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DALLAS -- The Mavericks might want to splash some water on the face at halftime. The New Jersey Nets are feeling good and this could be trouble.

Two huge issues plagued Dallas in the second quarter. First, with Deron Williams taking nearly the first six minutes of the period off, the Nets expanded their five-point first-quarter lead to six. Then, Brook Lopez went off for 13 consecutive points and 15 in the quarter to give him a season-high 21 in the game. He's 10-of-15 from the floor and absolutely killing Brendan Haywood.

That vaunted Dallas defense is being shredded by these 10-win Nets, who are shooting 50 percent from the floor despite just 5-of-16 shooting from beyond the arc. The Nets have 24 points in the paint. Williams has 10 points and eight assists. Anthony Morrow, who hit a buzzer-beating jumper to end the half has eight points as does Kris Humphries.

Dirk Nowitzki leads Dallas with 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting. He missed three consecutive free throws in the period, missing two, then getting an extra attempt on a lane violation, but he missed that one, too.

Haywood, while getting skewered defensively, has nine points and six rebounds. Jason Terry is 2-of-7 for five points.

Dallas' eight first-half turnovers have resulted in 13 Nets points and get this, the Nets have 21 fastbreak points to the Mavs' 5.

A summer ago the Dallas Mavericks made hard pushes for free-agent power forwards Al Harrington (chose to sign with the Denver Nuggets) and Udonis Haslem (re-signed with the Miami Heat).

Obviously, a guy named Dirk Nowitzki has the position pretty well locked down, but could the Mavs again be in the market for more of a traditional power forward -- perhaps a Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes or short-time Mav Kris Humphries -- to back up Dirk? Remember, for much of the season small forward Shawn Marion shifted between the two forward positions.

Or did the little-used, yet ever-ready Brian Cardinal, also a free agent, secure his return to the team next season and potentially bigger minutes after filling such a vital role in the NBA Finals?

For starters, scratch high-priced free agents such as Kenyon Martin and David West off the wish list. The Mavs will not be dipping into the deep end of that pool, and there's obviously no reason for entrenched starters to join Dallas.

With that, here's a somewhat intriguing list of power forwards that will hit the open market whenever the lockout comes to an end:

DALLAS -- Mavericks starting center Tyson Chandler participated in today's practice after missing Tuesday's game and Monday's practice with a stomach illness.

Coach Rick Carlisle wouldn't rule Chandler in for Thursday night's game against the New Jersey Nets and the return of Avery Johnson and Devin Harris, but Carlisle did say it looks favorable.

"He's not completely 100 percent, but hopefully by tomorrow he'll keep improving," Carlisle said. "We hope he'll play. At this point it looks favorable, but I always hold the caveat that it may not happen for whatever reason."

The 7-foot-1 Chandler would come in handy against New Jersey's big men, including Brook Lopez (18.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Kris Humphries (7.4, 8.3) and rookie Derrick Favors (6.5, 5.3).

Since Part VI of our fantasy offseason series was crushed when OKC swooped in and acquired Daequan Cook and the No. 18 pick in the same fashion we suggested that Dallas should, we figured we’d take another stab at some draft day wheelin’ and dealin’. Target: Some dynamic youth courtesy of Nawleans.

The Basics: The Mavericks will alleviate New Orleans of the financial burden that leads people to speculate that Chris Paul might be available -- possible but very doubtful. But the financial burden is real, it just seems that the Hornets can resolve that issue without giving up one of the best players in the league. If the Mavericks are to do this, they deserve a lot in return. If not, why bother?

The How: Dallas will use their Kris Humphries trade exception to acquire Julian Wright and his two buckets a night production at the wing position as well as New Orleans No. 11 selection in Thursday’s draft. Obviously they key for Dallas is the pick since Wright has done very little to suggest he’ll ever even approach Stacey Augmon heights.

