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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: The Mavs and Nuggets are both 11 ½ games behind the top-seeded Spurs, but Denver is in control of its destiny when it comes to securing the sixth seed. The Nuggets (35-28) have one fewer loss than the Mavs (36-29) and are a couple of percentage points ahead in the standings. The Mavs own the tiebreaker over the Nuggets, whose three remaining games are at home against the Magic and on the road against the Thunder and Timberwolves.

SATURDAY'S GAMES
Nuggets 118, Suns 107: Ty Lawson had 29 points and 10 assists as Denver clinched a playoff spot.

Bulls 93, Mavs 83: The Mavs put up a decent fight against the East’s first-place team despite Jason Kidd and Jason Terry sitting out to rest.

Rockets 99, Warriors 96: Houston snapped a six-game losing streak and kept its slim playoff hopes alive.

Grizzlies 93, Trail Blazers 89: The Grizzlies almost let a 12-point lead slip away in the last four minutes, but Memphis held on for its 14th win in 18 games to pull within a half-game of the Clippers for the fourth seed.

Jazz 117, Magic 107 (OT): Devin Harris scored 21 points, including a dagger 3-pointer in overtime, as the Jazz seized control of the fight for the West’s final playoff seed.

TODAY’S GAMES
Thunder at Lakers
Rockets at Heat
Cavaliers at Spurs
Magic at Nuggets
Hornets at Clippers

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks' title defense is on.

By virtue of the Houston Rockets dropping their sixth straight game Thursday night to the New Orleans Hornets, the Mavs (35-28) clinched a playoff spot for the 12th consecutive season.

They can take it easy Friday night if they so choose when the Golden State Warriors visit the American Airlines Center in the final home game of the season. Currently occupying the sixth seed, one-half game ahead of the Denver Nuggets, Dallas plays at the Chicago Bulls on Saturday and then wraps up the 66-game, lockout-shortened season Thursday night at Atlanta.

As of today, the Mavs are in position to open the playoffs in Los Angeles against the third-seeded Lakers. However, the Los Angeles Clippers remain in play for the third seed. Dallas could also finish with the seventh seed and open the playoffs at either the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs.

The Mavs will be the first defending champion since the 2007 Heat to begin their title defense on the road. Miami is the last defending champ to lose in the first round of the playoffs.

DALLAS -- Delonte West is a pretty tough guy, so he knows tough when he sees it. And he says Jason Terry is as tough as they come.

Terry showed it when midway through the fourth quarter of a still nip-and-tuck battle against the Houston Rockets, he yet again made a determined drive to the bucket. Terry broke free and rose up, going for a rare, one-handed stuff against Houston big man Patrick Patterson.

He got to the rim, but couldn't finish off the dunk as he got hammered to the ground and was left their laying flat on his back, writhing in apparent pain, knees bent and his feet alternately pounding the floor.

"He gave us all a scare for a minute," West said. "I saw his legs go underneath him and that's not good. But, one thing I learned about Jet, he's a fighter. I played in Seattle (2007-08) before they moved to Oklahoma City and I visited his high school. All they could talk about is his toughness. When he jumped up, I knew what time it was."

Go time, is what West meant. Suddenly, Terry went from needing an ambulance to hopping to his feet and bouncing to midcourt while waving his arms and playing to the crowd in typical Jet fashion.

"He didn't need an ambulance," Jason Kidd said. "When you got a shooter or a scorer they want to get those two free throws. They’re not coming out of the game."

The Mavs' playoff hopes were greatly dependent on Wednesday's 117-110 victory over the Rockets, who were virtually eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

Terry missed the second of the two free throws, but the first gave the Mavs a 97-92 lead with 6:22 to go. On the next possession, Terry drove again, but missed a 6-footer. But, the miss is beside the point. Terry, a streaky and often cold-blooded jump shooter who is also often criticized for living and dying by the long ball, is making a concerted effort in recent games to get to the cup, not unlike his fearless 2011 postseason.

"Yeah, I am," Jet said when asked if he's been more committed to drive. "That's what time of year it is for us and somebody's going to have to get to the basket for us. Again, sometimes it works and sometimes it don't. The one in the Lakers game I wish I had that drive back to do again. But, teams are playing me for my jumper. I have to be more and more aggressive to get to the paint."

1. Jet can still shoot it, too: Just because he's driving more doesn't mean Terry is going to stop launching 3s. He put six against the Rockets and nailed three of them. His first made 3 in the second quarter moved him ahead of Chauncey Billups and into fourth place on the NBA's all-time 3-point list. Terry now has made 1,786 3-pointers in his 13 seasons. Who's next on the list? Jason Kidd with 1,874.

