Preview: Bucks (4-6) at Mavericks (6-5)

Earl K. Sneed previews the Dallas Mavericks' home matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night, when the defending champs tip off a back-to-back while looking to extend their winning streak to four.

DALLAS — Welcome home, champs!

After entering the historic walls of the White House and getting back on track with back-to-back road victories in Detroit and Boston to run their winning streak to three, the defending champion Dallas Mavericks return home for another set of consecutive games. Only this time the games will come in the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center, as the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings step on the reigning titleholders’ home court Friday and Saturday nights looking to upstage the hometown squad.

With the trip to the nation’s capital to meet President Barack Obama behind them, the new-look Mavericks — who are now above .500 for the first time this season with a 6-5 record after winning three games without point guard Jason Kidd due to a lower back injury — can finally close the book on last season’s championship run. And with a bull’s eye on their backs nightly, the Mavs know that they can’t afford to have a White House hangover in the midst of this shortened season.

“It was just a special day,” NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki said of the trip to meet the president. “We got the tour, we got to meet him. His speech was hilarious. … It’s definitely a great experience. Now, we can kind of move on and we can settle into this season.”

“It’s really big for us to be able to get three wins without Jason Kidd. That’s a huge loss for us,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle added after being ejected from the Mavs’ most recent victory following back-to-back technical fouls. “And the team is finding itself a little bit, but this is a very challenging year on a lot of levels. But the guys are meeting the challenge.”

The Mavs now try to continue their hike up the Western Conference standings after a 1-4 start, hoping to defend their home court before a four-game road trip through the West that figures to be galvanizing for a squad still in its jelling process.

“We’ve got to play well. We’ve got to continue to work at playing better basketball, and each game we’ve shown some signs of improvement,” Carlisle explained. "The consistency of putting it together and keeping it together is where the priority is for us right now. That’s what we’re looking at.

“It’s all about how we compete. We’re building some consistency with our competitiveness,” the coach added. “We’re getting a little more familiarity with our new guys and the challenge will be to carry this into Friday night.”

Enter Brandon Jennings and the Bucks, trying to dethrone the Mavs and disrupt Carlisle’s crew. Jennings ranks alongside Mavericks reserve guard Jason Terry as one of the best fourth-quarter scorers in the league, setting up for a potential shootout down the stretch. Friday night, Terry will once again do everything to help lead his team to a W in front of the Dallas faithful. But the sharpshooter figures to have plenty of support with the team hopeful to have Kidd back in the lineup.

If Kidd is once again unable to give it a go, however, the Mavs remain confident with newcomer Delonte West running the show, after the former St. Joseph’s standout dished out a season-high 10 assists against Detroit Tuesday night.

“His energy we’ve been feeding off of it, obviously without J-Kidd,” Terry said of West. “I think that people forget about Delonte’s ability to run the team and play point guard. That’s what he was drafted as and he’s a good one.”

“[West] is not scared, he competes on every play, he’s tough in the post, you can’t really post him up, he’s got great hands and great anticipation,” Nowitzki added coming off his game-sealing drive and three-point play in Wednesday night's win against Boston. “So, he just plays hard and it really sets a great tone for the whole team because he competes on every play.”

The two veterans’ confidence in the do-everything newcomer has permeated in his game, with the 6-foot-3 guard collecting eight steals in the two recent road wins. Originally thought to be a replacement for departing backup lead guard J.J. Barea, West has started 10 of the Mavs’ 11 games while averaging 8.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.9 steals. Now, with the status of Kidd still unknown, West will try to lead his new team to a fourth straight W while winning his toe-to-toe matchup against Jennings.

“I just like where we’re at as a team,” West said. “I love our fight (in Boston). There were a lot of emotions on our bench, period, and it was for the best. There were a lot of ups, a lot of downs, throughout the game for everybody, a lot of guys getting in each other’s face for the right reason, pulling each other along. And in the end that’s what’s making us more of a team, more of a unit and it’s turning us into a family.”

Meanwhile, the Mavs will continue to lean on the play of Nowitzki, whose 16 points against Boston has the 7-footer just three points shy of 23,000 for his career entering Friday night’s contest. And with an opportunity for the 10-time All-Star to reach the milestone in front of his home crowd, you can bet that Carlisle will look to feed his go-to scorer early and often.

“It’s an unbelievable achievement, and I don’t know what else to say. I mean, the guy’s done everything,” Carlisle said of the Finals MVP. “The guy has stood for greatness and doing it the right way, and 23,000 points is hard to imagine; the number of minutes that you have to play to get to that point, all those things are staggering to me.”

Nowitzki has averaged 30 points and 8.7 rebounds in his last three games against the Bucks, scoring exactly that when Milwaukee snapped a seven-game road losing streak against the Mavs with a 103-99 win in Dallas on Dec. 13, 2010. Friday night, Nowitzki and the Mavericks will try to began a new streak against the Bucks (4-6) on their home hardwood.

Note: The Mavs return home for a back-to-back with a four-game West Conference road trip looming. The defending champs will face off with the Milwaukee Bucks Friday night in a game that will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. The next night, the Mavericks welcome in the Sacramento Kings for a game that will also air on Fox Sports Southwest at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Dr. Pepper Family Nights are here! Plans include four Mavs tickets and four McDonald’s extra value meals, starting at $49. Visit mavs.com or call 214-747-MAVS for a schedule of games and to purchase tickets.