Feb 25, 2012; Orlando, FL, USA; Western Conference forward Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks (left), Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns (right) chat during the 2012 NBA All-Star team practice session at the Orange County Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

For the first time since 1998, the Dallas Mavericks will face the Phoenix Suns with neither Dirk Nowitzki nor Steve Nash on the floor.

And now, for the trivia that matters…

Nobody gave the Suns much hope during the preseason and they haven’t done much to impress.  That being said, at 7-12 they aren’t much worse than the Mavericks and they’ve lost 4 in a row.

The Suns are also looking for answers and have already made major lineup changes.  Stefan Swiat of Suns.com reports:

“After a 1-5 road trip, Gentry is thinking about tinkering with the rotation once again. The first major move of the season was taking power forward Luis Scola and shooting guard Jared Dudley out of the starting lineup and replacing them with power forward Markieff Morris and shooting guard Shannon Brown.

‘We’re at a point now where we have to find something that’s going to work and work consistently,’ [Coach Alvin] Gentry said.”

Lineup changes?  I like the sound of that.

Goran Dragic has done a respectable job since returning from Houston at leads the team in scoring at 15.5 ppg and dishes out 6.6 apg.  Marcin Gortat is one of the up-and-coming centers in the league and scores a notch under 12 points and just over 8 rebounds.   The Suns have some good available scoring but as their record would indicate, they are generally outscored as well as outrebounded by their opponents.  Most notably they shoot only 34% from three-point range while their opponents hit over 42%, so clearly perimeter defense is not a big strength.

There is nothing magical about beating the Suns but if the Mavericks continue to shoot poorly, turn the ball over and fail to grab their share of rebounds they can come up short against Phoenix just as well as any other team.   Other than Gortat and his backup Jermaine O’Neal, Phoenix doesn’t have a great deal of interior defense so it would be a good time to push the inside game with Chris Kaman, Elton Brand and BRANDAN WRIGHT.   A good night from three-point land should also be a possibility and hopefully Vince Carter can stay hot and maybe it’s an O. J. Mayo “on” night.   I think they’re due after last night.

Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) drives to the basket in between Mavericks small forward Jae Crowder (9) and center Eddy Curry (52) Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Much to the surprise of many the shorthanded Mavericks handed the new-look Lakers a convincing loss Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Personally, I was not surprised the Mavs were competitve; the Lakers had a horrible preseason and while the Mavs certainly had some struggles they had numerous bright spots and happen to have a few key elements that are exactly the right thing to compete with this Lakers team.  The Mavs led by a substantial margin most of the fourth quarter and ended up with a 99-91 victory on the Lakers’ home court.

The Lakers had solid performances from Pau Gasol (23 points, 10 rebounds) and Dwight Howard (19, 10) but most of the rest of the team struggled. While they shot a respectable 49.4% from the field, the 23.1% from 3-point range and horrific 38.7% from the line were fatal. 14 turnovers didn’t help and much of that was the Mavs pesky defense.

The Good:

Darren Collison was the game changer, showing his speed and more. It was the perfect solution for a Lakers team that may be lacking in speed and isn’t together yet. For those who were worried about losing Jason Kidd (and there’s a lot that J Kidd brings to the table), Collsion had 16 points midway through the third quarter and Kidd’s season high last year was 15. Collison finished with 17 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds and 3 steals…not too shabby.

Brandan Wright got the start over Eddy Curry and had perhaps his best game as a Maverick, scoring 14 points on 5-5 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

Shawn Marion had another game that has become so typical for him – 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a block, along with the defensive presence that doesn’t show up in the box score.

There were 6 Mavericks in double figures and the Mavericks shot 47.4%, much better than they have been.

The Meh: (formerly the bad – I figured we don’t need bad AND ugly)

Elton Brand didn’t shoot well but still managed 8 points and 11 rebounds and played tough defense on Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Brand’s jumper hasn’t been falling so far but that should change.

Vince Carter missed a dunk near the end of the game and all four of his 3-point attempts but still managed to hit double figures for the 7th time in 6 games.

Eddy Curry once again gave a solid contribution on the offensive end with 7 points and 4 rebounds in only 17 minutes but he showed some of his weakness on the defensive end. Continued work with Rick Carlisle as well as elite defenders such as Marion and Brand should help.

O. J. Mayo scored 12 points but continued to shoot poorly, making only 4 of 13 shots. He played aggressive defense and had a good all-around effort but if he doesn’t start hitting a higher percentage it’s going to hurt the team when they aren’t firing on all cylinders.

The Ugly:

Some will argue that Curry’s defense should be here but he makes no secret of his need to improve here and it’s clear he is trying.

All-in-all the Mavericks played great basketball as a team and there’s nothing much to criticize.

Takeaway:

There’s a lot I could say about the Lakers and for the most part I already have. They WILL get better but they showed they are vulnerable for many of the reasons I mentioned previously, although Jordan Hill was their best bench player Tuesday night and he is a more than capable backup for Howard and Gasol. He played great against the Thunder in the playoffs last year and I was kinda hoping the Mavs might sign him as a free agent but the Lakers did the smart thing.

For the Mavs, this was an awakening. The promise of Collison was in full view and the only thing left for him is to step up in the half court game, which will come with time. If the style of attack keeps opponents on their heels it’s a beautiful thing. Overall a confidence builder with the entire team playing well individually and as a group. This group showed that they can play and when Chris Kaman returns Saturday they’ll be all the better for it.

Next up:

The Mavericks play-back-to-back with a game against the Jazz in Salt Lake City, 8:00 CDT Wednesday night.