Dallas will also send J.J. Barea, Eddie Najera and Jason Terry and cash considerations to the Hornets in exchange for Darren Collison, Darius Songalia and James Posey.

The Why: For Dallas this move is about getting younger and more athletic. Plain and simple, Darren Collison is a stud. Collison and Roddy Beaubois coming off the bench together for Dallas would be absurdly dynamic. And the idea that Dallas would ever have to worry about Jason Kidd piling up ridiculous minutes as he did this past year is gone. There’d also be no pressure on Roddy to learn the point. He is a natural scorer, but if he does develop into a true lead guard, then Collison will have great trade value. But truth be told, Roddy’s minutes should really be coming from JET’s stash, not J Kidd’s. It also eliminates the inevitable unfortunate scenario of having to reduce the role of a guy who has meant so much to the team in the past. As for the pick, there should be a player with vast potential at No. 11. Whether it’s Paul George, Ekpe Udoh or Greg Monroe, someone worth having will be there.

For the Hornets, this is all about saving money. There’s no way they want to give up Collison (though Barea would soften that blow somewhat as a solid back-up to CP3), but they need the financial relief. Their hope would be that perhaps JET could give them some of the same-combo guard bench production they got from Janero Pargo in the '07-08 campaign. Plus, they could monitor JET’s minutes so that only $5 million of his contract is guaranteed for 2011-12. They won’t miss Posey, and Najera could somewhat approximate what Songalia does if New Orleans doesn’t opt to release him and save an additional $500,000 this upcoming season.

And how much does New Orleans save for 2010-11 if they agree to all this? The difference in salary is in the neighborhood of $3 million plus whatever Dallas would be willing to pay them in the deal. If it is the league maximum of $3 million and you factor in likely luxury tax numbers based on New Orleans' bottom line and what last year’s threshold was (approximately $69 million), you’re talking about a $9 million dollar swing.

The Bottom Line:

Dallas gains some much needed youth and a dynamic playmaker in Collison. He played like a lottery pick last year. They also pave the way for Roddy to become a scoring juggernaut off the bench in the old JET role and they jump into Thursday’s lottery fray without touching any of their main trade assets (we’ve mentioned them a million times -- Dampier’s non-guaranteed contract, Haywood S&T, Butler expiring deal, etc) . It would only be the beginning to what should be a very active summer and jump-start some excitement for a team trying to distance from a past of playoff letdowns.

Tenth in a series chronicling the Dallas Mavericks' streak of 10 seasons with 50 or more wins (previous installments).

As the regular season wound down, Dirk Nowitzki was confident his team was built for the playoffs. He was ready to roll in the postseason, looking for his first long playoff run since the 2006 NBA Finals.

Once again, owner Mark Cuban opened his wallet in making moves that he believed would help the franchise get back into the thick of Western Conference contention. Dallas finally traded Josh Howard to Washington and in return received scorer Caron Butler, an agile big man with good hands in Brendan Haywood and an extra defender in DeShawn Stevenson. With the addition of Shawn Marion in the offseason, even the pundits couldn't help but notice the size, strength and toughness of this revameped roster.

Through some wild swings throughout the 82-game regular season, it was the Mavs who outlasted Utah, Denver and Phoenix for the No. 2 seed, and after a big win over the Los Angeles Lakers during a 13-game win streak following the blockbuster trade, the Mavs themselves were buying into the hype -- and the growing expectations.

Nowitzki, who had another outstanding regular season, avergaging 25.0 points and 7.7 rebounds, said this team had more talent than any he played on in his dozen seasons in Dallas. Jason Kidd, who had played in two NBA Finals with the New Jersey Nets, said this was one of the best teams he's played on.

Yet, somehow, it all came crashing down in a familiar postseason letdown.

The Spurs, led by the Big Three plus the emergence of George Hill and revolving role players, made big shot after big shot and defensively suffocated Kidd, who struggled to get the Mavs on the run. With a stagnant halfcourt offense, Dallas failed to score more than 90 points in four of the six games, leaving more questions than answers about the club moving forward.

