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For the 12th consecutive season -- and 12th time in his 14-year career -- Dirk Nowitzki has been selected to the All-NBA team. Nowitzki, who statistically did not have a season up to his standards, was still impressive enough to garner a spot on the third team.

It's his third career selection to the All-NBA third team and first since the 2003-04 season. The Dallas Mavericks' all-time scoring leader was a first- or second-team All-NBA selection in each of the past seven seasons.

"It is an honor to make the All-NBA team again,” Nowitzki said in a statement released by the team. "To be named among the best players in this league is always still very humbling for me. I also appreciate the opportunity to represent my teammates and the Mavericks organization on this list."

LeBron James and Kevin Durant were named to the first team at forward, with Kevin Love and Blake Griffin receiving second-team recognition. Carmelo Anthony joined Nowitzki on the third team. Former Mavs center and current New York Knicks star Tyson Chandler was also named to the third team. (complete list is below).

Nowitzki was the NBA’s eighth-leading scorer (21.6 ppg) during the regular season. He and Kobe Bryant are the only two NBA players to be named to an All-NBA team each of the past 12 seasons. Nowitzki remains the only Mavs player in franchise history to be named All-NBA first team (four times: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2008-09).

This season, Nowitzki moved into the top 20 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, surpassing Robert Parish and Charles Barkley for 19^th place. He also ranks third in scoring among active players behind Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

In four postseason games against Oklahoma City , Nowitzki averaged 26.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists in 38.5 minutes.

We take a look at the games that impact the West playoff picture each morning for the rest of the regular season.

Mavs' spot in the standings: Dallas heads into its fourth consecutive day off knowing it will face either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The Los Angeles Clippers' loss Tuesday locked the Lakers into the No. 3 seed. The Clips are now trying to hold onto the No. 4 seed for home-court advantage in a first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies.

TUESDAY'S GAMES
Jazz 100, Suns 88: Paul Millsap poured in 26 points and Al Jefferson had 18 to secure the final playoff spot and knock Steve Nash out for a second consecutive season. Utah will face the No. 1 seed San Antonio Spurs in the first round.

Hawks 109, Clippers 102: Blake Griffin scored 36 points, but Joe Johnson had 28 to lead the Hawks, who are bearing down on home-court advantage in the first round in the East. The Clips were eliminated from contention for the No. 3 seed in the West and now hope to stave off the Grizzlies for home-court advantage.

TODAY’S MEANINGFUL MATCHUPS
Nuggets at Thunder
Clippers at Knicks

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Thunder

We take a look at the games that impact the West playoff picture each morning for the rest of the regular season.

PODCAST
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle talks about Brandon Wright's strong play, whether the team is scoreboard watching and more. Listen

Mavs' spot in the standings: No. 6 is in their sole possession after Thursday's win at Golden State. They head to Portland on Friday with a one-half game lead on the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets and are two games ahead of the ninth-seeded Utah Jazz. The Mavs (33-26) are 1 1/2 games behind the fifth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.

THURSDAY'S GAMES
Mavs 112, Warriors 103: Dallas built a 19-point lead in the first half, cruised until the Warriors cut it to three early in the fourth quarter, but a couple of buckets by Dirk Nowitzki quickly got the momentum back.

Clippers 95, Timberwolves 82: L.A. has now won eight of its last 10 and moved one game above .500 on the road at 15-14 behind Blake Griffin's 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Spurs 107, Grizzlies 97: San Antonio bounced back from an embarrassing home loss Wednesday to the Kobe-less Lakers. Tim Duncan dominated with an old-school performance of 28 points and 12 rebounds as Memphis had its four-game win streak snapped.

TODAY’S GAMES
Mavs at Trail Blazers
Nuggets at Lakers
Kings at Thunder
Suns at Rockets
Jazz at Hornets

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Lakers

The Dallas Mavericks' rebounding woes continued Friday night at Orlando even though the rally from 15 points down focused attention in other, more pleasing areas.

The Magic outrebounded the Mavs by 10 overall and doubled them on the offensive glass. Dallas managed just two second-chance points for the entire game. Those types of numbers don't typically lead to wins.

Center Brendan Haywood's return after missing seven games with a sprained right knee was certainly a welcome boost for the defending champs, but they'll need more than three rebounds in 26 minutes from him, which is what Haywood managed against Dwight Howard.

