ESPN

ESPNDallas.com will estimate the market value for each of the Mavericks' eight free agents and examine their worth to the Mavs in a once-per-day series.

Darren Collison

Darren Collison has made it clear he considers himself a starting point guard. The Mavericks have made it clear they see him as an off-the-bench sparkplug.

That difference of opinion doesn’t necessarily ruin any chances of Collison returning to Dallas, particularly if the rest of the NBA agrees with the Mavs’ evaluation of him.

“We’ll see,” Collison said. “I’m not going to say no because I definitely experienced it and I’m capable of playing off the bench. At the same time, I just know who I am as a person and as a player. I know I’m capable of playing for any team as a starter.”

If Collison gets paid starter money, it won’t be from the Mavs, whose top offseason priority is upgrading at point guard.

Nevertheless, coach Rick Carlisle called Collison “definitely a guy going forward who is one of the pieces of the puzzle here, potentially.” The Mavs appreciated Collison’s positive attitude while he dealt with being demoted behind geezer point guards Derek Fisher and Mike James. They’re also enamored with the speed and quickness that can make Collison a threat, especially against second units.

There could be a place for Collison in Dallas. It’d be coming off the bench, preferably behind a starting point guard who has proven capable of closing games.

Ranking among the league’s best backup point guards isn’t Collison’s goal. It’s just his reality as he enters free agency after finishing up his rookie contract.

2012-13 stats: Averaged 12.0 points, 5.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.1 turnovers while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from 3-point range in 29.3 minutes per game.

Age: 25

Comps:

J.J. Barea – Averaged 11.3 points, 4.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 0.4 steals and 2.0 turnovers while shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from 3-point range in 23.1 minutes per game. Signed a four-year, $18 million deal in 2011.

Luke Ridnour – Averaged 11.5 points, 3.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.6 turnovers while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor and 31.1 percent from 3-point range in 30.2 minutes per game. Signed a four-year, $16 million deal in 2010.

Nate Robinson – Averaged 13.1 points, 4.4 assists, 2.2 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.8 turnovers while shooting 43.3 percent from the floor and 40.5 percent from 3-point range in 25.4 minutes per game. Played this season on a one-year, $1.15 million deal (veteran minimum).

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Chuck Cooperstein and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Mavericks' disappointing season and what needs to happen for them to get back to the playoffs. Listen

Jerryd Bayless – Averaged 8.7 points, 3.3 assists, 2.2 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 1.5 turnovers while shooting 41.9 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from 3-point range in 22.1 minutes per game. Signed two-year, $6.14 million deal (taxpayer exception) last offseason.

Isaiah Thomas – Averaged 13.9 points, 4.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 1.8 turnovers while shooting 44.0 percent from the floor and 35.8 percent from 3-point range in 26.9 minutes per game. Entering final year of rookie contract that pays him the league minimum salary ($884,293 next season).

Estimated contract: Collison should be one of the NBA’s best-paid backup point guards. Figure he gets a four-year deal in the $15 million range.

The Mavericks will explore all potential avenues of improving the talent on their roster, but upgrading at point guard is the top priority.

While Darren Collison confidently declared Thursday that he believes he could start for any team in the league, the Dallas decision-makers clearly don’t share that opinion. After all, they opted to start Derek Fisher and Mike James over Collison in a season that president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson described as a “point guard odyssey.”

PODCAST
Donnie Nelson joins Chuck Cooperstein and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Mavericks' season and the importance of this summer. Listen

The Mavs might welcome Collison back as a backup, depending on the price. They’ll search this summer for a long-term starting solution at a spot that coach Rick Carlisle calls “the most important position in the league.”

“We’ve been spoiled with Jason Kidd and Stevie Nash before,” Nelson said during a Thursday appearance on ESPN Dallas 103.3’s Galloway and Company. “I think the quarterback position is just a really, really important one. I’d say that that’s up there.

“That’s no disrespect for anyone. Darren Collison did a terrific job with a tough situation, and we’d certainly be open to the conversation of him coming back, but (upgrading point guard) has got to be in my mind first and foremost.”

The pie-in-the-sky scenario: Sign Chris Paul. Of course, the odds of him ditching a talented, young Clippers team to come to Dallas to play with a mid-30s core are awfully slim. As Mark Cuban recently said, he’ll be rooting for teams with free agents the Mavs might target to lose early in the playoffs. Would Paul consider leaving the Clippers if they flame out in the first round?

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Chuck Cooperstein and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Mavericks' disappointing season and what needs to happen for them to get back to the playoffs. Listen

Paul will be the perfect fit, but the Mavs must be prepared to find their point guard of the future somewhere else. They might be able to draft next season’s backup with the 13th overall pick, assuming they don’t get amazing lottery luck, but a team determined to drastically improve its basketball IQ isn’t going to hand the reins to a rookie to run the show for 30-plus minutes a night.

It’s time for the Mavs to find a proven veteran point guard to fill Kidd’s shoes.

“I don’t know exactly what style, but the guy’s going to have to be able to score,” Carlisle said on Galloway and Company. “The guy’s going to have to be able to come off screens and hit shots, because when you’re come off screens from Dirk, you’re going to be open because of the way guys play him.”