2. Matrix takes a seat (again): For the second consecutive game, Shawn Marion was a spectator in the fourth quarter. The man the Mavs have pumped all season as a leading Defensive Player of the Year candidate has been stuck on the pine while Vince Carter has logged the crunch-time minutes. It's hard to argue with the results. At Utah, Carter had 18 points and 12 rebounds as that unit rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation and then went three overtimes before succumbing. Carter had a season-high 23 points against the Rockets and the fourth-quarter unit rallied to score 39 points for the win. Just don't expect to see Marion riding pine in the fourth quarter of playoff games when Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are playing on the other team.

"We're trying to win games right now," coach Rick Carlisle said. "They had a good rhythm going and that's all it was."

3. Center rotation: Brandan Wright returned to the spotlight as the Mavs' three-headed center position continues to rotate from game-to-game. Against big Andrew Bynum and the Lakers on Sunday, Brendan Haywood played 38 minutes. At Utah, Ian Mahinmi logged 35. On Wednesday, Wright played 21 minutes, six more than the starter Haywood and nine more than Mahinmi. Wright finished with four points and five rebounds.

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: The Mavs are back in the sixth seed, a half game ahead of the Nuggets and in possession of the tiebreaker. Dallas is two games ahead of the Jazz and two and a half games ahead of the Suns and Rockets.

WEDNESDAY'S GAMES
Mavs 117, Rockets 110: Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter of the Mavs’ critical comeback win.

Clippers 104, Nuggets 98: Chris Paul had 21 points and eight assists as the Clippers won their fifth straight to pull within a half game of the Lakers for the third seed.

Grizzlies 103, Hornets 91: Rudy Gay scored 26 points as the Grizzlies clinched their second consecutive playoff berth.

Lakers 99, Warriors 87: Andrew Bynum had 31 points and Pau Gasol had a 22-11-11 triple-double.

Spurs 127, Kings 102: The first-place Spurs rolled to another rout while Tim Duncan rested.

Jazz 112, Trail Blazers 91: Ex-Maverick Devin Harris hit a career-high six 3-pointers during a 27-point performance to help keep Utah’s playoff hopes alive.

Thunder 109, Suns 97: Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner James Harden scored a career-high 40 points for Oklahoma City.

TODAY’S GAMES
Rockets at Hornets
Clippers at Suns

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Lakers

DALLAS -- It almost felt like a playoff game in the fourth quarter Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center.

The building was buzzing. The stakes were high. And Dirk Nowitzki was dominating.

That was all she wrote for the Rockets, whose playoff hopes are flickering after their fifth straight loss. The Mavs are one win away from punching their postseason ticket after a classic Dirk performance in the final dozen minutes of their 117-110 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Nowitzki scored 21 of his game-high 35 points in the final frame, hitting four of six shots from the floor and all 11 free throw attempts while the Mavs turned a six-point deficit into a seven-point victory.

The flashback to last postseason’s form made Nowitzki’s ugly first half easy to forget. He had a grand total of four points on 2-of-6 shooting at halftime.

Nowitzki knew his fortunes were changing as soon as his first shot of the second half fell. It was an off-balance stepback that he launched while being fouled by Luis Scola, and the ball bounced high off the back rim before tickling the twine.

“I got a good bounce,” Nowitzki said. “It was a little flat and the ball bounced five feet in the air and dropped in, so that obviously helps, to get a couple lucky bounces.”

Skill soon took over, with Nowitzki lighting it up for 31 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the second half.

The Mavs helped free Nowitzki by making a halftime adjustment. They scrapped the plan to try to feed him the ball in the post and opened up the offense, running a lot of pick-and-rolls and using the 7-footer as a floor spacer.

With Vince Carter (23 points) and Jason Terry (19 points) hurting Houston, Dirk suddenly found a lot of room to work against the Rockets’ defense.

“He was able off movement to catch the ball and do some things, make plays,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “A lot of it is very much a random game, but it’s the kind of trust that we have in our players to make those plays. It’s harder stuff to guard if you can do it, if you can pull it off and if you can make good decisions. The first half we struggled with decision-making. In the second half, and in the fourth quarter in particular, we were terrific.”

And Nowitzki was spectacular in one of the most important quarters of the Mavs’ season.

“Once he hit those two 3s back-to-back, we felt he got his rhythm back,” Terry said, referring to 3-pointers Nowitzki hit on consecutive trips early in the quarter. “He just kept being aggressive.”

Nowitzki’s other two buckets in the fourth were layups off of back-cuts. He did the rest of his damage from the line, going 11-of-11 on freebies in the final 4:05 to put the finishing touches on the Rockets.

