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• The Mavericks have posted some rather impressive defensive numbers over the past two games, giving up an average up only 68 points during the home-stand. Last night the Mavs gave a franchise record-low 60 points against the Kings and held them to franchise record-low 25.6% shooting percentage. Neither the Bucks or Kings are championship contenders, but it shouldn’t take away from what the Mavs have done.

• The Mavs have certainly looked more crisp over the past couple of games. One particular area they have looked especially good in is 3-point shooting, where they have shot 44.7% over the past two games, after an anemic start for the season.

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•  As we’ve come to expect over the past few years, this regular season edition of Mavs/Celtics felt much more like the playoffs, although the home crowd didn’t get into until late in the 4th quarter. There was a defensive intensity, dramatic shots, and of course Dirk hitting the improbable game winner with his tongue hanging out. The “and 1″ left Dirk 3 points shy of 23,000 point heading into Friday’s home game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

• Tonight we saw why, even at 38, Jason Kidd is such a valuable part of this team. The Celtics pressure defense pestered the Mavs all night long,  preventing them from every pulling away. As the only pure point guard on the roster, Kidd is much better suited to run the offense in these type of situations. One of the main reasons Dirk was held in check until late in the game was that there was no one able to get him his shots. It’s not a knock on Jason Terry and Delonte West necessarily. The Celtics are one of the best teams in the NBA at defending the passing lanes. You need a guard with Kidd’s elite passing skills to muster any semblance of ball movement.

• The Mavs improved to 2-0 in the Yi Jianlian era.

• The Mavs shot 44.3% from the field tonight. They have shot better than 43% in all 6 of their victories, and going back to last year’s playoffs, they are 20-4 when they shoot 40% or better from the field.

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After arguably two of the worst games of his career, Dirk Nowitzki responded on Tuesday night in typical Dirk fashion, putting up 18 points and 7  rebounds, on 9/10 shooting from the floor and the Mavs were a +42 with Nowitzki on the floor. For the first time really all season, his patented one-legged-fade-away was working to perfection. When that shot is working, Dirk is the most unstoppable scorer in the NBA–PERIOD!

• Brandan Wright continues to impress off the bench. Though he has yet to play minutes at a pivotal point of a game, he has gone beyond what is asked of him in his current role and has done so in impressive fashion, showcasing flashes of athleticism that go beyond that of Brandon Bass (the player Wright was compared to on his signing) and even that of Tyson Chandler. His alley-oop from the JET in the 4th quarter last night was the most impressive dunk I have ever seen from a Dallas Maverick, including Vince Carter’s from Saturday night. Again, we must temper our excitement. Wright is doing this against the bottom of the opposition’s bench, but we’re beginning to see why the guy was a former lottery pick.

• I understand the Detroit Pistons are in rebuilding mode and they don’t have a lot to play for this season, but I’ve always thought of their franchise as one with loyal fans who would stick with their team through thick & thin. The attendance at last night’s game looked like a Stars’ game. The announced attention was 10,000, and I know the Palace is a spacious arena, but it looked closer to 5 or 6K from TV. Yet even without the empty seats, including court side seats, the Pistons still set fans on the Mavs bench?

• Watching last night’s game, I kept on debating whether the Mavs’ defense was that good or if the Pistons’ offense was that anemic. The stats would seem to point to the latter. The Pistons entered the game as NBA’s lowest-scoring team, but scored above their season average and shot a respectable 43.5% from the field. Not to mention, the Pistons’ bench outscored the Mavs’ bench 48-42. However, for the first time all season, we saw the Mavericks execute with a high-energy level on defense and have their most successful night with their zone defense, which was huge in last year’s playoff run. The Pistons’ are a terrible offensive basketball team, but the Mavs defense is improving.

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It’s no secret that the Mavericks have struggled with the New Orleans Hornets over the past few seasons. A lot of  that had to do with Chris Paul and David West, so with those two players no longer suiting up for the Hornets, I felt the Mavs stood a much better shot entering Saturday night’s game. However, the Hornets still suited up two perennial Mavs killers–Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry. I felt confident that if we prevented those two from going off, the Mavs would have a great shot at pulling off the “W”. Jack and Landry combined for 25 points on 33% shooting, which is well below what they have averaged against the Mavs in the past.