A quick look at some of the other potential long-term upgrades available in free agency:

Jose Calderon: The Mavs have been involved in trade discussions about Calderon, as recently as midseason, when he got dealt from Toronto to Detroit in the three-way Rudy Gay deal. Calderon, who turns 32 in September, is a pass-first point guard who is a very efficient offensive player. He has career averages of 7.2 assists and 1.7 turnovers per game and is an excellent shooter (.483 FG, .399 3s, .877 FT). His flaws: He doesn’t penetrate well and is a poor defender, especially against speedy point guards.

Monta Ellis: The 27-year-old is not really a point guard. He’s a scorer (career 19.4 ppg) who sometimes plays point guard. He’s dangerous off the dribble and trouble in transition, but Ellis jacks up a lot of long jumpers and doesn’t make very many. He attempted 328 3s this season despite hitting only 28.7 percent, the lowest of any player with at least 200 tries. The idea of Ellis running pick-and-pops with Dirk Nowitzki is intriguing, but can a guard who has never averaged more than six assists per game in a season be counted on to consistently deliver Dirk the ball in prime scoring situations? And Ellis doesn’t exactly have a great defensive rep, either, despite his high steals totals.

Jarrett Jack: Jack, who turns 30 in October, is coming off his best season, averaging 12.9 points and 5.6 assists as the sixth man for a playoff team with Golden State. He’s an excellent midrange shooter and very effective hitting floaters off the dribble. He has a low turnover rate, the kind of strength and toughness Carlisle wants in a point guard and hit a lot of clutch shots for the Warriors this season. But Jack is really a combo guard who has never averaged more than 6.3 assists per season and struggles defensively against quick point guards. Like Kidd, he’s actually better defending shooting guards.

Brandon Jennings: Can the former lottery pick flourish under Carlisle’s coaching? Would it be worth offering enough to the restricted free agent for Milwaukee not to match? The 23-year-old Jennings, who has butted heads with his Bucks coaches, is on the record saying he’d love to play with Dirk and for Cuban and Carlisle in Dallas. His shooting percentage might soar in that situation, but the fact that it’s 39.4 percent for his career is a red flag. So is his slender frame (6-foot-1, 169 pounds). Oh, and so is the fact the Bucks have occasionally benched him during crunch time down the stretch this season. But Jennings (17.5 ppg, 6.5 apg this season) has shown enough flashes of brilliance to at least make him intriguing.

Jeff Teague: He’s a restricted free agent on a playoff team that has a ton of cap space, so the Mavs would have to overpay to get Teague. The four-year veteran is a quality young point guard, averaging 14.6 points and 7.2 assists this season, but it’s difficult to envision the Mavs throwing a ton of money at him.

Mo Williams: The 30-year-old Williams is best suited as a scoring sixth man, not a starting point guard. He’s a good spot-up 3-point shooter and knocks down a lot of midrange jumpers off pick-and-rolls, but he’s never been more than an average driver or distributor. Plus, Williams has major durability issues, having missed at least a dozen games in seven of the last eight seasons, including 36 with the Jazz last season, when he averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 assists.

There are, of course, other ways for the Mavs to acquire point guards. Hey, maybe Cuban can come up with some kind of multi-team deal that lands Rajon Rondo in Dallas.

The fact that the New Orleans Hornets are horrible helped the Dallas Mavericks’ cause.

The Mavs actually had a little motivation, too, wanting to at least finish .500.

Point guard Darren Collison, perhaps playing his final game for the Mavs, lit up his former team for a game-high 25 points, his second-highest point total of the season. Collison was 10-of-15 from the floor in 29 minutes off the bench.

Dirk Nowitzki added 16 points and nine rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter. Shawn Marion had 15 points and seven rebounds and exited to a nice ovation with a few minutes remaining.

Eric Gordon led New Orleans with 17 points, but he was 4-of-17 from the floor and committed four turnovers. The Hornets shot just 36.9 percent.

What it means: The Mavs avoided having a losing season for the first time since 1999-2000. They finished 41-41. The Hornets, who will now be known as the Pelicans, went 27-55.

Play of the game: Nowitzki knocked down one of his trademark one-legged fadeaways at the third-quarter buzzer to stretch the Mavs’ lead to double digits for the first time in the game. It was a vintage Nowitzki move, creating the shot off the dribble and launching the 16-footer over the outstretched arm of New Orleans 7-footer Robin Lopez.

Stat of the night: Hornets small forward Al-Farouq Aminu had a 14-8 rebounding advantage over the Mavericks in the first quarter. Aminu, who averages 7.5 rebounds per game, set a franchise record for rebounds in a quarter. He finished the game with a career-high 20 rebounds.

DALLAS – The O.J. Mayo clutch roller coaster can be one heck of a wild ride.

The Mavs survived the crazy twists and turns and highs and lows Friday night.

Start with Mayo drilling a tie-breaking 3-pointer from the right wing with 34.1 seconds remaining in regulation. If that leads holds up, Mayo is a relative hero.

Oh, but then that iffy basketball IQ owner Mark Cuban was discussing in team-wide terms popped up with less than 10 seconds on the clock. Mayo allowed Denver’s Andre Miller to strip the ball from behind, leading to an uncontested, game-tying layup by Corey Brewer with 3.9 seconds left.