It was only the fourth time this season the Mavs won a game they trailed after three quarters, but it felt so familiar. It was like a flashback to last season’s championship run, when Nowitzki took over time and again when it was winning time.

The Mavs can only hope it’s also a sign of things to come, now that Nowitzki & Co. have all but assured they’ll get a chance to defend their title in the postseason.

Follow along with our experts as they tweet and chat throughout tonight's Mavs-Rockets game at American Airlines Center.

DALLAS – Regular-season games don’t get much more pressure-packed than this one.

This is pretty much a must win for the Houston Rockets, who bring a four-game losing streak to the American Airlines Center and are fighting for their playoff lives, currently standing on the outside of the Western Conference’s postseason picture.

If the Mavs don’t win this one, the defending NBA champions would put themselves in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs. They’re sitting in seventh place, just a game and a half ahead of the Phoenix Suns and Rockets, with four games remaining in the lockout-compressed regular season.

“We’re well aware of all the situations and scenarios,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We got to earn our way into the playoffs. That’s the reality. It’s not an easy road. We’ve got tough games we got to play and tough opponents we’ve got to beat.”

Records: Mavs (34-28); Rockets (32-29)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: TXA 21

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

What to watch: Will the Mavs have enough gas in the tank to finish strong against the Rockets? They had a day off Tuesday and skipped shootaround this morning, but this is the Mavs’ fifth game in seven nights, and that includes an overtime loss Sunday to the Lakers and a triple-overtime loss Monday to the Jazz. Dallas’ key closers – Dirk Nowitzki (96), Jason Terry (91) and Jason Kidd (85) -- racked up massive minute totals in those two games.

Key matchup: Goran Dragic vs. Delonte West – Dragic has been the Rockets’ best player since Kyle Lowry’s illness pushed him into the starting lineup, averaging 18 points and 8.4 assists while shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from 3-point range in the last 23 games. That includes averaging 20.5 points and 7.5 assists in two losses to the Mavs last month. West didn’t play in those games due to a fractured right ring finger, forcing small forward Shawn Marion to be the Mavs’ primary defender on Dragic. The Mavs will rely on West, who avoided suspension for the bizarre, ear-poking incident during Monday's loss to Utah, to harass Dragic and keep the Rockets’ offense from establishing a rhythm.

Injuries: Mavs – G Rodrigue Beaubois (strained right calf) is expected to play; Rockets – C Marcus Camby (sore lower back/left wrist sprain) is a game-time decision.

Up next: Golden State Warriors at Mavs, 7:30 p.m., Friday

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: The Mavs slipped to seventh place, a half game behind the Nuggets. The Rockets and Suns are a game and a half behind the Mavs, and Utah is two games behind Dallas.

MONDAY'S GAMES

Jazz 123, Mavs 121 (3 OT): Dallas missed a chance to throw a knockout punch to the Jazz’s playoff hopes, running up the Mavs core players’ minutes in the process.

Spurs 120, Warriors 99: San Antonio cruised to a win over Golden State’s summer league squad to take over the West's top spot.

Clippers 92, Thunder 77: The Thunder fell out of first place after managing to score only 25 points in the second half.

Nuggets 105, Rockets 102: Arron Afflalo scored 26 points to lead the Nuggets to their fourth win in five games.

Suns 125, Trail Blazers 107: The Suns shot 60 percent and had six players score in double figures to move into the eighth seed.

TODAY’S GAMES
Grizzlies at Timberwolves
Spurs at Lakers

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Thunder

SALT LAKE CITY -- This is it. The final full week of the compacted 66-game regular-season schedule comes down to four games in six nights.

The Mavericks will have four days off following this week's slate before finishing off the regular season on April 26 at Atlanta, and then presumably beginning the playoffs a few days later.

The Mavs (34-27) have yet to secure a playoff spot with five games to go, but they certainly have the upper hand in getting in and finishing with the sixth seed. But nothing is guaranteed and that includes getting a win tonight at Utah, a team desperately clinging to playoff contention.

So here we go:

Today: at Utah Jazz (31-30), 8 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: The Mavs know they're going to get the Jazz's best game. They got a night off and have to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Dallas is 2-0 against Utah but hasn't seen the Jazz since early March. The big issue for the Mavs could be fatigue after Sunday's overtime loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles. Dirk Nowitzki played a team-high 43 minutes. Jason Kidd played a season-high 39, Delonte West and Brendan Haywood each played 38 minutes and Jason Terry played 37.