• With Jason Kidd sidelined for at least three games, I was interested to see how Rick Carlisle used his lineup. Last night, Carlisle opted to start Vince Carter at the 2 and Delonte West at the point. Carter responded with his best game in a Mavs uniform (13 points, 3 rebounds), which included one of his trademark, posterizing dunks over the Hornets Emeka Okafor. As I mentioned a few days ago, all we need from Carter is for him to serve as this team’s Jerry Stackhouse. Last night, he did that and some.

• Ian Mahinmi continues to impress off the bench. Though not as polished as Tyson Chandler, Mahinmi does have flashes of athleticism that make us forget we failed to resign one of the key pieces to last year’s championship run. Heywood continues to be a solid presence on both offense and defense. At this point of the season, I think you would have to say that the center position has been one of the strongest on this roster.

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•  Several adjectives could used to describe last night’s game, including “weird.” The Mavs outrebounded the Spurs, 52-32, yet lost by 20 and managed only 71 points.  The Spurs shot 48.5% from behind the three-point line, yet shot under 40% from the field. On top of that, they shot only 56% from the free throw line. The Mavericks’ shooting was even worse. They shot 35.1% from the field and an atrocious 5% from the behind the three-point line. FIVE PERCENT! Part of the reason the Mavericks struggled so much offensively is that they had absolutely no rhythm or ball movement on the offensive side of the ball, dishing out only 11 assists as a team.

• Dirk Nowitzki’s 1,001st game with the Mavs certainly is not one for the highlight reel. The Spurs held Dirk to 6 points and 6 rebounds. Dirk went 3 for 11 from the field and 0 for 1 from the free throw line. Dirk’s only trip to the free throw line came on an illegal defense call. When Dirk doesn’t get to the line, you know the Mavs offense is trouble.

• As off as Dirk was, his teammates were not much better. Of the 13 Mavs that saw action last night, only one–Rodrique Beaubois–finished with a positive +/- score. The Mavs most effective weapon of the night? How about Delonte West, who registered 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting.  All things considered, it was easily the Mavs worst performance of the “Dirk era” and has to rank in the bottom 5 performances in franchise history.

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• Dirk Nowitzki appeared in his 1,000th game in a Mavericks uniform, the only uniform he has ever played in. Dirk is currently third-longest tenured player with one team. Only Kobe Bryant and Timmy Duncan have been with their teams longer. During that 1,000 game the big German has scored nearly 23,000 points (22,947 to be exact), grabbed 8,354 rebounds, and even dished out 2,676 assists. As a shooter, he has shot 48% from the field, 38% from the 3 point line and is an 88% career, free-throw shooter. Yet, he still has his detractors, but after last year’s NBA Finals, they have no other excuse but petty racism to knock Dirk. I’ve been fortunate to be present for many great Dirk moments, but there is one regular season moment that stands out above all the rest. March 29, 2010, the Mavs hosted the Denver Nuggets–a thorn in the Mavs side for years. That night, Dirk recorded his first career triple-double (34/10/10) as the Mavs ripped the Nuggets 109-93.

• In their last 20 games (regular season and post-season combined), the Mavericks are 17-3 when their bench outscores their opponents. The Phoenix Suns entered last night with the NBA’s top scoring bench, but the Mavs’ bench  managed the Suns bench 51-21, helped in part by a season-high 15 points from Lamar Odom. One thing’s for sure, if this particular trend holds up, the Mavs are line to win a ton of games this season. Last night was the first time all season we really saw what the Mavs’ bench is capable of when they put Odom, Vince Carter and Jason Terry on the floor at the same time–that’s the past two Sixth Man of the Year award winners and Vinsanity.