Mayo had his chance to win it at the buzzer, driving down the lane for a finger roll … that rolled right off the rim.

“You’ve just got to understand that there’s still more game left,” Mayo said. “You can’t sit there and dwell on turning the ball over. Obviously, I didn’t mean to do it, but it happened, they got a layup and took the game into overtime.”

O.J. made it all good in OT.

Mayo scored the Mavs’ first two buckets of the extra frame, including a 3-pointer that gave them the lead for good with 2:40 to go. That put the finishing touches on his first 20-point performance in more than a month, prompting Dirk Nowitzki to declare that he was “proud” of Mayo.

“That’s what you look for with guys,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Mistakes are going to happen, but who can make a mistake and then bounce right back and hit two or three shots in overtime, get a key deflection and just stay in it?

“That’s one of the things he’s learned; he’s learned about how to stick with it and how to keep going. I was really happy for him because it was a rough 10 seconds there at the end.”

A few more notes from the feisty Mavs’ win:

1. Dirk’s 25K delayed: Nowitzki scored 22 points, giving him 24,990 for his career. That left him thinking about Sunday’s win in Portland, when he scored only six points and didn’t play in the fourth quarter due to a minor ankle injury.

“Tonight would have been the night,” Nowitzki said. “Obviously, it would have been nicer to do it at home, but it is what it is. I think it’s a great milestone and eventually I’m going to get it.

“It’ll be a fun milestone to get, but more important to me is to finish the season strong, get a couple of wins and hopefully finish the season above .500.”

2. Collison’s closing touch: How confident were the Mavs when Darren Collison stepped to the line with 1.9 seconds left in overtime? Probably 100 percent.

That’s Collison’s free throw percentage in the final 30 seconds of games when the margin is within three points. He’s 15-of-15 in those situations, including 13-of-13 in the final 10 seconds under similar circumstances.

3. Brand back: Off-the-bench big man Elton Brand returned after missing the previous four games with a sore right calf. He had two points, four rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes.

DALLAS – It’s not unusual for Shawn Marion to use colorful language in the locker room, even when he’s in a good mood.

But you know the Matrix is mad when he drops the dreaded E word. And Marion mentioned effort, or a lack thereof, repeatedly after the Mavs managed to let the Suns snap a 10-game losing streak with an 11-point win Wednesday night.

PODCAST
Marc Stein joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the Mavericks' 12-year playoff streak coming to an end. Listen

“You can’t control the ball going in the hoop, but you can control your effort,” Marion said. “I think when you’re not able to go out there and give it your all, give it 110 percent, then something’s wrong. Maybe you need to sit down, you know?

“At the same time, there’s no reason we should have lost this game tonight. Being a professional athlete, dealing with the ups and downs we’ve had this season, you’ve got to look at yourself and ask, ‘Are you giving it your all? Are you doing what’s in your control to go out there and compete and leave it on the floor?’ …

“Effort is the only thing you can control. You can’t control the ball going in or if you can a turnover here or there or whatever or vice versa, but you can control your effort. That didn’t happen tonight.”

Marion didn’t single out any particular Mavs, saying they were all at fault.

A few more notes from what might have been the Mavs’ most embarrassing loss of the season:

1. Dirk won’t sit: The Mavs are officially eliminated from playoff contention, but Dirk Nowitzki has no plans to call it a season.

Nowitzki said he has no intention to sit out any of the Mavs’ final four games.

“I’m going to finish the season like everybody else and try to win the next game,” Nowitzki said. “Try to get at least to .500. We’d love to finish with a positive record. That means something and we’re going to fight for it.”

Nowitzki, who sat out the fourth quarter Sunday after aggravating bone spurs in his ankle, said he felt “fine” after taking a little longer than usual to get loose early in the game.

2. Hairy situation: The Mavs grew tired of .500 beard talk two weeks ago, when they failed to reach the break-even point, getting blown out by the Indiana Pacers.

It’s a subject they certainly don’t want to discuss at this point. They’re now 0-for-3 when they have a chance to reach .500 since sprouting those beards.

“Everything is just being overblown,” said Vince Carter, one of six Mavs who are part of the pact. “All the beard, this, that – let’s just take care of business, just win the game. When that time comes, we’ll take care of it. If not, it is what it is. Right now, it’s just all about winning. That’s what it has to be.”

3. Death by Dragic: The Mavs didn’t make a serious attempt to sign Goran Dragic this summer before he agreed to a four-year, $30 million deal with the Suns. Whether he would have been a long-term solution in Dallas is debatable, but he definitely dominated the Mavs’ stopgap point guards Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Dragic had 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 13 assists.

“Dragic was the best player on the floor,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “He shredded us really from the start of the game to the end.”

Darren Collison, the 25-year-old the Mavs traded for this summer, had three points on 1-of-6 shooting and three assists in 19 minutes off the bench. Mike James, the 37-year-old D-League callup-turned-starter, had nine points and three assists in 27 minutes.

The Dallas Mavericks completed their season sweep with another spectacular offensive outing against the Sacramento Kings.