Wednesday: versus Houston Rockets (32-28), 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: KTXA (Ch. 21)/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: Another desperate team is on the docket. The Rockets ended the week Sunday with a third consecutive loss after winning four in a row. Houston gets Denver at home tonight and depending on that result and how the Mavs fare at Utah, this game could be absolutely huge just to get into the playoffs.

Friday: versus Golden State Warriors (22-37), 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: If ever there was a gimme game, this is it in the home finale. The Warriors (10-20 on the road), via trade and injury, are completely depleted. Their best healthy player might not be healthy any longer as David Lee has a strained groin and a stress reaction and could miss the rest of the season. Dallas came close to blowing a big lead at Golden State to start this current four-game road trip. If the Mavs don't win this one easily at home then they might as well pack it in for the summer.

Saturday: at Chicago Bulls (46-14), 8 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: This will be the Bulls' third-to-last game, and as they start the week with a 3 1/2-game lead over Miami for the No. 1 seed in the East, it's debatable as to whether the Mavs will see a full Bulls lineup or not. By this point, if the Mavs have not clinched a playoff spot, they could be in serious jeopardy of matching the 1999 Bulls as the last defending champ not to make the playoffs. Chicago could still be jockeying with Oklahoma City and San Antonio for best overall record, so it's hard to say at this point how each coach will approach the game.

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: Denver's blowout win against Golden State puts them in a dead heat with the Mavs for the seventh spot -- of course, Dallas holds the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series. Both teams are now a full game back of the red-hot Rockets, who won their fourth in a row at Portland.

MONDAY'S GAMES
Lakers 93, Hornets 91: The Kobe-less Lakers bounced back, barely, from getting drilled in Phoenix. Pau Gasol had 25 points and nine rebounds and Ramon Sessions had 17 points and six assists. His 3-pointer put the Lakers up by six with 26 seconds left.

Thunder 109, Bucks 89: Oklahoma City moved back into the top spot in the West on a rare night in which five players scored in double figures. Thabo Sefolosha (14) and Serge Ibaka (13) joined regulars Russell Westbrook (26), Kevin Durant (19) and James Harden (16).

Jazz 91, Spurs 84: Gregg Popovich gave Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker the night off with an eye toward the upcoming back-to-back against the Lakers and Grizzlies (Wednesday and Thursday). The Jazz are limping with Earl Watson (knee) out indefinitely and C.J. Miles (calf) injured.

Grizzlies 94, Clippers 85: Memphis is making a hard push for a first-round playoff series on its home floor. The Grizz moved one-half game behind the Clips for the fourth seed. L.A. plays seven of hits final 10 games on the road. The Grizz have six of 10 at home.

Nuggets 123, Warriors 84: Denver got a boost from the return of Dino Gallinari, who busted his thumb the last time Dallas came through town on March 19. He had 15 points, six assists and five boards in 30 minutes.

Suns 114, Timberwolves 90: Steve Nash kept the heat on his former team to beat the Kings tonight. The Suns notched their 30th victory and can tie Dallas in the loss column if the Mavs fail to take care of their business.

Rockets 94, Blazers 89: Houston is happy to have Kyle Lowry back in the lineup. He came off the bench and provided 13 points (5-of-6 FGs), four rebounds, three assists and two steals in 23 minutes.

TODAY’S GAMES
Kings at Mavs

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Spurs

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks have nine games left in the regular season. The next one is Tuesday at home against the Sacramento Kings.

"Huge game for us," guard Jason Terry said. "There’s no bigger game for us this season."

Entering Monday's games, five teams -- Houston, Dallas, Denver, Phoenix and Utah -- are separated by 2 1/2 games and in contention for the final three playoffs spots in the Western Conference. The Mavs hold the tiebreaker against all of them, but they'll still have to take care of their own business with six of nine games on the road during this final kick.

There are multiple times during the final 18 days of the regular season when the five contenders play one another. The standings are bound to change from game to game and final seeding might come down to April 26, the final night of this 66-game regular season.

Here's a look at the remaining schedules for the five teams:

We’ll 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: They’re sitting in seventh, a half-game behind the Rockets and a half-game ahead of the Nuggets. Dallas is 1 ½ games ahead of the Suns and two games ahead of the Jazz.

SUNDAY'S GAMES

Spurs 114, Jazz 104: Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined for 51 points in the first-place Spurs’ 11th straight win. Utah guards Earl Watson (knee) and C.J. Miles (calf) left the game due to injuries.

Thunder 91, Raptors 75: Oklahoma City went on a 24-0 run in the second half to turn a close game into a comfortable win.

Rockets 104, Kings 87: Courtney Lee scored 25 points to lead the Rockets in point guard Kyle Lowry’s return after missing 15 games due to a bacterial infection.