No one, not in this season, expected the Mavs to be licking their wounds again before the calendar turned to May.

Coach: Rick Carlisle
Record: 55-27 (1st in Southwest)
Playoffs: Lost to San Antonio (4-2)
Team payroll: $88.9 million*
Highest-paid player: Dirk Nowitzki ($19.8 million)*

Offseason transactions: Traded 21st overall draft pick C B.J. Mullens to Oklahoma City for 24th draft pick G Rodrigue Beaubois and a future second-round pick; in four team deal, traded F/G Devean George and G Antoine Wright to Toronto, and G/F Jerry Stackhouse plus a future second-round pick to Memphis for F Shawn Marion, Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai (from Toronto), plus Greg Buckner (from Memphis, later released); signed G Quinton Ross (free agent); signed F Drew Gooden (free agent); signed F Tim Thomas (free agent); signed F Kris Humphries (free agent);

In-season transaction: Jan. 11, 2010: Traded Kris Humprhies and Shawne Williams to New Jersey for Eduardo Najera; Feb. 13, 2010: Traded Josh Howard, Quinton Ross, James Singleton and Drew Gooden to Washington for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson.

The high: Following the big trade that finally rid the club of Josh Howard, the Mavs played like a team in which a heavy weight had been lifted. The club rolled off a season-best 13 consecutive wins, the longest streak since the 2006-07 season. Victories included Phoenix, Atlanta, Orlando and the Los Angeles Lakers, fueling the club with optimism that it had the ingredients to conted for the Western Conference crown. Dirk Nowitzki added to his illustrous career by becoming just the 34th player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points against the Lakers on Jan. 13. On Nov. 25, Jason Kidd notched his 10,335th career assist to move into second place on the NBA's all-time list. On the final night of the regular-season, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich rested his starters and the Mavs secured the West's No. 2 seed, their highest seed since claiming No. 1 in 2006-07.

The low: San Antonio 4, Dallas 2. Sure, the Spurs were not your typical No. 7 seed, but so what? The Mavs lost the home-court advantage by losing in Game 2 and then dropped two in a row at San Antonio to go down 3-1. The Mavs melted down in the third quarter of Game 4 and then in the do-or-die Game 6 they opened the first quarter with eight points. Despite taking the lead briefly in the third quarter, Dallas suffered its third first-round defeat of the last four seasons. This one particularly stung because of the big trade that had Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd calling this club one of the best either had ever played on.

The roster:
F Dirk Nowitzki (25.0 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 48.1% FG)
G Jason Terry (16.6 ppg, 43.8% FG)
G/F Caron Butler (15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 44.0% FG in 27 games)
G/F Josh Howard (12.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg in 31 games)
F Shawn Marion (12.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 50.8% FG)
G Jason Kidd (10.3 ppg, 9.1 apg, 5.6 rpg)
F Drew Gooden (8.9 ppg, 6.9 rpg in 46 games)
C Brendan Haywood (8.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg in 28 games)
G J.J. Barea (7.6 ppg, 3.3 apg, 19.8 mpg)
F Tim Thomas (7.5 ppg in 18 games)
G Rodrigue Beaubois (7.1 ppg, 51.8% FG in 56 games)
C Erick Dampier (6.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg)
F Kris Humprhies (5.2 ppg in 25 games)
F Eduardo Najera (3.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg in 33 games)
F James Singleton (2.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg in 25 games)
G Quinton Ross (2.0 ppg in 27 games)
G DeShawn Stevenson (2.0 ppg in 24 games)
G Matt Carroll (1.8 ppg in 25 games)

*Source: Basketball-Reference.com

For old foes, the present versions of the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs are practically strangers.

OK, maybe strangers is too dramatic, but consider:

All three meetings this season occurred prior to the Mavs shipping four players, including Josh Howard, to Washington as Dallas recast its team on the fly with Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. The Spurs also haven't seen hustling forward Eduardo Najera in a Mavs uniform since 2004.

