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DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki and Stephen Jackson have had their battles throughout the years. Friday night's 102-76 throttling of the Milwaukee Bucks wasn't exactly one of them, but it didn't stop one of the league's best smack talkers from giving Nowitzki some lip.

And Nowitzki fired back, happily.

"Yeah, we had a little conversation, but he was talking to everybody out there. But that's his game," Nowitzki said. "He's a competitor and lets you know about it."

At one point Jackson looked to Nowitzki and seemed to say that he's got one, too -- as in a championship ring.

"We were talking about some rings, talking about all sorts of stuff, life in general," Nowitzki said. "No, he's a competitor, but this was definitely a big win for us."

Of course, Jackson's history with Nowitzki and the Mavs goes back to 2003 when, as a role player with the San Antonio Spurs, he helped to knock out the Mavs in the West Finals. The Spurs went on to win their first of three championships in five years. And Jackson played a major role in defending Nowitzki during Golden State's upset of top-seeded Dallas in the first round in 2007.

During training camp last month Jackson was in entertainer mode talking to the Milwaukee media, and to show that he paid no attention to the playoffs last season Jackson asked who won the championship. When informed that Dallas beat the Miami Heat, Jackson replied, "Dallas sucks to me."

The Mavs got the best of Jackson this night. Milwaukee was playing without center Andrew Bogut, plus forward Luc Mbah a Moute and guards Mike Dunleavy and Beno Udrih.

Jackson, who had a season-high 34 and 25 points in his last two games, finished with just seven on 3-of-8 shooting. Nowitzki had just 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, but his teammates handled things just fine.

How it happened: The Mavs continued playing tough defense during their best offensive performance of the season.

That’s a pretty tough combination to beat.

The Mavs matched their season-high point total while holding their opponent to a season-low total -- the ninth consecutive game the Mavs' foe scored less than 100 points. They lit it up despite a mediocre milestone performance by Dirk Nowitzki, who surpassed the 23,000-point mark in his career with an 11-point night.

Jason Terry led five Mavs in double figures with 17 points. Vince Carter (16 points, 7-10 FG) and Rodrigue Beaubois (15 points, 7-12 FG) had season-best scoring totals.

It officially became a blowout once the big German got going. Nowitzki had seven points on three jumpers during a 14-0 run that stretched the Mavs’ lead to 27.

One of the most important statistics from the Mavs’ perspective was minutes played. Terry led the team with 25 minutes, meaning the Mavs ought to have relatively fresh legs when the Sacramento Kings come to town Saturday night.

What it means: The Mavs (7-5) have to be considered one of the Western Conference’s hottest teams. They’ve won four in a row and six of the last seven, including four victories by double-digit margins. They’ll shoot for a sweep of the four-games-in-five-nights stretch against the Kings.

Play of the game: Carter set the attacking tone on the Mavs’ first possession, catching the ball at the high post, facing up and blowing by Carlos Delfino for a high-flying dunk.

Stat of the night: Nowitzki became the 23rd player in NBA history to hit the 23,000-point milestone when he hit a free throw with 7:17 remaining in the second quarter. He joins Kobe Bryant, John Havlicek, Reggie Miller, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor as the only players in that exclusive club to play for only one franchise.

DALLAS -- The Mavs started the third quarter on 14-2 tear to take as much as a 27-point lead. Milwaukee went stone-cold and finally made its first field goal of the third quarter with 6:36 to play.

Dallas has five players scoring in double figures and is closing in on a four-game win streak. Vince Carter leads the Mavs with 16 points, Jason Terry has 14, Dirk Nowitzki has 11, including seven in the quarter, Rodrigue Beaubois also has 11 and Shawn Marion has 10 points, including two rare 3-pointers.

Brandon Jennings leads the Bucks with 19 points.

DALLAS -- The Mavericks are making this one look easy as they scored a season-high 32 points in the first quarter and continued the theme with a season-high for either half for the 15-point margin. Dallas is shooting 57.9 percent.

The Bucks are playing without center Andrew Bogut and are on their way to going 0-5 when he is out the lineup. The paint has been wide open for the Mavs, who have taken advantage with 26 points coming in close.

Vince Carter leads the Mavs with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Jason Terry has 11. Lamar Odom and Delonte West each have six points. Dirk Nowitzki has just four points one field goal, but his two free throws in the second quarter pushed him to 23,001 career points.

Brandon Jennings leads Milwaukee with 13 points.