Shawn Marion (25 points, 12 rebounds) led five Mavs who scored in double figures against the Kings, who allowed four of Dallas’ top five scoring totals this season. Brandan Wright added 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting off the bench.

The Mavs shot 51.1 percent from the floor and had 30 assists with only nine turnovers. Dallas seized the lead for good while putting up 41 points in the second quarter, the Mavs’ second highest-scoring quarter of the season.

The Kings, who got big nights from guards Tyreke Evans (26 points, nine rebounds, six assists) and Isaiah Thomas (29 points), trimmed Dallas’ lead to four with a run early in the fourth quarter. The Mavs responded with a 9-0 run in which guards Darren Collison (18 points, eight assists) and O.J. Mayo (13 points, six assists) accounted for every point.

Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, a talented but troubled young center whom the Mavs have interest in acquiring, played only nine minutes due to a recent dispute with Kings coach Keith Smart.

What it means: The Mavs made sure this wouldn’t be a winless road trip, snapping a two-game losing streak. Dallas improved to 37-39, keeping them three games behind the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers, pending the outcome of L.A.’s late game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Play of the game: Collison penetrated, drew three defenders and kicked the ball out to Dirk Nowitzki near the top of the 3-point arc with the clocking ticking down at the end of the first half. Nowitzki drilled the buzzer-beating 3 to stretch the Mavs’ lead to six at the break.

Stat of the game: His second assist of the game gave Vince Carter 4,000 for his career. That made him the 15th player in NBA history with at least 22,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists. The other members of that exclusive club: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek, Alex English, Kevin Garnett, Jerry West, Paul Pierce, Charles Barkley, Ray Allen and Clyde Drexler.

DENVER – Coach Rick Carlisle made a reference to the Mavericks’ youth after Tuesday’s lopsided loss in a must-win game against the Lakers.

“We have some inexperienced guys who haven’t been here before, so this is a valuable learning experience for them,” Carlisle said. “But it has a price.”

PODCAST
Rick Carlisle joins Galloway & Company to discuss changing up his starting lineup, Brittney Griner possibly playing for the Mavericks and much more. Listen

There are two problems with that statement.

The first is that the vast majority of the Mavs are playoff tested. Yes, a pair of 25-year-old guards play major minutes. But Darren Collison has 16 games of playoff experience, having helped the Pacers advance to the second round and put up a fight against the Miami Heat last season. And O.J. Mayo has 20 games of playoff experience, serving as the sixth man on a Memphis team that pushed the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games in the West semifinals two years ago.

The only Mavs in the rotation who don’t have a healthy dose of playoff experience are rookie Jae Crowder and Brandan Wright, who watched all but 27 minutes in last season’s first-round sweep by OKC.

Crowder played a productive 16 minutes against the Lakers, scoring seven points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbing three rebounds. Wright (plus-2 in 18 minutes) was the only Mav with a positive plus-minus in that game. In other words, they weren’t the reason the Mavs got blown out in such a big game.

The other issue with the statement is that the Mavs might not benefit from any learning experience for most of their young players. Collison, Mayo and Wright can all be free agents, making them part of the majority on the Mavs’ roster.

It’s highly unlikely that Collison returns to Dallas. He’s made it clear that he considers himself a starting point guard. Carlisle has made it clear that he sees Collison as a backup.

Mayo has a player option for $4.2 million next season, but it’s all but a certainty that he’ll test the market again this summer. What are the Mavs willing to pay to keep Mayo?

The same question applies to Wright, whose recent performances might have put him in position to get an offer similar to the one former Mavs backup center Ian Mahinmi signed with the Pacers (four years, $16 million).

Any growing pains aren’t much of a consolation prize for the Mavs.

A combination of Bikram yoga, early morning track workouts and the copious amounts of drilling in the gym with longtime NBA guard John Lucas has helped keep the Mavericks' Mike James far fitter than most 37-year-olds.

And playing his way into the starting lineup for a team in a full-fledged playoff race has convinced James that he can play at the highest level for another season or two.

PODCAST
Marc Stein joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the Mavericks-Lakers game Tuesday night. If the Mavs lose, are their playoff hopes over? Listen

"My plan is to play two more years and my hope is to be able to finish my career here in Dallas playing for Rick, Donnie and Mark and with Dirk," James said, referring to Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, team president Donnie Nelson, owner Mark Cuban and star forward Dirk Nowitzki.

"If there's one thing my career has taught me, it's (that) what I hope and what happens are sometimes two different things. But this experience since I've been here has made everything I've gone through extremely worth it. Now we just got to make these playoffs."

The Mavericks became James' 11th NBA stop in early January when he was called up from Dallas' D-League affiliate in nearby Frisco and signed to the first of two 10-day contracts. Well aware of the Mavs' seasonlong struggles finding consistency from their point guards, James joined the Texas Legends with the intent of convincing Dallas that he could still contribute. One game with the Legends did the trick, with James gradually working his way into the starting lineup by early March.

The move partly stems from Carlisle's belief that projected starter Darren Collison is more effective coming off the bench, but there's no denying the impact of the switch: Dallas is 10-4 with James starting.

Despite appearing in a mere 15 NBA games over the previous three seasons, James averaged 9.2 points and 4.7 assists in 26.4 minutes per game in March and shot 45.6 percent on 3-pointers.

