Full-Court Press

Marion was on the bench a long time

SALT LAKE CITY -- As reliable as he's always been, forward Shawn Marion is usually on the court whenever one of the Dallas Mavericks' games are on the line.

Thus, it was very odd to see Marion riding the bench Monday night against the Utah Jazz for the entire fourth quarter and for all three overtime periods. Coach Rick Carlisle said it was:

"A coach's decision. Vince (Carter) was playing well.''

Carter played 45 minutes and collected 18 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals djuring the 123-121 loss to the Jazz. He also was 5-of-15 from the field, including 3-of-7 from three-point range.

Marion played 24 minutes and finished with four points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal. He also was 2-of-5 from the field, including 0-of-1 from beyond the three-point arc.

Of not being in the game for the entire final period and all three overtimes, Marion said: "I'm here to support my teammates.''

Marion didn't even attempt a field goal in the first half when he played 12 minutes. But he brushed that all aside.

"That doesn't really matter,'' Marion said. "That's the team we have.

"Some nights you're going to get some, some nights you're not.''

-- Dwain Price

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Jefferson impressed Mavs lasted 3 overtimes

SALT LAKE CITY -- Once Monday's Dallas Mavericks-Utah Jazz reached the first overtime session, Jazz center Al Jefferson figured the percentages were in their favor.

After all, the Mavs played and lost an overtime game to the Los Angeles Lakers, 112-108, on Sunday. And here the Mavs were Monday, engaged in a dramatic triple overtime contest at the Energy Solutions Arena, which the Jazz eventually won, 123-121.

"The good thing about the overtimes is we knew they were going to kind of run out of gas,'' Jefferson said. "They are an older team, they played (Sunday), so we knew the shots were going to start falling a little short.

"I am surprised they lasted as long as they did.''

-- Dwain Price

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Jazz edge Mavs in 3 overtimes, 123-121

SALT LAKE CITY -- Al Jefferson had 28 points and 26 rebounds and the Utah Jazz edged the Dallas Mavericks, 123-121 in triple overtime in a wild game played Monday night at the Energy Solutions Arena.

The Mavs (34-28) are now in sixth place in the Western Conference standings with four games left.

The game had so many twists and turns and drama, as the Mavs finally ended this four-game road trip with a 2-2 record.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 40 points, Jason Terry scored 27 and Vince Carter added 18.

-- Dwain Price

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Terry regrets last miss

LOS ANGELES -- When the game is on the line, Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry always wants the ball in his hands. He believes that's when he's at his best.

In Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Terry had the ball with the Mavs down 110-108. Then, with five seconds remaining in the game, Terry drove to the right side, but he hit a roadblock.

After the ball left Terry's hands, he overcompensated while trying to get past Matt Barnes, and the ball got pinned under the basket with 3.8 seconds left. Terry regrets what transpired on the play.

"I saw a clear lane to the basket,'' Terry said. "There was some misfortune there not going strong enough to the basket.''

Terry said give Barnes credit for making a savvy defensive play.

"Barnes did an excellent job of getting out of the way,'' Terry said. "I thought he was going to try to take a charge or go for as hard foul, and he did neither.

"Give him credit and I'll take the blame for that one.''

-- Dwain Price

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Lakers rally to beat Mavs in OT, 112-108

LOS ANGELES -- Even without Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers still have the Dallas Mavericks' number. Andrew Bynum had 23 points and 16 rebounds, Pau Gasol contributed 20 points and 10 boards and Metta World Peace added 18 points as the Lakers nipped the Mavs, 112-108, in overtime Sunday afternoon at the Staple Center.

Dirk Nowitxki led the Mavs with 24 points and 14 rebounds, Jaosn Terry scored 21 and Delonte West had 20.

The Mavs are 2-1 on this four-game road trip which concludes Monday night in Utah.

Bryant missed his fifth straight game with a sore left shin, but it didn't seem to matter as the Lakers overcame a 10-point deficit and wound up sweeping the Mavs 4-0 this season.

-- Dwain Price

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Odom removed from Olympic consideration

DALLAS _ In the wake of his banishment from the Dallas Mavericks' active roster for the rest of this season, Lamar Odom has been removed from being a candidate to represent the United States in this summer's Olympic Games.

According to FOX Sports Florida, Odom is no longer on the list of 20 candidates who were originally announced last January to play for Team USA when the Olympics are played this summer in London. That list will eventually be reduced to a 12-man roster.

The Mavs and Odom reached a mutual agreement to part ways this past summer after the team grew tired of his poor performances, lack of emotions, and inability to get to some team functions on time.

Odom averaged career lows of 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds this season, and also shot a career-low 35.2 percent from the field.

-- Dwain Price

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Cuban said TV show possibly left Odom out of focus

DALLAS -- While Lamar Odom was in Dallas, the Mavericks had to deal with an abundance of cameras in and around the locker room.

Those cameras were around to film Odom for the reality TV show -- Khloe&Lamar -- that he has with his wife, Khloe Kardashian.