DALLAS -- Vince Carter clearly had little respect for Carlos Delfino's ability to guard him and then we found out why when Carter piled up 11 first-quarter points, eight of them coming on impressive penetrarations, with two that ended in one-handed jams and another a reverse layup.

Carter hit five of his six shots and the Mavs followed suit with a hot-shooting opening period. But the Bucks, playing without center Anrew Bogut after he was injured in last night's win against Detroit, was also sporting the hot hand to avoid an early deficit after falling behind 16-11.

Dallas shot 60.9 in their season-high scoring first quarter and the Bucks sit at 50.0 percent after faltering late in the quarter as Dallas closed it out on a 14-5 run.

Carter's 11 leads the way for Dallas, which had five other players score between two and six points. Brandon Jennings has eight for the Bucks and former Mavs forward Drew Gooden has six.

On Dec. 13, 2010, the Milwaukee Bucks handed the Dallas Mavericks one of the strangest victories in defeat in the history of sports by coming into the American Airlines Center and ending the Mavs' 12-game winning streak.

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It was the fifth time in the Bucks' history that they had stopped a winning streak of at least 12 games. The most famous instance was when Milwaukee ended the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA-record 33-game winning streak on Jan. 9, 1972. The Bucks also ended 12-plus game streaks by the Celtics (12, 1973), 76ers (14, 1983) and Spurs (13, 2007).

Now here comes the really incredible part: All four teams, ESPN Stats & Research dug up after the Bucks' big win in Dallas, went on to win the championship that season.

The Mavs, hardly a favorite at the time, made it a remarkable 5-for-5.

Records: Bucks (4-6); Mavs (6-5)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center

TV: FSSW

Radio: 103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)

What to watch: The Bucks have lost all six games on the road, which makes them a hungry team -- like any dragging a negative streak in the eyes of Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. They've also won two in a row overall after downing Detroit Thursday night. The bigger issue for Dallas is Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut is back after missing three games, all Bucks losses. He returned Tuesday night and recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds to knock off San Antonio. With the 7-foot Australian in the lineup, Milwaukee is a different team, 4-2 as opposed to 0-4. In that streak-buster in Dallas, Bogut had 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Key matchup: Stephen Jackson vs. Shawn Marion During the Bucks' media day, the Texas native was entertaining the Milwaukee media and to make the point that he didn't watch the playoffs last season asked who won the championship. When informed that the Mavs beat the Heat, Jackson eloquently replied, "Dallas sucks to me." Jackson, obviously, has a history with the Mavs, helping to take them down in the West finals as a role player with Spurs in 2003 and then tormenting Dallas in 2007 with the eighth-seeded Warriors. Then, of course, Jackson has long been a name tied to the Mavs in trade rumors, but one, including last season, that never came to fruition. At any rate, Jackson, despite shooting just 37.5 percent on the season, remains a dangerous scorer as the Spurs were reminded Tuesday night by Jackson's season-high of 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting (and 3-of-4 on 3s). He had 25 more Thursday night. He'll get a heavy does of Marion, the Mavs' top defender against opposing wings.

Injuries: Bucks - F Luc Mbah a Moute (right knee) is questionable; G Beno Udrih (left shoulder) is questionable; G Mike Dunleavy (groin) is doubtful. Mavs - G Jason Kidd (lower back) is questionable.

Up next: Sacramento Kings at Mavs, 7:30 p.m., Saturday

Whatever baggage Delonte West dragged with him to the Dallas Mavericks, no matter the Twitter rants he may unleash and regardless of the strange twists that pop up such as Monday's banned/not-banned White House situation, nothing has stopped the intriguing, tattooed guard from delivering steadying performances.

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West stepped up big Tuesday night in place of injured point guard Jason Kidd, setting the aggressive tone for the 100-86 victory in which Dallas broke it open by 28 points in the third quarter. West delivered a Kidd-like 10 assists, a high for the Mavs this season, with five steals, giving him 18 on the season, fifth-most in the league.

"He’s incredible," guard Jason Terry said. "His energy, we’ve been feeding off of it; obviously without Jason Kidd. I think that people forget about Delonte’s ability to run the team and play point guard. That’s what he was drafted as and he’s a good one."

It's also what he was brought into Dallas to do -- replace J.J. Barea and run the point behind Kidd . But, that changed in the second half of the season opener when coach Rick Carlisle moved Vince Carter to the bench and slid West over to start at shooting guard.