"I said to my agent (Bernie Lee) the other day, if everything that happened to this point in my career happened to bring me to play for Rick at this stage of my life to prepare me for this, then it's been worth it," James said.

"I'm in the middle of this right now and all that matters to me is making the playoffs. I want this so bad, I can't express it. But in the summer when I take a step back and look at it, I think I'll be able to appreciate it more, the fact that I fought really hard to be a part of this team."

James has a natural bond with fellow vets Elton Brand and Vince Carter -- referring to Carter as his welcoming committee when he first got to town -- but likewise has a lot to say about playing with Nowitzki, who didn't do too badly in March, either.

Dirk's numbers for the month: 20.0 points per game on .548 shooting from the floor and .468 shooting on 3s.

"Being that I've been so many places and played with so many quote-unquote superstars, I think I have a pretty good handle on (that description)," James said. "And Dirk is the best I've ever played with or been around.

"He's hard-working, humble, intelligent and doesn’t miss anything. On off days, he's in the weight room or in the pool. He's so intelligent and driven to know his body and what he needs to do to get ready. I wasn’t here when he was hurt and I know it's been a challenge for him, but over the last few weeks, day by day, you can see his work paying off."

How it happened: Dirk Nowitzki proved he can still slam the door on a contender.

Nowitzki dominated the overtime period to carry the Mavs to a much-needed upset over the Los Angeles Clippers in a wild game that featured a Western Conference playoff-intensity feel.

Nowitzki scored eight of his season-high 33 points in the extra period. His 16-footer with 3:28 remaining gave the Mavs a lead that they never relinquished.

The Mavs had to overcome a phenomenal clutch flurry by perennial All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who scored the Clippers’ last 10 points in regulation. That offensive outburst by Paul, who matched Nowitzki with a game-high 33 points, lasted 4:13 and ended with a go-ahead floater in traffic with 5.3 seconds remaining.

But O.J. Mayo answered by driving past Paul on the baseline and hitting a crafty left-handed layup to tie it up with 0.6 ticks on the clock. The game went into overtime after Blake Griffin’s bucket off a full-court, inbound pass from Matt Barnes was wiped out due to Griffin pushing Nowitzki before catching the ball.

Paul drilled a midrange jumper on the Clippers’ first overtime possession, but that was Los Angeles’ last bucket of the game until 6.7 seconds remained. The Clippers’ lone points in the final 4:17 came on a DeAndre Jordan free throw and a Griffin jumper in the final seconds. The Clippers missed seven straight shots from the floor, none of which were attempted by Paul.

Barnes air-balled a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 22.9 seconds remaining.

Nowitzki scored the Mavs’ first eight overtime points, going 3-of-3 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the free throw line before Darren Collison sealed the win with four free throws.

What it means: The Mavs (35-36) are a win away from shaving those .500 beards, and, more importantly, only one game behind the eighth-place Los Angeles Lakers in the West standings. The Mavs have won nine of the past 12 games to breathe life into their playoff hopes. They’re now 2-13 against the top five teams in the West this season.

Play of the game: Nowitzki’s overtime heroics wouldn’t have been possible without Mayo’s game-tying drive in the final seconds of regulation. Mayo spun past Paul on the baseline, dribbling with his right hand, took off with his right foot, twisted his body to get a good angle and dropped in a lefty layup off the glass.

Stat of the night: With his second bucket of the night, Nowitzki moved past Patrick Ewing into 17th place on the all-time scoring list. Nowitzki has 24,845 points and counting.

DALLAS – Darren Collison is one of the NBA’s best backup point guards.

That’s a backhanded compliment to a 25-year-old who entered the final season of his rookie contract determined to prove that he was a solid starter in this league.

That, however, is the reality of Collison’s role right now and most likely for the rest of the season. The Mavs are 5-3 since 37-year-old journeyman Mike James became the starting point guard, and coach Rick Carlisle has indicated on several occasions that he believes Collison’s game is best suited for coming off the bench.

Collison accepts his role. That doesn’t mean he embraces it – and it isn’t the ideal situation he’ll search for in free agency this summer.

“In my heart, I know I’m a starter,” Collison said. “I know what I’ve done. As of right now, I’m just trying to help the team win.”

Carlisle emphasizes that he still considers Collison, who was demoted for Derek Fisher earlier this season, to be as important to the team now that he’s a reserve than he was as a starter.

"Even though he’s an off-the-bench guy at this point and time, I view him as one of our starters," Carlisle said. “Much like Jason Terry was for four years here. Jet was one of our better players, but he came off the bench and gave us a lot in that role. We need Darren to do the same thing."

J.J. Barea is probably a better comparison, but you get Carlisle’s point.

Collison’s minutes haven’t seen too steep of a drop since he stopped starting. He averaged 31.1 minutes in 51 starts, compared to 24.8 in the last eight games.

Collison’s production isn’t drastically different in the reserve role, either. He has averaged 12.1 points and 4.1 assists while shooting 49.3 percent from the floor in the last eight games. As a starter, Collison put up 12.6 points and 5.7 assists per game, shooting 46.7 percent from the floor.

The biggest difference: Collison's plus-minus has been plus-51 in the last eight games; it’s minus-101 in his 51 starts.