The first meeting between these two division rivals came way back on Nov. 11 in San Antonio, and the Spurs won 92-83 despite Tony Parker and Tim Duncan being sidelined with injuries.

In the second meeting just one week later in Dallas, a 99-94 Mavs win, Parker again didn't play and Manu Ginobili lasted just 7:28 before a groin injury forced him out. As for the Mavs? Howard, Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier did not play. Check out this starting lineup: Jason Kidd, Roddy Beaubois, Quinton Ross, Dirk Nowitzki and Drew Gooden. Off the bench, the Mavs used Jason Terry, J.J Barea, Kris Humphries and Tim Thomas.

Honk if that lineup sounds familier.

On to the third meeting more than three months ago in San Antonio. It was actually the healthiest either team had been in the series, but it still predated significant changes by both clubs. The Mavs, obviously, made the blockbuster trade during All-Star weekend. San Antonio still had yet to move second-year guard George Hill into the starting lineup, where he's blossomed as a dangerous scorer, and Ginobili had yet to catch fire as a starter after Parker went down with a broken hand in the first week of March. Defensive-minded guard Keith Bogans and rookie center DeJuan Blair are now key role players off the bench instead of everyday starters.

The one constant in all three games? Nowitzki, who averaged 32.0 points and 9.7 rebounds and remains a nightmare matchup for the Spurs.

So the final meeting at 7 tonight at the American Airlines Center ultimately is rife with the potential for another playoff series and numerous new storylines for two Texas franchises that have slugged it out for the better part of a decade.

After an underachieving start, the Spurs have won 19 of 27, almost magically peaking under coach Gregg Popovich once again at the right time. They enter Wednesday's game looking for a sweep of the NBA's six division leaders within the past three weeks.

Parker is back but has come off the bench in each of the five games he's played. Hill is also back earlier than expected from a sprained ankle. Popovich immediately returned Hill to the starting lineup as the point guard, where he was brilliant in place of Parker and with Ginobili as his backcourt partner. Richard Jefferson still has his struggles but also shows flashes of being the scorer the Spurs had hoped. And as Duncan's scoring has declined for a second consecutive season after the All-Star break, he remains a dominant low-post threat.

“As much as people said we had a bad season, I think we’re ready to battle anybody in the West,” Hill told reporters after the Spurs clobbered Minnesota on Monday, 133-111. “I think our whole team is pretty confident we can go against anybody and give our best punch and take their best punch.”

The Mavericks have won four in a row, most impressively having taken Portland's best punch last Friday, and restored hope for a long playoff run after a 5-6 mark followed a 13-game winning streak. That's how good, but also unsteady, this team has been, especially and suprisingly on its home floor, where it will meet the Spurs for Game 82 of the regular season Wednesday night and quite possibly for Game 1 of the postseason this weekend.

Stay tuned.

Eduardo Najera is officially a member of the Dallas Mavericks again.

The Mavericks officially announced the trade with the Nets that sent Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams to New Jersey in exchange for Najera.

The 6-8, 235-pound Najera returns to Dallas, where his hustle made him a fan favorite in his first four NBA seasons. At 33, he'll probably provide a veteran presence at the end of the bench.

DALLAS -- Josh Howard is listed as inactive for tonight's game with a left thigh contusion.

Drew Gooden will dress, but won't play with a sprained right ring finger. Gooden injured the finger during Friday's game with San Antonio. It was a rough one for Gooden, who also needed four stitches for a cut under his chin.

As expected, Kris Humphries and Shawne Williams are inactive as well. Both are involved in the trade that will bring Eduardo Najera back to the Mavs. That trade won't be made official until Monday.

SAN ANTONIO -- Acquiring Eduardo Najera doesn't make the Mavericks a better basketball team.