"It was a tough game coming back against Dwight," Haywood said Monday morning on an appearance . "It doesn’t get any easier tonight because I’m going to be guarding Blake. I’m not 100 percent yet, but I’m working to get there."

Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers only rank 20th in the league in average number of rebounds gathered in a game (41.6), but they rank sixth in differential (plus-2.18), well ahead of the 23rd-ranked Mavs (minus-1.54).

The stakes are high in this one. The Clippers sit in the No. 4 spot in the West standings, which grants homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. They enter tonight's game 1 1/2 games ahead of the fifth-seeded Mavs.

Records: Clippers (31-21); Mavericks (30-23)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: FSSW

Radio: ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: The Lob. That's what the Clippers do best and if the lobs are coming at a high rate it spells bad news for the Mavs. The key is to keep turnovers to a minimum and emphasize transition defense.

Key matchup: Chris Paul vs. Delonte West
These are the type of matchups where the Mavs thoroughly missed West when he was out for some six weeks with the fractured right ring finger. Without him, Shawn Marion had the task of guarding smaller, quicker point guards and it physically took a toll on his body, forcing him out three games with a sore left knee. The big question that remains is if coach Rick Carlisle will move West into the starting lineup at shooting guard in place Vince Carter to set up the matchup from the opening tip.

Injuries: Clippers -- G Mo Williams (sprained left big toe) is out; G Chauncey Billups (torn left Achilles) is out. Mavs -- None.

Up next: Memphis Grizzlies at Mavs, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Mavericks center Brendan Haywood is ready to return from a sprained right knee, but he expects to wait one more day to play.

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Mavs C Brendan Haywood talks about Thursday's finals rematch against the Heat and says the tentative plan is to table his return until Friday's game against Dwight Howard and the Magic. Listen

Haywood said during an appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM's Ben and Skin Show that the tentative plan is to wait until Friday night's game against All-NBA center Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Haywood has missed the last six games entering tonight's Finals rematch against the Miami Heat.

"I think the training staff is leaning toward having me play tomorrow, because with it being a back-to-back and us playing Dwight in Orlando tomorrow, I think they really want me out there more that game than this game," Haywood said. "In your first game back from injury, it’s tough to come back on a back-to-back. I think right now, I could probably play tonight, but I think they’re leaning toward holding me out and having me play tomorrow, get my minutes and have a couple days rest and then play the next game."

Haywood's work will be cut out for him upon his return. After defending Howard, his defensive assignments next week will be the Clippers' Blake Griffin, the Grizzlies' Marc Gasol and/or Zach Randolph (twice) and the Trail Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge.

Mark Cuban was hoping for, oh, three minutes for his superstar, but he'll be happy with the 14 minutes Dirk Nowitzki logged jogging up and down Dwight Howard's home floor -- tick, tick, tick -- in Sunday night's All-Star Game.

In his 11th consecutive appearance as a West reserve, Nowitzki put up seven points on 3-of-8 shooting in the West's hang-on, 152-149 victory. True to his regular season, he wasn't feeling it from 3-point range, banging in just one of five attempts from downtown. He missed his first two in the first quarter, when he logged nearly half his total time.

Nowitzki would not be seen again until midway through the third quarter. He nailed his only 3-point attempt of the period and fed Tony Parker for a reverse layup, his lone assist of the game. He also finished with four rebounds, including two offensive boards.

Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant took home MVP honors having scored 36 points and his coach, West coach Scott Brooks, wasn't shy about playing his superstar, leaving him in for a game-high 37 minutes.

And Dirk seemed perfectly content playing what he did and cheering on his fellow All-Stars. After all, if Charles Barkley is right, Dirk doesn't have many of these left. Still, he was clearly enjoying himself if you couldn't tell by his towel-waving after Blake Griffin's monster dunk late in the fourth.

He enjoyed it enough to even share a postgame embrace with -- cough, cough -- Dwyane Wade, who recorded only the third triple-double in All-Star history.

Parker, Marc Gasol, Steve Nash, starting center Andrew Bynum and first-timer LaMarcus Aldridge all played fewer minutes than Nowitzki as the other four starters and reserve guard Russell Westbrook, one of Brooks' OKC boys, took on the heavy minutes.