“I think he’s in his wheelhouse right now,” sixth man Vince Carter said. “He’s very comfortable. And I think he gets the opportunity to kind of analyze the game before he plays it now. The game slows down and he’s playing at a really high level.”

Collison acknowledged that there are some benefits to coming off the bench. He gets to study the flow of the game for the first five minutes, and he typically tries to use his speed and quickness to increase the tempo. Plus, he feels that he has a little more freedom as a reserve.

“As a starter, you kind of want to get everybody involved the first five minutes,” Collison said. “When you come off the bench, everybody’s kind of already had their touches. You want to be a little bit more aggressive coming off the bench.”

Given the choice, Collison wants to be a starter. But that’s not an option in Dallas right now. Whether it is somewhere else will be determined in the free-agency market this summer.

The Mavericks made their mini-road trip a success by beating the Atlanta Hawks.

It just got better after the Mavs boarded the team jet to return to Dallas. The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz, the two teams directly ahead of the 10th-place Mavs in the West standings, both lost late games.

PODCAST
ESPN Insider Marc Stein joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the Mavericks' big win and if Rick Carlisle should be considered for NBA Coach of the Year. Listen

Here come the Mavs, three games out of the last playoff spot entering a six-game homestand. Per the Hollinger playoff odds, the Mavs have a 14.5 percent chance of extending their postseason streak to 13 years.

Not that Dirk Nowitzki wants to get bogged down with details, numbers and scenarios. At this point, the face of the Mavs’ franchise prefers to keep things very simple.

“We’re going to fight at the end,” Nowitzki told reporters. “We’ll see where that brings us at the end. I think we want to fight for every night and not look at the big picture. We want to win the next game, and that’s what we need to focus on and really leave it all out there.”

Since the season’s low point, when the Mavs dropped to 10 games under .500 for the first time since right after Mark Cuban bought the team in 2000, Dallas has performed like a playoff team. The Mavs are 19-12 in their last 31 games, a .613 winning percentage, a.k.a. a 50-win pace.

That still hasn’t been enough for the Mavs to dig out of the huge hole they dug themselves – or even shave – but they’ve given themselves hope with 15 games remaining.

“The second part of the season, we’re just a different team,” Vince Carter told reporters. “Guys are just learning. That’s just the way it is. I think we’ve stayed the course and been relentless.”

Added Darren Collison: "We still believe. We still believe we can make it. There's no quit in us. We believe that every game from here out we can get a win. We're talented enough. We've got the players to do it."

A few more notes from the Mavs’ highest-scoring game of the season:

1. Defense rests: Coach Rick Carlisle described the Mavs’ 127-113 win in Atlanta as a “defensive pillow fight.”

Needless to say, he wasn’t ecstatic with allowing the Hawks to shoot 56 percent from the floor, although Carlisle acknowledged that he’d take the win and run.

Carlisle’s point was that the Mavs would have to play better defense for this six-game homestand, which starts Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets and features nothing but plus-.500 foes, to be a happy one. Nowitzki hammered that point home in the locker room.

“I don’t think we’re happy with our defensive outing, but offensively that’s just about as good as we’ve played all year,” Nowitzki said. “We’ve got a big homestand coming up. We’ve got to be better defensively than that.”

2. Collison on point: Darren Collison lit up the Hawks for 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting, his second-highest scoring game of the season. It was the first time Collison scored at least 20 points since Jan. 14.

Collison took over the game in the second quarter, scoring 15 points in the frame on an array of jumpers, drives to the basket and cuts for layups.

"I was able to get it going," Collison told reporters. "A lot of players in this league, once they get it going, that basket looks bigger and bigger, and that's what happened in the second quarter."

3. Making use of Morrow: Anthony Morrow made by far his biggest impact for the Mavericks in his return to Atlanta, the team that traded him to Dallas at the deadline.

Morrow played 13 minutes – more than twice his total playing time for the Mavs entering the night – and had eight points and three assists. That included some meaningful minutes in the first half. Morrow, known for his long-range marksmanship, has still yet to hit a 3-pointer for the Mavs. He didn’t attempt one against the Hawks, but he was 3-for-4 from the floor and moved the ball crisply and efficiently when the Hawks closed out on him in 3-point territory.

“We dusted off Anthony Morrow,” Nowitzki joked.

As soon as Vince Carter ended a Dallas scoring drought of almost four minutes by drilling a 3-pointer, he turned to the Mavericks bench and twirled his right index finger.

The message: Keep the ball coming to him.

The Mavs did just that. And Carter definitely delivered, scoring 13 of Dallas’ final 17 points to carry the Mavs to the 115-108 win over the Bucks.

“I felt in a groove and the basket just seemed extremely big,” Carter told reporters after his 23-point performance. “I felt comfortable with my shot. I was just in the flow of the game.”

Correction: Carter dictated the flow of the game down the stretch. He was 4-of-6 from the floor in the final 5:31, including three 3-pointers and a high-degree-of-difficulty driving lefty layup.

“Vince was spectacular again,” Dirk Nowitzki told reporters. “The shots he made – the 3s, behind the screen, off the dribble, hanging-in-the-air, lefty, wraparound layup – just phenomenal down the stretch. He really took the game over for us and really won it.”

