DALLAS — It’s clear that the six-game homestand that tipped off Wednesday against Brooklyn will have a big impact on the Dallas Mavericks’ playoff chances.
The homestand will tell “whether we’re going to make the playoffs or not,” owner Mark Cuban said. “This is pretty much it. We’ll see. It’s never absolute until it isn’t, but I’m sure it’ll make a big difference. Every game is big for us.”The Mavs next play Boston, Utah, the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana and Chicago at home. If the playoffs started today, each of those teams would be in the postseason except the Jazz, which trails the Los Angeles Lakers by 1 1/2 games for the eighth Western Conference seed.Cuban wouldn’t say how many games he thought the Mavs needed to win on the homestand to have a realistic chance of staying in the playoff race.“I just want to win the game of the night,” Cuban said. “We take them one game at a time.”Cuban likes the guts Knight and Terry displayedMark Cuban commended Detroit’s Brandon Knight and Boston’s Jason Terry for not worrying about being posterized recently on vicious dunks by Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan and Miami forward LeBron James.“It’s the gutless who worry about what they look like in a poster, and it’s the real players who have no problem playing the game,” Cuban said. “I give credit to Brandon Knight, I give credit to Jet.“You do your job and don’t care about the posters or the tweets. That’s the kind of guys teams want.”Cuban said Terry, who played for the Mavericks from 2004-12, probably enjoyed the attention after being dunked on by James on Monday.“Jet was probably smiling because he was trending on Twitter the whole time,” Cuban said. “He was like, ‘Talk about me some more.’” Morrow made the best of his opportunityAnthony Morrow took advantage of his first extended playing time with the Mavs by recording eight points and three assists in 13 minutes during Monday’s 127-113 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.“I felt great, I wasn’t winded, and I was getting out on the break running and blowing it out,” Morrow said. “Just all the work I’ve been doing in practice, finding my spots and seeing where guys like to get their shots and get open, so the opportunity to make plays are there in this offense for everybody.”Acquired in a trade with the Hawks for Dahntay Jones on Feb. 21, Morrow caught the eye of coach Rick Carlisle. Morrow had six points in 12 minutes against the Nets on Wednesday.“I was impressed the other night, not just with his shot-making, but his feel for the game was good,” Carlisle said. “He moved the ball well, he moved well on the court and he had a good feel for our guys.”Dwain Price, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @dwainprice