Asked if all those cameras were a distraction to his players or Odom, Cuban said: "To our guys, no. To (Odom), possibly.

"I do think that if you know you're on camera all the time, you know you're on camera all the time.''

And what precisely what does that mean?

"That means you pay attention to how you're going to look on camera,'' Cuban said. "If you're high enough visibility, you know there's a camera on you all the time and that it's going to show up somewhere, and that can influence your behavior.''

Cuban, though, said he doesn't regret giving Odom permission to bring in those cameras from the E Network.

When Odom played for the Los Angeles Lakers, last year Laker managemnt voiced their displeasure with the camera crews that constantly followed Odom around.

-- Dwain Price

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With Kidd's help, Mavs run by the Kings, 110-100

DALLAS -- Although he's at the ripe old age of 39, Jason Kidd showed why he's so important to the Dallas Mavericks and their quest to win back-to-back NBA titles.

And he also showed why age isn't anything but a number.

In his first game Tuesday after missing four games with a strained right groin, Kidd played 22 minutes in the 110-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings and finished wiht seven points, six rebounds, seven assists and two blocked shots.

As Kidd was filling up the stat sheet, he also was supplying the Mavs with a steady and reliable hand on offense, while living up to his basketball genuis moniker.

The 6-4 Kidd also had a tremendous block at the rim against 6-11 Donte Greene.

"I thought for a guy that's been out 10 days, it's remarkable how he comes back and plays,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "He almost always plays well the first game back and has a real impact.

"It's a sore sight for sore eyes to see him out there and see him moving well -- not in pain.''

Carlisle wanted to make sure he didn't load Kidd up with too many minutes. Thus, he took him out late in the third quarter, and the Mavs still didn't miss a beat.

That's because the Mavs' offense remained in capable hands with Rodrigue Beaubois (15 points, five rebounds) and Delonte West (13 points).

"The plan was to shut (Kidd) down in the third quarter, which we did,'' Carlisle said. "Roddy and D-West were able to finish the game well for us, so that's big.''

West, though, gave the Mavs a scare in the second half when he attempted a dunk -- and missed -- and hung on the rim afterwards, despite still having some lingering effects from his fractured right ring finger.

"When he went and dunked the ball and did a chin-up on the rim, if you have a broken hand, it''s going to hurt,'' Carlisle said. "But look, the only way he knows how to go is all-out. That's who he is.

"If we try to take that away from him, even with a busted hand, he's not going to be the same player, and we all know it. I made the observation, and then Jet (Jason Terry) immediately said: "That's the only way he knows how to play.' And he's right.''

The Mavs were just hapoy they were able to play a solid overall game before they open a four-game road trip Thursday at Golden State. Dallas shot 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the Kings by a whopping 56-40 while stretching their record to 32-26.

"We just need to get back and just play,'' said Vince Carter, who had seven points, seven rebounds and five assists. "When I'm out there I just need to go hard and continue to make a tough push going into the end of the year.''

Yi Jianlian got nine of the minutes usually reserved for Odom as the Mavs try to look for backups to Dirk Nowitkzi at power forward. Yi made his minutes impactful as he contributed eight points and two rebounds and was a huge spark off the bench.

"Yi sent a pretty good message tonight that he's ready to play,'' Carlisle said. "You know (Brian) Cardinal's always ready.

"Shawn (Marion) played some minutes tonight when the foul thing got us out of whack. We'll move forward and do what we've got to do."

Most importantly, the Mavs are toally healthy again for the first time since the Mar. 30 contest against the Orlando Magic. The last healthy player to make it back to the roster is Kidd.

"He's amazing,'' Marion said of Kidd. "And he just needs to be Kidd on the court and help us win ballgames.'

'-- Dwain Price

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Mavs beat Kings, 110-100

DALLAS -- Rodrigue Beaubois and Dirk Nowitzki each scored 15

Mavs have replacements for Odom

DALLAS -- With Lamar Odom set to be on the Dallas Mavericks inactive list for the rest of this season, there are some capable players standing in line to take the 6-10 power forward's place.

Odom's departure means more playing time for Yi Jianlian and Brian Cardinal, and possibly for Brandan Wright. It's just another line of adjustments the Mavs have to make in their quest to repeat as NBA champions.

"We've been adjusting all year,'' coach Rick Carlisle said. "I really feel that we have other guys that are ready to step up.

"We've got guys that are resourceful and have seen their share of change over the years, so we've just got to do it.''

Yi has played in 26 games and averaged 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 7.0 minutes per game, and Cardinal has played in 39 games and averaged 1.1 points and 0.8 rebounds in 6.9 minutes. Meanwhile, Wright, who is the Mavs' third-string center, also may have some power forward potential.

Wright has played in 40 games and averages 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game. Carlisle said he played Wright at power forward at stretches this season, and he may revisit it.

"This morning we looked at the film in those stretches,'' Carlisle said. "There's some adjustment, but we're not going to re-invent our style of play.

"There's got to be a few tweaks if he plays that position, and we'll go from there.''

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice