The Mavericks are sitting at 62-12 on the season and have opened up a 6.5 game lead on the Phoenix Suns with only 8 games left to play. The Mavericks would be smart to rest their regulars as soon as they wrap up the #1 seed because they don’t need any of their starters getting hurt like Gilbert Arenas did this week. The Mavericks are in great position to return to the NBA Finals as long as no one gets hurt, but it won’t be easy. The Suns, Spurs and the winner of the first round series between the Jazz and Rockets will all be a serious threat to the Mavericks in the West. That’s why they need to rest their starters the last few games of the regular season.

The Mavericks got a scare on Saturday Night before winning their 13th home game in a row. Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Jason Terry also had a solid game with 18 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists. Jerry Stackhouse had a good game off the bench with 16 points.

The Mavericks improved to 36-9 on the season with this win. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270127006

The Mavericks only shot 31.2% from the floor as a team and were outrebounded 59-45 and that’s why they lost last night. Dirk Nowitzki had a bad shooting night (7 of 22) but he still wound up with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Jerry Stackhouse had a solid game off the bench with 16 points and 3 assists. Jason Terry also couldn’t shoot last night (4 of 14) and wound up with 12 points and 6 assists.

The Mavericks fell to 35-9 on the season with this loss. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270125004

I know that this is nitpicking because of the Mavericks record, but they need more offense from Devin Harris. In his last 6 games he has disappeared from the offense. In those 6 games he’s only averaging 7.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game and that is simply not enough despite his good defense.

The Mavericks outscored the Rockets 62-43 in the second half and outrebounded them 44-32 and those were the two factors that most led to the victory last night. Dirk Nowitzki had a great game with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Josh Howard also had a very solid game with 28 points and 7 rebounds.

The Mavericks improved to 32-8 on the season with this win. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270116006