"Shawn Marion was back in the lineup Monday night after missing three games with a left oblique strain, and it was a great sign when he got free on a first-quarter fast break and rammed the ball home with a backboard-shaking dunk.

No hesitation. No girly-man layup. Just a plain-old, attack-the-rim slam.

Better yet, he came back into the game in the second quarter and was moving like his old self.

The Mavericks took the cautious approach with Marion, holding him out for more than a week. That gave him his best chance of being fit for the playoffs.

And by getting two games to knock off any fast-accumulating rust, he should be full strength by the time the first round opens. "