West is playing about 21 minutes a game and while his shooting percentages remain low (43.5 percent overall and 18.2 from 3-point range) his energy and effort -- particularly on defense -- have remained high, and pleasing to Carlisle.

"It’s not often you have a guy on the floor that goes 9-for-10, but there’s a guy on the floor that’s actually the best player on the court," Carlisle said, first noting Dirk Nowitzki's impressive shooting night. "Delonte was the best player on the court because of his competitiveness. That’s what we need right now. We need consistency as a team competitively and he set a great tone for us the last two games."

West will again start at point guard tonight against his former club, the Boston Celtics. And there's no guarantee that Kidd will be ready for Friday's home game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Kidd was hobbling around the White House on Monday and then returned to Dallas to continue treatment for back spasms in his lower back.

The Mavs pulled to .500 after starting 0-3 by winning five of their last seven. The Celtics also started o-3, but since have Paul Pierce back in the lineup and have won four of five. They'll be well-rested and hungry after suffering a first home loss in their last game back on Friday night.

"For us," West said after Tuesday night's game, "we’re going in there against a team that’s going to try and jump on us, so it’s already forward thinking."

It's not every day you start the week with a visit to the White House. The reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks are in Washington D.C. and will meet President Barack Obama today before taking off for Detroit and the first multi-city road trip of the season.

Dallas, 0-3 in one-nighters to Oklahoma City, Minnesota and San Antonio, will attempt to get their first road victory as well even their record (4-5) for the first time. They will do so with Jason Kidd having left the White House to return to Dallas to rehab the lower back injury that will keep him out at least these next two games.

"The first road win is more important than anything," Jason Terry said. "Get out here on the road and really have some fun and enjoy doing what we do because, again, it’s about taking steps along this long journey that we’re on. Winning your first road game is a step towards where we’re headed."

Here's a quick glance at this week's games against four teams that are a combined 11-23:

Tuesday: at Detroit Pistons (2-6), 6:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: The Mavs will be hanging out in the greater Auburn Hills area Monday night while the Pistons will look to snap a three-game skid in Chicago. Detroit is off to a ragged start, ranking last in the league in scoring (84.3 ppg) and near the bottom (along with the Mavs) in field-goal percentage (41.7). Dallas will have had two days to rest some weary legs and although it b without point guard Jason Kidd (lower back), this game represents a major opportunity to get to .500 before playing at Boston the following night.

Wednesday: at Boston Celtics (4-4), 7 p.m.
TV/Radio: ESPN/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: Talk about walking into a buzz saw. Dallas will close out a back-to-back against a Celtics team that will have not played since an 87-74 loss at Indiana on Friday. That's four consecutive nights without a game and the Celtics, who also have Paul Pierce back in the lineup, will have gone since Jan. 1 and 2 without a back-to-back, so figure which team should have the energy factor working in their favor.

Friday: vs. Milwaukee Bucks (2-7), 7:30 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: Bucks center Andrew Bogut hasn't played since Jan. 2 to tend to a personal matter. Since then, Milwaukee has lost four consecutive games and five in a row overall. Dallas won't underestimate this team, however, after the Bucks ended the Mavs' 12-game in streak at the AAC in the early portion of last season. Bogut had 21 points and 14 rebounds in that game. Brandon Jennings is pacing the Bucks so far this season, averaging 20.0 points a game, although he is shooting just 41.1 percent, and 5.6 assists. Milwaukee will come to town after playing in Detroit the night before.

Saturday: vs. Sacramento Kings (3-6), 8 p.m.
TV/Radio: FSSW/103.3 FM ESPN; 1270 AM (Spanish)
What to watch: Second-year center DeMarcus Cousins won a battle of wills with former Mavs assistant coach Paul Westphal, making Westphal the first coach this season to be shown the door. The Kings boast a young and talented -- albeit raw -- roster that includes Marcus Thornton (19.4 ppg), Tyreke Evans (15.8 ppg) and Jimmer Fredette (9.4 ppg). The Kings are 0-3 on the road and this game will be their fourth in five nights and fourth of a five-game road trip.

