Apr 10, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Vince Carter (25) reacts after getting hit in the face by Phoenix Suns center Jermaine O

The Dallas Mavericks dealt themselves the playoff death blow by losing to the bottom feeder of the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns. With all due respect, the Suns would been better off losing the rest of their games to get more balls in the lottery. Combine the fact that their on the second game of a back-to-back and carrying a 10 game losing streak and anyone that ever watched a basketball game would pick the Dallas Mavericks to win.

” I don’t know”, says Vince Carter, “The fact is we are trying to win games. I don’t care about the stakes right now. [This] was the next game we needed to win.”

The stakes before the game seemed clear. Beat a bad team. Get the .500. Omar the barber cuts off a few beards. Stay in the playoff hunt. After the game, the true stakes set in as players realized that this loss summed up a bad season.

“Yeah, it’s been up and down. It’s unfortunate”, continue Carter. “This is a game we felt we should win and we gave a team that was playing for nothing life. ”

Shawn Marion was a little more candid. “They were on a ten game losing streak and on a second night of a back-to-back”, he said before letting out a long sigh of disgust. “When you are a professional athlete you set standards for yourself and your team. When you go out here and try to leave it on the floor…You can’t control whether the ball goes in the hole, but you can control your effort. If your not able to go out there and give it your all, 110%, then somethings wrong. Maybe you need to sit down.”

Marion is right. For what should have been an easy win, the Mavericks only had three players in double digits. Shawn Marion had 22 to lead the team in scoring. Vince Carter had 18 off the bench and Dirk Nowitzki had 21. Nobody else did much of anything.

Chris Kaman, after putting up a season high in Portland with 26 points, played 20 minutes and contributed 2 points. O.J. Mayo played 37 minutes and put up 6 points. Darren Collison, Brandan Wright, and Jae Crowder combined for 51 minutes and 11 points.

Marion however chose to point the finger at the entire team. “We win and lose as a team, it’s not individual”, he said. “We are all at fault here”.

Head coach Rick Carlisle decided to fall on the sword rather than point it. “It’s disappointing…We are not good enough from start to finish.” He went on to say, “The truth is we are a team of parts that fit a certain way. The collective disposition, the collective will, the collective understanding has to be there for us to play our best…We all came up short tonight and I’m at the top of the list.”

The Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Portland Trailblazers mathematically put the Mavericks out of playoffs.

Only Shawn Marion, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, and veteran Mike James made themselves available after the loss for interviews which is another telling sign. All three said they will continue to fight the rest of the season one game at a time. The question is: Is everyone?

Dallas Mavericks game against Phoenix Suns means more than a shave. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks take on the Phoenix Suns in their first game back from a 4 game road trip, going 2-2 and missing another opportunity to finally shave.

Dirk Nowitzki did not practice today in order to rest a foot injury suffered in Sunday’s win over the Portland Trailblazers. He missed the entire 4th quarter.  Chris Kaman had his best game putting up 26 points. The is no doubt that Dirk will play in this game. He has been vocal all season about this team getting to .500. Plus, his beard looks the worse out of everyone.

Last home game the Dallas Mavericks rode the cheers of a ruckus American Airlines Center crowd to victory over the Chicago Bulls. Nowitzki had a season high 35 points in that game.

The Phoenix Suns however are in last place in the Western Conference with a growing 10-game losing streak. This will be their second consecutive road game after a tough loss to the Houston Rockets. After fighting to tie the game  up, Jermaine O’Neal gets call for goaltending on a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. When your 23-55, stuff like that happens.

Elton Brand is expected back for this game after practicing today.

Sure it will be great to watch Omar the barber finally cut the beards off this team, but a win means more for their playoff aspirations. The good thing about this 3-way race for the 8th and final playoff spot is that nobody seems to want to take it. The Utah Jazz lost last night to the Oklahoma City Thunder giving the Los Angeles Lakers the 8th spot after they beat the New Orleans Hornets by half a game. The Los Angeles Lakers go on the road tonight to play the Portland Trailblazers which will not be easy as Kobe Bryant continues his 46 minutes a night. The Utah Jazz have 2 of their last 3 games on the road. A Mavs win could get them 1.5 games back, if the Lakers lose, with 4 games left to play.

The Phoenix Suns rank 26th in points allowed in the NBA. Luis Scola has been able to score well and matchup with Dirk, but that should allow Vince Carter and Brandan Wright good opportunities to contribute.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself. As coach Rick Carlisle has said before every game since the All-Star break, it’s one game at a time. The last two times the Dallas Mavericks made the “shave ” the focus for a win they lost both times. Time to start focusing on making the playoffs.