Nowitzki heads back to Dallas for a 2:30 p.m. practice Monday as the Mavs begin the final 32 games of the season at home Tuesday against the New Jersey Nets.

Is Dirk Nowitzki excited for the All-Star Game or what?!

“Uh,” Nowitzki said before a pregnant pause, “yeah.”

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Bill Simmons and Joe House talk with Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki about All-Star weekend, Tyson Chandler and much more. Listen

Can’t beat that kind of enthusiasm, huh?

Nowitzki appreciates the West coaches respecting him enough to vote for him to be invited to his 11th consecutive All-Star Game, although he continues to acknowledge that there were more deserving candidates at the time the reserves were selected. Nowitzki also admits that he wouldn’t have minded getting the long weekend off.

“I mean, it’s tough, especially since we have nine games in 12 days coming up,” Nowitzki said. “But I think the good thing is we’ve got a lot of young guys on the team -- [LaMarcus] Aldridge first time, [Kevin] Love second time, Blake [Griffin] first time. Those guys are out there on the floor to play. I think I’m going to play spot minutes. I’m going to make the best of it and have a fun weekend down there.”

Yes, Nowitzki is pretty much lobbying to sit on the pine. He has averaged about 19 minutes in his previous 10 All-Star appearances and would be just fine if that total is cut in half.

“For sure,” Nowitzki said.

DALLAS -- Caron Butler nearly put the final dagger in his former team. He had been landing darts all night. This 3-pointer for the win from the right wing looked dead-on, but skipped off the front of the rim.

“It felt real good. I got my feet up under me, followed through, it was a routine shot, just fell a little short," Butler said after registering a season-high 23 points in the 96-92 loss with his new team, the Los Angeles Clippers. "It would have been a great ending to the game."

It was an emotional night all the way around for Butler, who has clearly worked himself all the way back from the devastating knee injury that ended his season a year ago New Year's Day, and forced him to become the hardest-working bystander on the Mavs' title team. Monday night was his first time back in Dallas since the parade and the Mavs presented him with the diamond-encrusted championship ring during a brief pre-game ceremony.

Coach Rick Carlisle introduced Butler to the sellout crowd by sharing the story that he hates happened, but loves to tell -- about when Butler ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee and crumpled to the floor in Milwaukee, how he somehow managed to shove his exploded kneecap back in place and walk off the floor under his own power so his mother and other family members attending from nearby Racine wouldn't watch him leave on a stretcher.

"At that moment," Carlisle told the crowd, "the guy was a legend for life, for me."

Butler accepted his ring, held it up to the fans and tightly embraced Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban.

“I was in a good place. I was in a real good place," Butler said. "It felt good, I just really wanted to come back and step on this floor, one way or another and just show the fans that I was back healthy. There was a lot of love out there, and I appreciate that because they got me through a trying time last year.”

The Clippers will be back in April, but this trip to the club that he played just 56 of his 613 career games, but now shares a lifetime bond, served as the final act of his rehabilitation. And if receiving the ring wasn't enough, the Mavs production staff broke out Butler's popular Old Spice spoof and showed it on the video boards during a timeout.

Clippers players turned to watch, tapping teammates on the shoulder to get them to look above. Laughter broke out everywhere. Coming out of the timeout, Butler smiled and waved his arms in appreciation to the cheering crowd as he walked back onto the floor.

"It felt good," Butler said. "I just really wanted to come back and step on this floor, one way or another and just show the fans that I was back healthy. There was a lot of love out there, and I appreciate that because they got me through a trying time last year.”

Here's three more thoughts from Monday's game and with the Denver Nuggets on the way:

1. Dirk goes sleeveless: The sleeve Dirk Nowitzki has worn on his right knee most of the season was gone Monday night in perhaps what was another sign that he's back. And after the game, Nowitzki said he is all the way back, 100 percent. His shot didn't look for much of Monday's win. He finished just 5-of-15 and 2-of-7 in the fourth quarter when he still managed to score 11 of his team-high 22 points. In the last two games, Nowitzki is 12-of-35 from the floor after that blazing stretch, but he also gone to the free throw line 21 times.

