The game was won by the Dallas.

I’m reluctant to say Dallas Mavericks due to for one night, I saw a different team. I saw a team physical on both ends of the court. Use of some well-times zones, physical man-to-man defense, owning the paint with blocked shots and boxing out, Dallas provided a fun team to watch.

The American Airlines Center crowd cheered and screamed. They rose to their feet, and gave standing ovations. Yet the feeling I felt was “let’s not get too excited too quickly.”

Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood showed glimpse of what the Mavericks were so excited about. Butler provides match up problems with his ability to play both the 2 and 3 positions. Butler can post up a smaller guard or take a taller guy away from the basket and shoot open jump shots.

Haywood was a question mark, but was forced into the lineup due to Dampier’s injury. He played fearless and physical. He blocked shots and grabbed rebounds. He took up space in the lane.

Amare Stoudemire scored 30 points, blocked 3 shots, and grabbed 14 rebounds. Quite possibly putting his skills on display for a contending team to pull the trigger and trade for Stoudemire. Yet Stoudemire was unable to beat this team by himself.

That wasn’t always the case.

Caron Butler was smiling and playful. The official unveiling was over; he is now able to get familiar with the Mavericks offense and schemes. “Jersey feels comfortable” he said with a big grin on his face.

Mavericks won a big game against a team in the midst of the playoff push. Kobe Bryant was adamant that this trade was huge for the Mavericks and put them in the championship picture.

Last night at the AA Center, the Mavericks looked like a Finals team.

Looks can be deceiving though.

“There are not a lot of losses this year where I’d say, ‘Hey, they really earned this one,’ ” Nowitzki said. “Every team in the league always feels like, unless you get blown out, that you’ve given it away. We had our chances [against Phoenix].” (DallasNews)

This guy has a knack for hitting the nail right on the head. In many of the games that the Mavs have lost they gave it away late; sometimes they nearly gave it away in some of their wins too.  For players and fans alike this is one of the most frustrating things about sports. To know that you really are that good, but not able t put it together is frustrating to say the least. With such a talented roster, like the Mavericks have, it would not be inconceivable for them to be a front runner to win it all. They began the season with 12:1 odds and are currently given 15:1 odds. Strange that a team that has been the second best in the Western Conference for most of the season (now third, a game behind the Denver Nuggets), has actually lost ground.

The reason pretty much is just what Dirk said- the Mavericks are not closing games out. Their Thursday loss to the Suns was a perfect example. With a  6 point lead going into the fourth Dallas appeared to be in good shape, and with the luck the Mavericks have had on the road most of the season it would seem a foregone conclusion that they were in perfect position for another road win. Instead, they failed to put the ball in the basket, scoring only 16 while allowing the Suns to pull out a six point win with a 28 point quarter.

Maybe this means that they will start winning more at home if they are going to lose on the road…