"Back on Jan. 5, after the Mavericks were blown out by 22 points in San Antonio and fell to 2-2 for the month, Dirk Nowitzki sized up the team and January's 18-game schedule thusly:

"If you look at our schedule, I mean, January's a beast," Nowitzki said that night. "Maybe that's a good thing, get everybody's legs (under them) in January, keep working hard and get through this tough phase with a halfway-decent record.

"And then I think we're set up to make a decent push in February, March and April because the schedule lightens up a little."

Halfway decent? Dallas finished 13-5 in January. The Mavericks are 14-8 one-third of the way into the 66-game season and they're in first place in the Southwest Division."