• How far have the Suns fallen? At one time, Mavs/Suns was a can’t miss type of game.  I usually try and forget games I’ve attended where the Mavs have lost, but the 2007, double-overtime, 129-127 loss to the Suns was one of the best games I’ve ever seen inside the American Airlines Center. Even in playoffs games you don’t see that type of atmosphere often. Last night, there were empty seats throughout the AAC and the crowd never was fully engaged, in part because the Suns never posed a serious threat after the 1st quarter. It’s hard to grasp what the Suns are trying to do with their rosters moves in recent seasons. I’m glad Shawn Marion is now in a Mavs uniform, but part of me misses seeing Amare Stoudemire, Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa in a Suns uniform. Hopefully, the Suns will rebuild soon. This rivalry is too good for one team to be stuck in mediocrity.

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•  Perhaps it’s the fact they share an alma mater, but for some reason I can’t help but think of Jerry Stackhouse when I see Vince Carter in a Mavs uniform. Since his signing, I’ve been struggling to see how Vinsanity fits on this particular roster, but after a relatively strong showing last night, I began to wonder if we can’t use him the way we used Stack when he was here. For the better part of 4 seasons, Stack was the Mavs bench. Of course this was prior to Jason Terry being moved to the bench, but Stack contributed 12.6 points per game, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 26.1 minutes per game during his time with the Mavs. Additionally, Stack shot 41% from the field and developed into a three-point threat (shot 38.3% on 162 attempts in ’06-’07). I think if we could get those type of numbers from Carter, as our #3 guy off the bench, we would be pretty happy. Last night Carter went for 14 points, 2 rebounds & 3 assists in 24 minutes off the bench. Let’s hope he continues to put those numbers up on a consistent basis.

•  Early in last night’s game I was frustrated with Brendan Heywood’s play, specifically his offensive positioning. On multiple trips down the floor he allowed a defender to force him out of his comfort zone and put up a couple of bad shots and committed a couple of Dampier-like turnovers. By the end of the game Heywood had recovered and turned in his most impressive performance of the young season. Ian Mahinmi continued to impress in his time off the bench. While we still miss Tyson Chandler , I think you would have to give the Mavs a B for center play so far this season. The center position in the NBA has evolved dramatically over the past 10 years, just as the running back position has in the NFL. Teams in both sports have opted to fill these roster spots by committee, rather than by one feature center/back. There are a few exceptions (Dwight Howard/Adrian Petersen), but most teams choose to fill the role by committee. With that said, it’s important to look at the combined stats for the centers-by-committee, instead of focusing only on the stats of the starter.

•  Since last years playoffs, the Mavs are 9-1 when they collect 40 or more rebounds.

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• Mavs fans could have saved themselves time, and a lot of pain, had they simply tuned in for the last 5 minutes of Sunday night’s game against Minnesota. With 5:08 left to play in the game, the Mavs were in the midst of a 10-0 run, had just pulled in an offensive rebound, and Dirk Nowitzki was set to launch a wide-open three that, had it gone in, would have given the Mavs a 85-84 lead. Instead, an offensive foul was called on Vince Carter, Kevin Love comes down the other end and nails a 3, and the Timberwolves end the game on a 15-0. In a game marked by huge runs by both teams, it was only fitting the game would end on a 15-0 run. It’s just a shame it was in favor of the T’Wolves and not the Mavs, but the run was indicative of everything the Mavs did wrong throughout the game.

• The T’Wolves had built up a 15 point lead earlier in the second half, thanks in part to a 13-2 run to end the first half. The Mavs did a terrible job of finishing in all four quarters, especial 2 & 4.

• The Mavs struggled in virtually every aspect of the game. They had their worst shooting night of the season (37.7 %), were out rebounded 54-35, committed 17 turnovers and their bench was outscored by Minnesota’s bench 46-31. Perhaps the two stats that tell the biggest story are the Mavs 3 point % (29.2%) and assists (17), both of which were season lows. When you see an assist number as low as 17 you know you’re not getting proper ball movement. “Proper ball movement” in the Mavs offense will set up/open up of the three-point shot and it’s virtually been non-existent on the season. Consider for a moment that during the 2011 NBA Playoffs, the Mavs averaged 20.1 assists per game and shot a respectable 38.8% from behind the 3 point line. In order to start putting together some wins, they need to find a way to get back into the offensive rhythm they had during the playoffs.