2. More Brendan Haywood: Not only is owner Mark Cuban campaigning for Shawn Marion to be recognized as a top defender in the league, he also was signing the praises of starting center Brendan Haywood, who has successfully taken over Tyson Chandler's job as the backbone of a very good defense. Haywood has defended well in back-to-back games even though LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin finished games with good-looking stats. Nothing came easily for either with the larger Haywood contesting. Against the Clippers on Monday, Haywood also put up a team-high 10 points and six rebounds in the first quarter.

3. Key goals attained: The Mavs had several goals against the Los Angeles Clippers and they attained most, if not all. First, they wanted to slow down L.A.'s typically fast starts. They did, holding the Clippers to 19 first-quarter points on 36.8 shooting. It was a continuation of the Mavs' quick starts. After committing 41 turnovers in the previous two games, Dallas limited those to 11 for just 10 Clippers points. Meanwhile, the Mavs cashed in 22 points on 21 L.A. turnovers. Dallas lost the rebounding battle, 50-36, but had the edge in points in the paint (40-34) and fastbreak points (22-16). And perhaps the biggest goal attained was the victory while no Mavs player logged more than 32 minutes.

DALLAS -- Teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder are like the shiny sports cars with the motor revving high, waiting for the light to turn to green. Man, they're fun to watch and the publicity never stops.

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The Dallas Mavericks, they're more like the old, reliable sedan. They don't turn many heads and might not put on quite the show, but more often than not it gets the job done. That was the case again Monday night as the little-talked-about defending champs went on a 9-1 run to extinguish another hot-shot contender.

The 96-92 victory, the Mavs' fourth in a row to move them to a season-best seven games over .500 -- and one more victory than the Clippers -- was another example that the Mavs are deep, experienced, smart and when crunch time inevitably comes around against their younger counterparts, they will welcome the situation, now and in the playoffs.

"We have an edge over whoever we play because of our experience, because of what we've went through," Mavs guard Jason Terry said. "I'll take us over anybody in the fourth quarter, tight ballgame, and I believe we'll come out winning more times than not, just again because of our leader Jason Kidd and because of the familiarity that we have with Shawn, myself and Dirk."

All three made plays that contributed to the fourth-quarter lockdown that allowed the Clippers to score 16 points and just eight during a seven-plus-minute stretch during the heart of the quarter. No, it wasn't perfect. Kidd, who had three assists, three rebounds and a steal in the final quarter, almost threw the game away with his ill-fated inbounds pass with less than 10 seconds to go and the lead just two. But, former Mavs forward Caron Butler, who had already buried five 3-pointers for a season-high 23 points, couldn't make it six with 2.9 to play.

But, the Clippers were in a desperation mode because even with the insanely talented Paul directing traffic, execution was flawed at the most pressurized moments of the game -- nine turnovers to five field goals in the fourth quarter with Blake Griffin bricking five free throws and going 1-of-2 in a Hack-a-Blake scenario.

If the Clippers and Thunder are indeed the greatest threat to dethrone the Mavs in the Western Conference, there is work to be done by both. Yes, the Mavs' 2-3 record against these two high-flying outfits might suggest otherwise, but remember, OKC needed a 27-foot Kevin Durant buzzer-beater to win up there in the third game of the season and then squeaked one out here more recently against a depleted Mavs roster that strangely felt more like a Dallas win.

The Clippers needed a buzzer-beater in L.A. without Paul and lost with him Monday. Paul finished with 16 points and nine assists, but he had one inconsequential 3 late in the game and had a bad turnover dribbling through the crowded paint with 4:23 to go, the Mavs up three and the Clippers entering a third minute of a five-minute scoreless drought.

"It's too early to say who you have an edge over," center Brendan Haywood said. "But, at the end of the day we know we're going to execute. We know where we're going to go and they have to figure it out."

And then there's this convenient fact as well: Rick Carlisle continues to coach these games while adhering to his plan to limit minutes. No starter played more than Nowitzki's 31:53. Jason Terry logged a team-high 31:57. And it was a game that simply looking at the box score might suggest a Mavericks loss.

Nowitzki was 5-of-15 from the floor, yet poured in 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter with just two field goals. Kidd had three points and four assists. Terry was 4-of-12 from the floor. But, there was Haywood with 10 first-quarter points and strong defense throughout on Griffin. Vince Carter nailed two more 3-pointers and finished with 10 points. Delonte West had 10 points. Lamar Odom received more Rick Carlisle love for becoming more and more engaged.