DALLAS -- A lower back injury might keep Jason Kidd from playing on the upcoming two-game road trip, but it won't keep him from making Monday's trip to the White House with the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

Kidd was on the practice floor Sunday, but only watched as he continues to rehab a back injury sustained Thursday night that he termed as back spasms. He said the injury occurred as he battled San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair for position to corral a rebound. Kidd was waking stiffly and said he hopes to be ready for Friday's game when the Mavs return home to play the Milwaukee Bucks. Kidd will return to Dallas after the White House visit while the team heads to Detroit.

The Mavs left for Washington D.C. following Sunday's practice and have a late Monday morning tour scheduled at the White House followed by a visit with President Barack Obama.

The NBA did not schedule the Mavs to play at the Washington Wizards. The White House carved out availability Monday, before the team plays at Detroit on Tuesday and at Boston on Wednesday, to honor the Mavs as champions, an American sports tradition that dates back more than 100 years.

Delonte West, signed by the Mavs prior to this season, will not be able to join the team because of a criminal record that did not pass the White House's background check, the Mavs confirmed Sunday. In 2009, West was arrested after being pulled over riding a three-wheel motorcycle. Police found three guns stashed in a guitar case he was carrying. He later pleaded guilty to weapons and traffic charges.

West, who is from the D.C. area, will visit his home, which is located near the White House. The rest of the team will make the trip, including the nine remaining players from the title team. The six players that did not return, will not be present.

On the court, West has arguably been the most consistent player among the team's three key newcomers that include Lamar Odom and Vince Carter.

Brought in to back up Kidd at point guard, West moved into the starting lineup at shooting guard in the second game of the season.

Coach Rick Carlisle praised West's work, calling him the team's best defender. West is averaging 8.0 points and 3.1 assists in nine games.

On the final night of the regular season, the Western Conference playoff race has just three of eight playoff seeds resolved.

A wild Tuesday night of basketball supplied plenty of twists with the Los Angeles Lakers topping the intrigue list. Center Andrew Bynum went down with a wincing knee injury in the second quarter and a San Antonio Light outfit that did not include resting starters Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan or Antonio McDyess nearly pushed L.A.'s losing streak to a half-dozen.

More will be known on Bynum's knee after an MRI Wednesday, according to reports out of L.A.

How important is Bynum's health to the Western Conference playoff landscape? Here's Dirk Nowitzki's take from a few nights ago:

"I still think it’s all wide open, but you got to think that when the Lakers go for it and with Bynum being a factor, they’re still the heavy favorites. They’re just so long. They have so many options that no other team has."

The Lakers looked alarmingly dysfunctional, but they squeaked out the win to remain in the driver's seat for the No. 2 seed. They'll get it with a win tonight at the Sacramento Kings in what should be a surreal scene during Arco Arena's possible last stand as an NBA venue.

What it means for the Dallas Mavericks: They'll enter tonight's finale against the New Orleans Hornets back in the the No. 3 hole after spending Monday night at No. 2. They could still finish as high as 2 and as low as 4 and play either the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies or the Hornets.

They won't know their fate until after the late-starting Lakers-Kings game. Most improbable is the 2-seed, which requires a Mavs win and a Lakers loss. Dallas will slip to the No. 4 seed (and play Denver, locked in at No. 5) with a loss and an Oklahoma City Thunder home win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Most probable for the Mavs is the three-seed, which would see them start the playoffs at home Saturday or Sunday against the No. 6 Portland Trail Blazers. Seagoville product LaMarcus Aldridge and company secured the sixth seed Tuesday with a home win over the Memphis Grizzlies, whose coach, Lionel Hollins, opted to rest Zach Randolph and Tony Allen.

The Mavs will get the No. 3 seed with a win and a Lakers win, or a loss to the Hornets and a Thunder loss.

The Grizzlies and Hornets will settle the seventh and eighth seeds tonight. Memphis plays at the Los Angeles Clippers, while the Hornets face a Mavs team that could opt to rest point guard Jason Kidd. New Orleans owns the tiebreaker with Memphis.

More from Dirk:

"Other than that [the Lakers with a healthy Bynum], everything is open. Even if Portland or Memphis or somebody down there [the 5-8 seeds] is going to beat somebody in the first round, I don’t even think that’s an upset. Teams are so good down there and playing so well. I mean Denver is a very tough five-seed."

DALLAS -- The No. 2 seed is all but history and the Dallas Mavericks, who just days ago figured to be locked into the No. 3 seed, are being challenged by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Does it matter which seed the Mavs ultimately end up with? Only that a slip to No. 4 will mean the Mavs, losers of four in a row, will head into the playoffs with little to no momentum. The No. 4 seed will play the No. 5 Denver Nuggets, as hot a team as it gets at the moment, but one that features a new cast of characters with no pressure moments together to lean on in the heat of a series.