This sort of performance from the 36-year-old sixth man doesn’t come as a surprise. The Mavs count on Carter to put up the kind of numbers that could merit serious Sixth Man of the Year consideration.

Carter has five 20-plus-point performances in the last month. He’s hitting a career-best 41.5 percent of his 3-point attempts this season.

His numbers during the Mavs’ season-best-matching four-game win streak: 17.8 points per game, 23-of-40 from the floor (57.5 percent) and 13-of-19 from long range (68.4 percent).

“It’s just phenomenal,” Nowitzki said. “I think every time he shoots the 3 now, it’s going in. That opens up his drives and he’s still got strong legs and he’s still got some hops and some hang time in there and can make unbelievable plays.”

A few more notes from the Mavs’ win in Milwaukee:

1. Happy homecoming for Crowder: Jae Crowder had a bunch of big games at the Bradley Center while starring for Marquette. He made himself at home in his first NBA visit to Milwaukee, too.

Crowder snapped out of an offensive mini-slump with 14 points, one shy of his NBA high, on 6-of-9 shooting. He grabbed a season-best eight rebounds and played a productive 36 minutes, during which the Mavs outscored the Bucks by 14 points.

“I love this building,” Crowder told reporters. “I’ve played a lot of games here. I felt comfortable here and I felt comfortable with the game plan, and it just worked out for me.”

The love was mutual. The Bradley Center crowd welcomed Crowder back with warm applause when his name was announced with the starting lineup, as he filled in for Shawn Marion for the third consecutive game.

“He’s about all the right things – plays hard, into winning, team guy – so I was really happy for him coming home,” coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “I told him after the game that I wish we could play all the games here.”

2. On point: Mike James put up season highs in points (13), assists (7) and rebounds (6) as the Mavs improved to 4-0 with him in the starting lineup.

Rodrigue Beaubois made the most of some rare non-garbage playing time, providing a spark when Darren Collison briefly left the game in the second quarter to get his left eye checked. Beaubois had all of his seven points and three assists during that frame, igniting the Mavs’ 15-0 run that gave them the lead for good.

Milwaukee’s Brandon Jennings, a soon-to-be restricted free agent who has expressed interest in coming to Dallas, didn’t make much of a case for the Mavs to pay him big money. Jennings was held to four points on 2-of-7 shooting and five assists. He sat out crunch time, as was the case in the Bucks’ Feb. 26 win in Dallas, when Jennings had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting and six assists.

3. Mighty Wright: Brandan Wright’s streak of four consecutive games scoring in double figures was snapped, but he made a major impact on the win over Milwaukee.

Wright played 33 minutes, getting the bulk of the playing time at center after starter Chris Kaman was benched a little more than two minutes into the game. Wright had nine points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal. The Mavs were plus-17 with Wright on the floor.

At first glance, the math doesn’t look too daunting. After winning four of the last five games, the Dallas Mavericks are only three games out of eighth place in the Western Conference.

They’ve given themselves a slim chance at extending the franchise’s playoff streak to 13 years. They’ve at least earned the opportunity to make the last quarter of the season meaningful.

“We’ve got 20 games left and we’re going to let it all hang out there,” Dirk Nowitzki told reporters after Sunday’s rout of a depleted Minnesota squad. “Now, the games are going to get tough.”

Beginning with Tuesday’s road game against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Mavs will face teams in the playoff picture in 13 of their final 20 games. After leaving Milwaukee and getting a day off, the Mavs go into a stretch of four games in five days that includes matchups against the West’s two best teams – the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

As Nowitzki noted, for the Mavs to have any hope, they need everyone in the rotation to be “firing on all cylinders.”

As of now, the Mavs have pulled even with the Portland Trail Blazers in 10th place. The free-falling Utah Jazz are a spot ahead of them.

The question is whether the Mavs can catch any of the last three teams holding on to playoff bids.

It’s hard to see that happening with the star-loaded Los Angeles Lakers, who moved into the eighth seed Sunday. L.A. is 13-4 since the beginning of February and is three games up on the Mavs.

The seventh-seeded Rockets have a four-game cushion on Dallas. The Mavs own the tiebreaker over Houston, but the Rockets have a favorable schedule down the stretch, playing 12 of their remaining 18 games at home.

The sixth-seeded Warriors might be the team most likely to fall out of the West playoff picture despite being five games up on the Mavs. Golden State has lost 12 of its last 17 games but owns the tie-breaker over the Mavs.

“We’re definitely watching the standings,” Mavs big man Elton Brand told reporters. “We want to get in the playoffs. That’s our goal. That’s the real season. We’re trying hard to get back in there. We’re not going to quit.”

A few more notes from the Mavs’ blowout of the Timberwolves:

1. Wright on: Brandan Wright, who has floated in and out of Rick Carlisle’s rotation this season, has made a major impact during the Mavs’ three-game winning streak.

Wright, the lanky, high-leaping center/forward, has averaged 13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and shot an eye-popping 79.2 percent from the floor over the last three games.

As well as Wright is playing, his minutes might dip when Shawn Marion returns, which the Mavs hope will happen Tuesday night in Milwaukee. Wright has been getting minutes as a backup power forward, a role Marion usually fills.

