DALLAS -- Even the Dallas Mavericks' owner knows the value of Shawn Marion to his team.
Marion has missed the last four games with a strained left medial collateral ligament. The Mavs won just one of those four contests and have suffered bitter losses in the last two games to Charlotte and Minnesota.
That left Mark Cuban to say: "I think we win these last two games with Shawn. I don't think there's any doubt about it.
"If only because we've got Vince (Carter) out there, whose really done a great job.''
OJ Mayo and Carter have been trying to contain the opponent's high-scoring guards and/or forwards in the absence of Marion, who is the Mavs' top lockdown defender. In most cases, they've been overmatched.
"Vince deserves a lot of credit,'' Cuban said. "He's really been a calming influence and tried to do a lot on the court, and has taken charges -- the whole nine yards.
"But having Shawn out there as well makes a big difference, because now we've got to have OJ and Vince -- who we count on to score -- chasing around offensive weapons on the other teams. If you have Shawn, who can do all of the above and that's kind of in his DNA, that makes a big difference.''
-- Dwain Price
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