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The No. 3 seed will face either the New Orleans Hornets, who will be without power forward David West for the duration, the Portland Trail Blazers or the Memphis Grizzlies.

So where will the Mavs finish? Here's a quick look at Dallas' and Oklahoma City's final four games:

Dallas Mavericks (53-25)
Games against playoff teams: 1 (vs. Hornets, April 13)
Games against non-playoff teams: 3 (vs. Los Angeles Clippers, Friday; vs. Phoenix Suns, Sunday; at Houston Rockets, Monday).

Oklahoma City Thunder (52-26)
Games against playoff teams: 2 (vs. Nuggets, Friday; at Los Angeles Lakers, Sunday)
Games against non-playoff teams: 2 (at Sacramento Kings, Monday; vs. Milwaukee Bucks, April 13)

Always a player who can run hot and cold, Jason Terry this season is redefining the term streak shooter.

Whether it's during the course of a game, such as scoring all 19 of his points at Miami in the fourth quarter -- and Terry has been clutch in crunch time -- or during stretches of the season, perhaps no player in the league has zoomed from one extreme to the other like the Jet.

Take the stretch of games from Dec. 30 through Saturday. Against the San Antonio Spurs to close out 2010, Terry was 3-of-16 from the floor for eight points. He scored seven points on 3-of-15 shooting two days later at Milwaukee.

Then he went on a five-game tear, scoring between 16 and 19 points in each game while hitting shots at a 48.8-percent clip, despite mostly misfiring from beyond the arc.

And now he's gone the other way. In the past two games, blowouts at San Antonio and Memphis , Terry is 7-of-28 from the floor for 17 points. The slump has dropped his overall shooting percentage to 43.2, nearing career-low territory.

Worse, Terry's 3-point shot has virtually dried up. On the season, he's shooting it at a career-low (outside of his rookie season) 32.5 percent. Over the past five games, he is 1-of-15 from beyond the arc and within this stretch he went three consecutive games without making one, something he had not done all season.

On Saturday, he missed all five 3-point attempts.

Terry is second on the team in scoring at 15.3 points, and that number has been rather steady since his hot start to the season when he put up 20 or more points in five of the first nine games. He's scored 20 or more just twice in the past 30 games and he's now gone 18 games in a row without hitting for 20, which remarkably is his longest stretch under 20 since his first 25 games with the Mavericks in 2004.

That was fine when Caron Butler was in the lineup and adding scoring pop. But, since suffering a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 1, Terry has to be relied upon as a consistent go-to scorer.

After shooting 43.8 percent from the floor last season -- by far his lowest percentage since his final season with the Atlanta Hawks in 2003-04 -- and enduring a second humbling postseason, Terry rededicated himself to picking up the pace this season.

The Mavs just need him to get his current streakiness headed in the other direction.

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle wasn't talking about Dirk Nowitzki and his chances of playing tonight as the Mavs try to snap a two-game skid at the Indiana Pacers.

It is expected that Nowitzki will miss his eighth consecutive game tonight since spraining his right knee on Dec. 27.

If that's the case, the Mavs will hope their leading scorer can return Friday night for a crucial third meeting with the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have opened a five-game cushion in the Western Conference as the Mavs have gone 2-5 without their leading scorer, plus the additional loss of Caron Butler.

If the Spurs win at Milwaukee tonight and the Mavs lose to the Pacers, Dallas will head to San Antonio six games back, a sizable deficit even with more than half the season to play.

While Nowitzki's status for tonight is uncertain, one thing is for sure: The Mavs won't let their franchise player on the court if there's any risk of re-aggravating the knee.

After playing the Spurs, the Mavs continue their four-game road trip with the second half of a back-to-back at Memphis on Saturday night followed by Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee at Detroit.

The Los Angeles Lakers then make their first appearance at the American Airlines Center on Jan. 19. The Lakers (28-11) are one loss behind the Mavs (26-10) in the standings.

Nowitzki, averaging 24.1 points and 7.4 rebounds, has already missed a career-high number of games due to the injury.

With forward Caron Butler sidelined an undetermined amount of time after Saturday's right knee injury, Shawn Marion is again a starter in the NBA.