And, Marion, what more can be said about the small forward who at times defensively swallowed up the All-Star point guard and tossed in 16 points with three assists?

"Everybody's got to get a piece of the wealth, that makes us that much more dangerous," Marion said. "When it's just one guy, it's real hard for us. When it's everybody collectively, it's amazing to watch and it's hard to stop.

How it happened: The Clippers got a taste of what some of the other Western Conference contenders experienced during the playoffs last season. They were on the business end of a Mavericks close-out.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 of his 22 points in the final 6:03, but defense was the primary reason the Mavs pulled out this win.

The Mavs held the Clippers to nine points and three field goals in the final six minutes. Shawn Marion spearheaded the phenomenal defensive effort.

Marion guarded Clippers star point guard Chris Paul (16 points, nine assists) for much of the game, including the final 5:13. Paul had only one basket -- a falling-away 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining -- and one assist in that final stretch.

Marion made two huge plays in the final two minutes as a help defender: a steal of a Blake Griffin pass and a block of a Kenyon Martin layup attempt.

The Mavs also benefited from a little luck in the last minute. A turnover led to an open transition 3-point attempt by Caron Butler. But the ex-Maverick, who received his championship ring in a touching pregame ceremony, missed the potential go-ahead shot with three seconds remaining.

What it means: The Mavs have started off one of the toughest stretches of their schedule, in terms of quality of competition, with four consecutive wins. The Clippers went 4-2 on their road trip.

Play of the game: Vince Carter offered a reminder that Griffin wasn’t the only dunk contest champion in the house, and Randy Foye was on the wrong end of the reminder. After catching the ball in the post and facing up, Carter went right to blow by Foye on the baseline, took off at the charge circle and threw down a sweet one-handed slam on the other side of the rim.

Stat of the night: This was the first time the Mavs have won a game they trailed after three quarters this season. The Mavs, who were only down two entering the fourth, were 0-9 in such games.

DALLAS -- Caron Butler's got the 3-ball working and he's got a season-high 23 points with 10 coming in the comeback third quarter. L.A. erased an eight-point lead at halftime behind three Butler 3-pointers in the period. He's 5-of-9 from back there and just 7-of-17 overall.

Dallas, meanwhile, was just 7-of-20 shooting after hitting 57.9 percent in the first half.

Blake Griffin has just 14 points and Chris Paul has eight points and eight assists. Dirk Nowitzki has 11 with Shawn Marion leading the way with 14.

DALLAS -- This one is going up and down and it's the old legs of the Mavs that continue to lead and continue to make the smart plays. The Clippers rolled early in the second quarter to cut an eight-point deficit to 33-31 and then 43-31, but Dallas ended the period strong.

The Mavs are shooting 57.9 percent and Shawn Marion and Brendan Haywood have done a bunch of damage with 10 points each. Dirk Nowitzki has eight points on 2-of-3 shooting and is strangely 4-of-7 from the free throw line.

Caron Butler leads the Clippers with 13 points, nine coming in first on three 3s. Blake Griffin has 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Chris Paul has five points and six assists.

Vince Carter has seven points and has abused his smaller counterpart, Randy Foye, throwing down a reverse jam off a baseline drive late in the second quarter.

The Mavs are indeed the older team, but the Clippers are playing the final game of a long six-game road trip. Will they have the legs to run away from Dallas? Or can the Mavs expand the lead with more strong offense that has yielded a 28-16 advantage in the paint?

Also of note, the Mavs have just five turnovers.

DALLAS -- This is getting to be an old story line around: Mavs have excellent shooting first quarter and jump out to a lead. Only how they got that lead is different than most nights.

Brendan Haywood found freedom in the paint, his teammates hit him and he made the Clippers pay to the tune of 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting with six rebounds. Those are good full game totals on most nights for the big fella. His only shortcoming was -- what else? -- free throws. He missed all three attempts.

Caron Butler got his championship ring before the game and then drilled a trio of 3-pointers to lead L.A. with nine points. Chris Paul is scoreless and Blake Griffin has eight, but points nine and 10 launched off the back rim near the end of the quarter as he missed a high-flying alley-oop.

