Mavs can't afford to fall behind

DALLAS _ One thing the Dallas Mavericks can ill afford to do is fall behind early in games.

That’s what happened to the Mavs last Thursday in San Antonio, and they didn’t handle it very well.

The Spurs busted out to a 19-4 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first period. The Mavs got no closer than 12 points -- 29-17 with 1:10 left in the opening quarter -- the rest of the game.

Comebacks, which were the staple of last year’s playoff championship run for the Mavs, have practically been nonexistent this season.

“I don’t know if now is the best time to evaluate all that, but we want solid starts and we want to play from in front,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. “So with that as the reference point or the starting point, we can only do better.

“Overall consistency is something we’re striving for. We’ve had good starts in a lot of games since the first two.’’

-- Dwain Price

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