Mavs like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry didn't help matters in a 99-86 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Butler, who has yet to practice with the Mavericks after arriving in a seven-player deal with the Washington Wizards, had an awful shooting performance (4-of-16). But Terry (4-of-15) wasn't much better.

And Nowitzki, who had 24 points on 9-of-22 shooting, had the Mavs' worst plus-minus (-14).

The schedule certainly didn't make incorporating the newcomers easy for the Mavs, who have lost six of eight. This was the Thunder's West-best seventh straight win, and now the Mavs head home to face the Phoenix Suns in the butt end of a back-to-back.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Erick Dampier appeared to have suffered an injury to his right hand or fingers on a play in which he was called for a foul.

After the whistle blew, Dampier headed directly to Mavs athletic trainer Casey Smith, clutching his right hand. After a quick look, they walked together toward the Mavs' locker room.

Dampier had been dealing with left knee effusion since early January. Now he has another injury concern.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Mavs' familiar five managed to make things interesting.

They've more than cut the Thunder's lead in half with 3:37 to go, trimming it from 17 at the beginning of the quarter to eight now.

It'll still take a phenomenal finish for the Mavs to pull off the comeback, but never say never with Dirk Nowitzki on the floor.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant has 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Mavs have done another solid defensive job on the Thunder star, who is 7-of-22 from the floor.

It's rookie swingman James Harden who is really hurting the Mavs.

Harden has 17 points (5-7 FG), six assists and five rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Oklahoma City has a 20-point advantage with him on the floor.

The Mavs managed to cut the Thunder's lead to single digits midway through the fourth quarter. Harden responded with a 3-pointer the next possession.