Mavericks at Warriors
THE STORY: Lamar Odom didn’t help the Dallas Mavericks much on the court. Now that he's gone, the defending NBA champions hope to concentrate on something else that is not guaranteed: making the playoffs. That quest continues Thursday night in Oakland against a Golden State team that can only play spoiler. “There’s nothing to say,” Dirk Nowitzki said of the Odom situation. “It’s over. I thought as an organization we had to make that move to get him here, but things didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (32-26): The Mavericks will try to improve their playoff chances when they open a four-game trip at Golden State. The journey continues Friday in Portland before wrapping up with games Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles against the Lakers and Monday in Utah. Dallas, Houston and Denver all are 32-26, with the Mavericks the sixth seed. Utah is 1 1/2 games back. “We wish (Odom) luck in his future endeavors,” guard Jason Terry said. “But as far as the Dallas Mavericks, we are a team that’s vying for playoff position and we’re ready to go forward.”
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (22-35): The last time the Warriors hosted the Mavericks back on March 10, they cruised to a 111-87 rout - their most lopsided victory of the season. Dallas was playing the final of a back-to-back-to-back and never led. The Warriors have taken the last two meetings with the Mavericks, both at home after Dallas had won the previous six meetings. Golden State hasn't won back-to-back home games since Feb. 12 and 13, beating Houston and Phoenix.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Dallas has won 11 of the last 16 regular-season meetings between the teams.
2. The Mavericks are 1-7 without Odom after a 110-100 victory over Sacramento on Tuesday.
3. Dallas is 17-1 when scoring at least 100 points.