The veteran forward gave the Dallas Mavericks the jolt they needed in Sunday night's 104-95 victory against the hapless Cleveland Cavaliers. Marion scored a team-high 22 points as the Mavs snapped a three-game losing skid.

Dallas was also missing Dirk Nowitzki (right knee sprain) for a fourth consecutive game.

"This is a much-needed win for us," Carlisle said. "With what happened with Caron last night and the tough game [a 99-87 loss at Milwaukee], it’s been a tough 24 hours. But the guys came together and I thought really battled hard."

In fact, Marion's return to action Sunday after missing Saturday's loss with a thigh bruise was in question just a few hours before tip. Without him, the Mavs might have been returning home with the task of preventing a five-game losing skid when they face the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday at the American Airlines Center.

"Marion gave us a huge lift," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said after the win. "He’s going to be a real key guy for us as he always is."

Marion made 11-of-16 shots in just over 31 minutes of action. His high shooting percentage follows a trend as a starter.

In his four previous starts, he shot 59.5 percent in 30.5 minutes. As a reserve, he's making just 48.3 percent of his shots in 26.3 minutes.

DALLAS -- What do the Dallas Mavericks have in common with a yo-yo?

OK, so it's not the most creative analogy, but you get the point: up and down, up and down, up and down. The Mavs are having crazy issues with holding big leads. They might be the only team in the league that dreads blowing somebody out. They just can't seem to do it.

Wednesday night's 103-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers was the latest in a line of four blown leads in a row at home, three against teams that are below .500. The Blazers fell behind by 17 only to whittle it down to nine in a matter of minutes and they had it tied 2:07 left to go in the game.

Caron Butler's team-high 23 points and Dirk Nowitzki's late-game heroics with 12 of his 21 points coming in the fourth quarter saved the day. The Mavs move to 4-1 on the season-long six-game homestand and 20-5 on the season, their second-best start in franchise history behind the 22-3 start in 2002-03.

It sounds awfully familiar: New Jersey came from 21 down to get within 5; Utah came from 25 back to tie and Milwaukee on Monday came all the way back from 20 to lead by nine late and win by four.

Jason Kidd tried to assess the situation with a touch of humor.

"Through the season you try to be consistent," he said. "We’re being consistent in the sense of getting big leads and giving up them. ... It’s not a bad thing to struggle with."

But seriously ...

"We relax a little bit, so we’re relaxing and we give our opponent a chance to come back," Kidd said. "In the last [four] games we’ve had big leads and we give them up. We have to figure out how to maintain our focus and keep that lead where it’s at, 17 or 20, keep it above 10. Right now we’re just struggling with that."

There's just no explanation as to why. They say it's not for a lack of effort or enthusiasm or the desire to beat somebody by 20.

The Mavs say they are determined to make a return to dominant defense, especially in the fourth quarter where they pulled out so many close games against quality competition during their 12-game streak. These days the defense gets worse as the game goes on.

At the half, the Mavs led 51-39. It was the fewest points the Mavs had given up in a first half this season and just one off their best for any half. Portland only crept above 40 percent shooting when the Mavs let down their guard and allowed a last-second alley-oop dunk by Nicolas Batum.

Then everything went to heck in the second half. Portland came in much like Milwaukee, weighing down the bottom of the NBA rankings in shooting percentage and scoring. So how does Portland go for 59 points after halftime two nights after the Bucks planted 60 on the Mavs? And how does Portland shoot 60.5 percent in the second half with Seagoville product LaMarcus Aldridge scoring 20 of his season-high 35 points in the fourth quarter?

"You know what, I think a lot of it has to do with schemes and rotations," center Tyson Chandler said. "We're getting mixed up a little bit, not understanding where our help is supposed to come from, and different plays we're over-helping and out of position and out of position for rebounds. It's just, I wouldn't say a lack of effort on the defensive end, but miscommunication. And that can be fixed."

The strange thing is all that was a strength of this team just a few weeks ago. They silenced crowds in Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Utah with lockdown defense. The only thing the Mavs are locking down in the past week or so is a lower and lower point differential.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle brought up the point differential statistic as something he keeps a close watch. But, he also said he was pleased with the way the team played throughout, other than a wonky first quarter in which the Mavs shot better than 50 percent but had just 17 points and led by three.

"In the first quarter we gave up 25 shots, which is an inordinate number because of all the offensive rebounds (six) and second chances, and that was the really disappointing part of the game, was our start. But, after that you just have to keep working."