TODAY’S GAMES
Lakers at Hornets
Thunder at Bucks
Clippers at Grizzlies
Warriors at Nuggets
Suns at Timberwolves
Spurs at Jazz
Rockets at Trail Blazers

If the playoffs started today: Mavs vs. Thunder

DALLAS -- The Mavericks' surge in a 90-81 win over the Rockets on Tuesday began with the bench.

The starters came out sluggish against the depleted Rockets, who jumped out to a 30-19 lead after the first quarter.

Dirk Nowitzki's free throws helped the Mavs claw their way back to 49-46 at halftime, but the starters came out of the locker room looking worse. They scored just two points in the first five minutes before Jason Terry and the bench came to the rescue.

Terry scored seven points in less than a minute, capping off the run with a 3-pointer that gave the Mavs their first lead since early in the first quarter.

The bench scored 31 of the Mavs' 44 second-half points. For the game, it had a 48-17 edge against the Rockets' bench.

Brandan Wright continued his strong play by going 6-of-7 for 13 points. He played 30 minutes for the second night in a row, his only two 30-minute games this season.

"The second unit came in and we provided that spark," Wright said. "It's important to keep pushing when they get down like that."

Wright said it's nothing but "pure fun" when he gets to be in the bench lineup with Terry, Lamar Odom and Rodrigue Beaubois.

"It's pretty potent," he said. "I think we put a lot of fear into teams when we come with that smaller, quicker lineup."

Odom looked like a completely different player than the man who was booed just a week before, scoring nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Perhaps a push from an old friend was what energized the struggling forward.

Beaubois finished 5-9 with 14 points and a team-high five assists.

The strong bench play couldn't come at a better time for some starters. Veterans Jason Kidd and Vince Carter both played fewer than 25 minutes.

After the game, the 39-year-old Kidd said he was more than happy to spend the fourth quarter on the bench.

The Mavs will need to rely on their bench at Miami on Thursday night. The Heat haven't lost at home since Jan. 22.

Jason Terry knows that as well as anybody. Despite winning the NBA championship in South Beach last season, the Mavs' sixth man has a different game in mind -- the season-opening 105-94 loss at home to the Heat.

"The only thing I remember is Christmas Day," Terry said. "The feeling I felt after that game wasn't good at all."

Follow along with our experts as they tweet and chat throughout tonight's Mavs-Rockets game in Dallas.

DALLAS – The Mavericks looked at this home-and-home set with the Houston Rockets like a mini-playoff series.

The Rockets didn’t have that luxury.

The Mavs got a day off and a practice day after Saturday’s overtime win over the Rockets at the Toyota Center. The Rockets played another overtime game Monday night, rallying to beat the Sacramento Kings.

Houston has had an especially hard time in the butt end of back-to-backs since the All-Star break. The injury-ridden Rockets have lost four of five such games, with the lone win coming over the Charlotte Bobcats, the NBA’s worst team.

The schedule gave the Mavs a significant edge in a game that could be critical in the fight for playoff positioning. The Rockets can pull even with the Mavs in the standings by winning on the road, but a Dallas win would create a two-game cushion for the Mavs.

"They played last night, so we have to come out and attack early and often," Mavs swingman Vince Carter said. "We have to get up and down the floor. First of all, if we rebound the ball, we can get up and down the floor. We have one one of the best decision-makers in the game so we have to take advantage of it."

Records: Mavs (28-22); Rockets (27-23)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: FSSW

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

What to watch: Rockets point guard Goran Dragic plans to play after twisting his right ankle during overtime last night. Houston has huge problems if Dragic can’t go or isn’t effective. Their other healthy point guards are Earl Boykins, a 5-foot-5 35-year-old who signed a 10-day contract Monday, and D-League call-up Courtney Fortson. Dragic had 24 points, eight assists and only one turnover Saturday night against the Mavs.

Key matchup: Samuel Dalembert vs. Ian Mahinmi – Mahinmi has to give the Mavs more than he did Saturday night in Houston, when he had only one point and two rebounds in 18 minutes. Dalembert had 16 points – nearly double his average – in that game. Dalembert scored eight points in the first nine minutes against Mahinmi, allowing the Rockets to build an early nine-point lead.

Injuries: Mavs – C Brendan Haywood (sprained right knee) and G Delonte West (fractured right ring finger) are officially listed as questionable but not expected to play. Rockets – PG Kyle Lowry (bacterial infection) and SG Kevin Martin (shoulder) are out; PG Goran Dragic (ankle) expects to play.

Up next: Mavs at Miami Heat, 7 p.m., Thursday