Wrap it up, he'll take it

At the halfway point, the buzzword surrounding the Mavs is clearly "inconsistent."

Still, they're 28-13 and right at the top of a crowded Western Conference.

"If you would have told me getting off to a 12-8 start we'll still be overall in the thick of things at this point, we'd take it," coach Avery Johnson said. "We've played much better basketball overall these last 20 games. Now it's the start of the second half of the season and we know exactly what we have to do to play well.

"But, even if we play well, as strong as the competition is, especially in the Western Conference, with this team coming in tonight, we have to play really well to win."

-- Jeff Caplan