2. Bench boost: Give Darren Collison credit for being professional and productive after losing his starting job yet again.

That doesn’t mean he’ll earn back the starting gig at point guard. Carlisle strongly indicated that he believes the reserve role is the right fit for Collison, who has come off the bench for each game of the Mavs’ winning streak.

“I think he’s a great off-the-bench guy in this league,” Carlisle told reporters. “Off the bench, I think he’s a special player.”

Collison has had the Mavs’ best plus-minus in both games of this road trip. He was plus-27 during his nine-point, eight-assist outing in Minnesota and plus-21 during his 11-point, eight-assist performance in Detroit.

3. O.J. OK?: The only player on the roster who has played every game this season suffered a scare when O.J. Mayo turned his right ankle after coming down on a defender’s foot in the second half.

Mayo left the game, but he soon returned and showed no ill effects while finishing off an eight-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist night. Mayo will get treatment and is expected to be in the starting lineup again Tuesday night.

“He’s pretty tough,” Carlisle said of Mayo, who has missed only one game due to injury or illness during his five-year career.

How it happened: The Dallas Mavericks came out smoking in the second quarter and used their depth to cruise to a win over a tired Minnesota Timberwolves team playing the dreaded Daylight Savings back-to-back.

Dallas scored the first 14 points of the second quarter and led by double digits for the rest of the game.

The Mavs’ bench, the third-highest scoring reserve unit in the league this season, accounted for 58 points, 34 rebounds and 14 assists. All four reserves who played significant minutes made major contributions.

Sixth man Vince Carter lifted the Mavs after a sluggish start, scoring 15 of his 22 points in the first half. Carter, who also had nine rebounds, hit his first four shots from the floor and finished 8-of-15, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

Undersized big man Elton Brand put up his eighth double-double of the year, scoring 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Brandan Wright, the high-flying power forward/center whose role has increased recently, scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game. He had 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.

Recently demoted point guard Darren Collison added nine points and eight assists.

Minnesota's 77 points matched a season low for a Mavs foe. The Timberwolves shot just 36.4 percent from the floor, including 2-of-18 from 3-point range.

What it means: The Mavs took care of business against bad teams on the first half of their four-game road trip, beating the Pistons and Timberwolves. The schedule gets significantly tougher the rest of the way. Beginning with Tuesday’s game in Milwaukee, 14 of the Mavs’ final 20 foes are currently in the playoff picture. The Mavs (29-33) are three games behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who moved into eighth place in the West with a win Sunday afternoon.

Play of the game: It had no impact on the outcome of the game, but Dirk Nowitzki’s head-scratching travel in the third quarter will surely be talked about by fun-poking teammates. Nowitzki was wide open when he caught the ball near the baseline, went up for a midrange jumper, saw Chris Kaman cutting to the basket and got caught in between thoughts. After landing with the ball in his hands, Nowitzki gave it a soccer-style header.

Stat of the night: The Mavs are 7-2 when Carter scores at least 20 points this season and 10-3 when he puts up 20-plus over the past two seasons.

How it happened: The Dallas Mavericks made it much more dramatic than they would have preferred, but they held off a bad Detroit Pistons team.

A flurry of 3-pointers by Mike James and Vince Carter stretched Dallas’ lead to 15 early in the fourth quarter, but Detroit roared off a 24-8 run to take a 97-96 lead -- their first since the first quarter.

PODCAST
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle joins Galloway & Company to discuss who he wants to keep for next season, O.J. Mayo's impressive night and much more. Listen

Dirk Nowitzki, who was quiet for most of the night, came up with a couple of big buckets during crunch time. After Pistons rookie Khris Middleton's go-ahead corner 3 with 2:29 remaining, Nowitzki knocked down contested midrange jumpers on Dallas’ next two possessions, giving the Mavs the lead for good.

But Nowitzki, who finished with 12 points on 6-of-14 shooting, missed midrange jumpers on the Mavs’ last two possessions, leaving the door open for Detroit to send the game into overtime.

The 23-41 Pistons failed to take advantage of the opportunity. Charlie Villanueva’s tip-in with six seconds remaining, which trimmed the deficit to one, was Detroit’s only points in the final two minutes. Villanueva missed an open 3 with seconds remaining after Darren Collison's clutch free throws bumped the Mavs' lead back to three.

O.J. Mayo scored a game-high 22 points, shooting 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Seven Mavs scored in double figures.

What it means: The Mavs have gotten out of their four-loss-in-five-games rut with two straight wins. Dallas improved to 28-33, including 20-7 against teams that are under .500. The 11th-place Mavs are 3 1/2 games out of the eighth seed in the West after Utah’s loss to Chicago.

Play of the game: The most memorable plays weren’t quite highlights. Pick your favorite Pistons blooper: Jason Maxiell getting stuffed by the rim on an uncontested dunk, or Brandon Knight missing a breakaway layup.

Stat of the night: James is 11-of-20 from 3-point range over the past four games, including 4-of-6 against the Pistons. The hot streak represents a remarkable turnaround for the 37-year-old guard, who knocked down only seven of 32 3-point attempts this season before suddenly finding his range.