While Najera is a MFFL favorite from his hustlin' days in Dallas last decade, he won't make an impact for the Mavs. He's a 33-year-old undersized power forward coming to a team that is loaded at that position. Kris Humphries, an athletic 24-year-old who can play power forward or center, is a better player at this point in their careers.

This deal doesn't make basketball sense for the Mavs, other than opening up a roster spot if they want to add another player (backup point guard?). But it does make dollars.

As Marc Stein reported, the Mavs will save nearly $5 million in salary and luxury tax since the Nets agreed to take banished bonehead Shawne Williams' $2.4 salary in exchange for a trade exception as part of the deal.

Mark Cuban isn't desperate enough to save money that he'd deal a rotation player. But he's feeling the pinch of sluggish ticket sales. The Mavs had to sell a lot of discount group tickets to keep the sellout streak alive. Profits are down. Cuban accepts that he'll lose money almost every season, but he'd like to limit the financial damage without hurting the on-court product.

Consider this trade a sign that the Mavs won't be shoppers before the trade deadline. The Bank of Cuban might be closed for the rest of the season.

DALLAS -- There might not be many minutes for Kris Humphries if the Dallas Mavericks’ big men all finally get healthy at the same time.

But Humphries is making it hard to take him out of the rotation.

The 6-9, 235-pound Humphries, widely considered a throw-in with Shawn Marion in this summer’s four-team deal, has established himself as a solid reserve role player in his first dozen appearances with the Mavs. The six-year veteran, who is still only 24 years old, is averaging career highs in points (6.6), rebounds (4.6) and minutes (15.2).

“I’ve got to prove myself,” Humphries said after his 15-point, five-rebound outing in Friday night’s win over the Sacramento Kings. “I don’t think anyone expected me to come into this team and contribute. For me, from day one, I’ve had to prove that I can contribute to a winning team.”

He has definitely done that during the Mavs’ current five-game winning streak, which came on the heels of Humphries’ only DNP-coach’s decision this season. Humphries has averaged 7.6 points and 5.4 rebounds during the streak, with the Mavs outscoring the opponent during Humphries’ minutes in all but one of those games.

The latest health setback for Mavericks swingman Josh Howard makes it natural to wonder: Will Dallas revisit its position about joining the trade bidding for Golden State's Stephen Jackson?

The answer, as of Friday morning, was no.

Dallas is one of the teams on the wish list of destinations Jackson revealed in late August when he went public with his request to be traded. The Mavs, though, informed the Warriors early in Golden State's subsequent shopping process that it wouldn't be making a play for the rugged swingman -- in spite of the fresh memories of Jackson's playoff successes against Dallas with San Antonio and Golden State -- largely because they don't think they can find enough playing time for Shawn Marion, Howard and Jackson.

Turns out there might be more playing time available than anticipated if Howard -- pulled from Wednesday's loss in San Antonio when coach Rick Carlisle noticed Howard limping on his surgically repaired left ankle -- needs more time to fully recover from his offseason ankle surgery. But sources with knowledge of the Mavs' thinking re-iterated to ESPN.com this week that the club remains resistant to the idea of trading for Jackson, as much as they might like him, because that means absorbing Jackson's three-year, $27.8 million contract extension that kicks in after this season.

The Mavericks could easily get to Jackson's salary range by packaging reserves Kris Humphries and Matt Carroll for Jackson or offering Carroll and exiled swingman Shawne Williams, who's in the final year of his contract at $2.4 million. Yet Golden State, while growing more determined by the day to move Jackson, continues to hold out hope that it can bring back more in a trade for him anyway.

Trying to play in back-to-back games for the first time this season, Howard lasted only 19 minutes in the Mavs' bad loss at San Antonio, where they failed to capitalize on the injury absences of Tim Duncan and Tony Parker.

As expected, center/forward Drew Gooden will return against the Houston Rockets after missing the last four games with a rib cage injury. That doesn't necessarily mean Erick Dampier's minutes will decrease.