DALLAS -- Lob City is in town and if the Dallas Mavericks aren't careful, it could get ugly. In L.A., the Chris Paul-less Clippers still struck for five dunks and three alley-oops -- in the first half.

"They have maybe the two best guys we've seen in some time to go up and get it in [Blake] Griffin and [DeAndre] Jordan," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "And [Chris] Paul's maybe the best guy I've ever seen throwing them. So, they've got the components to make life miserable for you."

It certainly isn't shocking to learn that Griffin, the former Player of the Year at Oklahoma, and Jordan are the top dunking duo in the league with 129 rim-rattlers between them. Griffin shares the league dunk lead with Dwight Howard with 70.

Here's some perspective on just how often Griffin and Jordan throw it down. Together they have 38 more dunks than Brendan Haywood (27), Ian Mahinmi (25), Shawn Marion (16), Brandan Wright (16) and Vince Carter (7) combined.

Now, Haywood and company have done an extremely good job of limiting points in the paint. The Mavs have been one of the best such units all season. And the Clippers, surprisingly, are not a high points-in-the-paint scoring team. It just seems that way because of the propensity of the dunk.

Still, it's a shot, and the alley-oop in particular, that is best to try to avoid -- if only for morale.

"It's really important that we're very detailed and on point with what we're doing defensively," Carlisle said. "Tonight's a good example. If you're not completely tied together these guys will be throwing lobs and dunking the ball and it's upsetting to watch."

DALLAS -- On Saturday night, Portland Trail Blazers All-Star reserve LaMarcus Aldridge threw down 33 points and 12 rebounds. Now comes All-Star starter Blake Griffin.

"It's Murderer's Row of the power forward position," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "Our fans are going to see the three best power forwards in the West in these two games -- Dirk [Nowitzki] and Griffin and Aldridge."

And then Carlisle paused as a thought -- or lob pass -- crossed his mind.

"And Chris Paul, he's another story," Carlisle said of the Clippers point guard, also an All-Star starter. "He's a monster, too."

He's also the difference between the Blazers and Clippers. Dallas eked out a double overtime win Saturday despite 23 turnovers that helped in blowing an 18-point lead. It also helped that the Blazers' backcourt of Raymond Felton, Wesley Matthews and sixth man Jamal Crawford combined to go 13-of-51 from the field, including 3-of-15 from 3-point range.

Paul and the Clippers' backcourt, despite having lost big shot Chauncey Billups -- who made the buzzer-beating 3 in L.A. to drop the Mavs -- are dangerous shooters. Paul, who missed that first game with a hamstring issue, ranks third among guards in shooting percentage at 50.5 (and 43.1 percent from 3). Mo Williams, who crushed Dallas in the first meeting with his sharpshooting, is dropping 3s at nearly a 40-percent rate from beyond the arc. And don't sleep on Randy Foye launching from the outside.

As for the 41 turnovers Dallas has committed in the last two games without paying the price in the loss column, it'll be playing with fire if the count grows high again tonight.

Records: Clippers (17-8); Mavs (17-11)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: FSSW

Radio: ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM; 1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: In the first meeting in L.A. on Jan. 18, the Lob Angeles Clippers -- or Lob City, whichever you prefer -- had five dunks and three alley-oops -- in the first half. And that was with lob maestro Chris Paul sitting on the sideline in a suit. He's back and Dallas' defense, on the perimeter and interior, will be put to the test to cut off the lob.

Key matchup: Caron Butler vs. Shawn Marion
These two created quite a combo for the Mavs last season until an ugly knee injury sidelined Butler for six months, all the way though the championship run. His dedication to get back netted a three-year, $24 million deal with the Clippers and he's been a major asset to their early success, averaging 14.7 points and 3.9 rebounds. He's also still got the 3-point shot working, connecting at 35.8 percent. Marion's defensive exploits are well-chronicled these days. In the last two games alone he's gone against point guard Ricky Rubio and power forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Now he gets someone his own size. When Butler scores 17 or more points, L.A. is 6-2.

Injuries: Mavs - None. Clippers - G Chauncey Billups (torn left Achilles) is out.

Up next: Denver Nuggets at Mavs, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday.