From ESPN Dallas Mavericks Blog:

The Dallas Mavericks have lost five of eight games with all five coming against potential playoff foes.

[Although auditioning for anything past first-round opponent would be jinxing it at this point.]

In just the last week, the Mavs have dropped highly anticipated measuring-stick games at home to the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. In the process they lost their long-held grip on the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference standings to the Lakers.

[The Lakers didn't even notice, thanks to a slap-fight of their own against the T-Wolves, their complete disdain for the Mavericks and general obviousness.]

This downturn comes after a super run of 18 wins in 19 games with perfection ruined only by a buzzer-beater at the Denver Nuggets.

"What do you want us to do? You cant be negative now," Dirk Nowitzki said. [, coldly ignoring the rules of English grammar]. "We still have a month left in the season and we're trying to make a little run and take some momentum into the playoffs and go from there. But, this is too early to pack it in now." ["The first round, probably" he added.]

How the slide started, coughing up a 17-point, second-half lead at home to the Memphis Grizzlies on March 6, stings more than the losses to the Lakers and NBA-best Spurs, Jason Terry said. ["Duh", he added.  "Adonis DNA".  And, after catching his breath, he shouted, "I can't stop talking!"]

"It's just disheartening when you lose to somebody like Memphis," Terry said. "I mean that’s a team your’e [sp] supposed to beat. Hey, this one here, we wanted to win it. It didn’t happen for us and we've got to stay positive and we got to find our rhythm back. We have to have a rhythm to how we play and that’s when we’re at out best and obviously it's not there for whatever reason." [Terry is of course referring to the several games of Rock Band played in the locker room after the 97-91 loss.]

For the record, the Grizzlies, who currently hold down the eighth-seed, took the season series with the Mavs, 3-1, including two one-point wins in Dallas. [Mark Cuban is on the record describing it as "going to be the most exciting first-round upset ever".] Not that bulletin-board material means much in professional sports [except for Jason Terry], but if the two teams meet in the first round of the playoffs, Memphis will surely remember just how disheartening it is to lose to the Grizz. [If Memphis remembers what it's like to lose to the Grizz, they have a time machine and some pretty funny ideas about the best way to use a time machine.]