Coach Rick Carlisle made it clear that Dampier, who has been almost All-Star-worthy through six games (despite not being on the ballot), will continue to get the majority of minutes in the middle if he keeps playing at this level.

"I love the way Damp is playing," Carlisle said. "I don't know if it's going to affect Damp's minutes that much. ... The one thing I do know is that Damp's going to keep playing hard and playing effectively."

Carlisle said Gooden's minutes will more likely come at the expense of other players. Kris Humphries, who is averaging 15.5 minutes per game, is the most likely candidate to see his playing time plummet. Gooden's presence could also allow Carlisle to trim Dirk Nowitzki's playing time. Nowitzki is averaging 38.7 minutes per game, slightly more than Carlisle would prefer.

DALLAS -- The Toronto Raptors, with their sweet-shooting, athletic big men, are the type of team the Dallas Mavericks had in mind when they signed Drew Gooden to play center.

Too bad Gooden isn't ready to play. He's nursing a rib cage injury and hopes to return Tuesday against the Houston Rockets.

The Mavericks will have to figure out a way to slow down Lincoln High product Chris Bosh and Andrea Bargnani without their preferred small-ball big man. Bosh and Bargnani, who combined to average 51.5 points in the Raptors' first four games, are both comfortable bombing away from the perimeter and putting the ball on the floor.

That makes them quite a difficult matchup for traditional center Erick Dampier.

"I'm just going to foul them every time and not give them any shots," Dampier said with a laugh. "We've got enough guys on this team that we can foul everybody out."

Actually, the Mavs might not have enough guys to execute Dampier's strategy. Gooden and Tim Thomas, who will miss at least another week while rehabbing from knee surgery, were signed to split center minutes with Dampier. They'll both be wearing sportcoats on the Mavs' bench Saturday night.

Dirk Nowitzki will match up with one of Toronto's bigs, which means he'll have to expend a lot of energy on the defensive end. Kris Humphries, James Singleton and Shawn Marion are the candidates to spell Dampier and Nowitzki.

"It's an awareness thing," coach Rick Carlisle said. "If you're a big guarding those guys, you have to be ready to close out away from the basket and be ready to move your feet when they put it on the floor. It's tough. It's one of the tougher matchups in the league because they both shoot the ball so well and both drive the ball so well."

Dampier, a savvy veteran, understands his limitations. He knows it's virtually impossible for him to challenge the Raptors big men's shots and keep in front of them when they try to drive. He'll rely on his teammates to help make up for the mismatch.

"I'm just going to try to contest their shot and make them drive to where the defense is and the guys will help me out," Dampier said. "It's a team effort. We're not going to leave anybody out there one-on-one on a boat by themselves. We're going to get together and help each other out."

Forward/center Kris Humphries has impressed coach Rick Carlisle since arriving in Dallas as a supposed spare part in the Shawn Marion deal.

Humphries' productive preseason (13.4 ppg, 7.4 rpg) continued with a 12-point, nine-rebound outing in Saturday night's win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Humphries seems to have carved out a role with the Dallas Mavericks as a big body off the bench who will bang a bunch and score a bit.

However, Carlisle wasn't happy with Humphries after the game.

"There were a couple of things that happened out there that were not typical of what he's done," Carlisle said. "There was one time he didn't run back after a turnover, which surprised me. He's got to be a dirty-work guy for us. I love his skills and I think his game is efficient, but there can never be a letdown like that."

The play of the night didn't count, but it sure was pretty.

Jose Juan Barea punched the ball loose from a Cavs guard near halfcourt. Rookie Rodrigue Beaubois, in a futile effort to keep the ball from going out of bounds, blindly flipped the ball toward the basket.

It ended up being a perfect lob for Kris Humphries, who finished the play with a ferocious, full-speed, two-hand flush.

In other news, the Mavs won by a score of 93-82.