• I never realized how poor Lamar Odom was at shooting free-throws. He’s great at driving the basket and drawing fouls, but so far this season he hasn’t been able to finish these plays off. For the season, Odom is shooting around 56% from the charity stripe. I did a little research and it appears he has always struggled from the line, boasting a career 69% free throw percentage. This is a bit surprising considering he is a decent shooter.

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It’s being widely reported that the Mavs have reached an agreement with Yi Jianlian. It’s  not a terrible move, but it does reek of some of the moves orchestrated by the Mavs during the Nelly Ball days. Wang Zhi-Zhi anyone?

Yi has had stints with MIL, the Nets and, last year, with the Wizards. He put his best season stats wise in ’09-’10 with the Nets, averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds a game. For his career, Yi has averaged 8 points and 5 boards a game. Again, not terrible numbers to have from your 15th roster spot, but where exactly does Yi fit into the picture with the Mavs?

Obviously Dirk and Odom will continue to see a majority of the minutes at the 4. Brian Cardinal will continue to  get 7 or 8 minutes a game as well. We’ve already signed two experimental forwards in Sean Williams and Brandan Wright.

Wright has been inactive since Game 1; Williams doesn’t seem to be a Carlisle guy. Obviously Yi has a few more skins on the wall than those guys, but does this signing signal the end for Wright and Williams with this team? Only time will tell.

It looks like Yi will report to Frisco for a rehab stint in the D-League before joining the Mavs later in the season. By that time, we might have a little better read on Wright and Williams and as insignificant as the Yi signing may seem now, it might have  a completely different feel by the time he’s ready to join the team.

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• Perhaps I’m the only MFFL out there who is not particularly concerned with the Mavs’ 0-3 start. Before the season started, before we lost Chandler and JJ, I would have figured we would lose to Miami and Oklahoma City, simply because those two teams are talented and out for revenge.  I did not expect the Denver debacle. So,  we’re one game off the pace I expected. With that said, 0-3 is not as deep as you might think. Let’s not forget that in 2007, the Mavs began the season 0-4, before reeling off 67 wins–the most in franchise history.

• The Thunder are playing the best basketball in the West. They’re young, talented and have everyone back from last year’s squad that made it to the Western Conference Finals, so they have chemistry. Their most glaring weakness (besides a selfish point guard) is their coach. Scott Brooks seems like a nice enough guy, and I’m sure he knows a lot about the game of basketball, but he’s too much of a “rah-rah” guy to ever be a championship caliber coach. In order to win in the Association, you need to be able to control the locker room and bench with a certain calmness. These are adults you’re dealing with, not college kids.

• If you gave me the choice of any NBA star under 30 to add the Mavericks, I would probably choose Kevin Durant. Not only is he one of the Association’s most talented stars, but he’s also one of the League’s most humble stars.

• For the first time this season, we saw some sustained defensive consistency, especially in the half-court game, from the Mavs. It’s still a work in progress, but definitely an improvement over the first two games.

• Delonte West looks like he will be the first new Mav to assimilate completely with the team. It appears it may take Lamar Odom a bit longer. Vince Carter nailed a clutch 3 pointer tonight, but I still don’t see where he fits in on this team.

• The new, “alternative road uniforms”, not so good. They look too much like Memphis. If we must have an alternative uniform, let’s go back to the greens. I personally feel all Dallas teams should ditch the navys.

• The Thunder had only one starter, Kevin Durant, with a positive +/- number for the night (+17).

• Sean Williams might be the most athletic big man the Mavs have had on their roster in the Dirk area. He reminds me a lot of Ryan Hollins, now with CLE, in that he is extremely athletic, but also absent-minded. That can be costly in clutch situations and Rick Carlisle will not stand for it.

• The Mavericks will not begin the season 0-4. They will get their first win Friday night against the Raptors.

• Oklahoma City