Inside Report: Mavericks-Warriors preview — Mavs look to rebound from loss in L.A., try to sweep Warriors

Earl K. Sneed previews the Mavericks' Saturday night showdown with the Warriors, as the Dallas team goes for a four-game season sweep of Golden State while looking to respond from a disappointing showing against the L.A. Lakers.

OAKLAND, Calif. — After suffering their worst defeat of the season, there might not be a better opponent for the Mavericks to see next than the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, as the Dallas team tries to get back on track following a disappointing showing in Los Angeles.

The Mavericks (53-22), who watched as their five-game win streak came to a crashing end in L.A. thanks to a season-worst 110-82 loss to the back-to-back champion Lakers, will try to get back in the win column while bidding to sweep the season series versus the Warriors in the fourth matchup between the two squads.

“Look, [Thursday night] was a highly-contested game, we take the loss and we’ve got to get ready for the next one,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.

“It’s a gut-check and we’ve gotta grow up from this if we want to get to where we want to get to,” center Tyson Chandler added.

And with a seventh straight win in the series with the Warriors at stack and just seven games remaining on the schedule until the playoffs, the Mavs hope to show they can respond from their physical contest against the Lakers, in a game that featured five ejections.

“[Thursday night] was a chippy game, so the playoffs started early,” Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki explained. “That’s what the playoffs are all about, emotions can run high and things are gonna happen.”

Saturday night, the Mavericks will get the opportunity to grew from the loss immediately, looking to replicate their most dominant victory of the season, a 101-73 home win over the Warriors on March 20, in which the Dallas team surrendered a season-low in points and cruised to their largest margin of victory in the 2010-11 campaign.

But the Mavericks, who still sport the NBA’s best road record at 27-11, admit that repeating the events of that night and collecting a fourth win against the Warriors (32-44) will not be an easy task, facing the league’s seventh-best scoring team and No. 8 scorer Monta Ellis, whose 24.1 points a night ranks just ahead of Nowitzki’s 23.3 points an outing.

Ellis scored just 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting in the last meeting between the two teams. Still, with the cat-quick guard’s ability to go for a big scoring night and the Warriors’ supporting cast led by point guard Stephen Curry and big man David Lee also capable of giving the Dallas defense fits, the Mavericks know they could be in for a shootout, as was the case four days prior to the runaway win at the American Airlines Center when the visiting Mavs went into ORACLE Arena and outdueled Golden State, 112-106.

“They’ve got Monta Ellis over there and a couple of other guys that are playing well,” forward Shawn Marion said of the matchup. “It’s gonna be a track race. They put up a lot of points, they like to score, so that’s all…This is the NBA, though, and sometimes it’s that much harder the third or fourth time you play a team. And they’ve got a talented team.”

But despite the Warriors’ talent level the Mavericks will try to repeat what worked well in that lopsided victory the last time around, hoping to have no problem rebounding from their tough loss in L.A and taking the court looking to move to 4-1 on their current six-game road trip — the longest of the season — with the Portland Trails Blazers still on deck for Sunday in a potential playoff preview.

Note: Bidding for the season series sweep, the Mavericks will enter Oracle Arena hoping to rebound from the loss to the Lakers. The Mavericks-Warriors matchup will tip off Saturday night at 9:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest.

The team returns to Dallas to host the Denver Nuggets on April 6. The Nuggets lead the season series 2-1 including a 121-120 win over the Mavs in Denver on Feb. 10. That game has been moved up and will now tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

The team returns to Dallas to host the Denver Nuggets on April 6. The Nuggets lead the season series 2-1 including a 121-120 win over the Mavs in Denver on Feb. 10. That game has been moved up and will now tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT, airing locally on Fox Sports Southwest. Great seats are still available and tickets can be purchased by visiting the American Airlines Center box office, logging on to Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287).

Stay connected with Dallas Mavericks inside reporter Earl K. Sneed by clicking "like" on his Facebook page or by following him on Twitter. Got a question for EKS? Send your question, along with your first name, last initial, city and state with the subject line "Ask EKS" to askeks@dallasmavs.com, and you could be published on Mavsfastbreak.com, the Mavericks' new official blog site.

Single-game tickets for the first two Mavs home games of the First Round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs will go on sale Saturday, April 2 at 8 a.m. Fans that purchase single-game tickets will receive a commemorative 2011 Mavs Playoff ticket*, which will allow the fans to experience augmented reality, a new technology that will bring the ticket to life with animated Mavs players including Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry. Game day and commemorative tickets will go live when the 2011 Playoffs begin.

Tickets will be available online at mavs.com, via phone (214-747-6287 or 1-800-4NBA-TIX) and the American Airlines Center® North Box Office**. Ticket prices start at $15 and up and there is a four ticket limit per game. At 12 p.m., the limit will increase to eight tickets per game and will also be sold at all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Simon Mall in Garland and Shops at Willow Bend).

The Fan Shop at American Airlines Center will also be open from 8 a.m. -10 a.m. and fans that purchase $50 worth of Mavs merchandise will receive a free Mavs hat (one per customer, while supplies last).

Parking will be available in Lot E. Dates and times for the first two games have not been announced, but will be posted on mavs.com by April 14th.

Fans that purchase single game tickets at the American Airlines Center® North Box Office will receive their commemorative ticket at that time. For those purchasing online or at a Ticketmaster outlet, commemorative tickets will be available to pick up at the American Airlines Center® North Box Office or on Playoff game nights at the Mavs ticket sales table on the main concourse near the North Box Office. Augmented Reality is available only on Android phones. For more information, go to http://www.nba.com/mavericks/ar/ar.html.

A lottery system will be in place for those fans that choose to purchase their tickets at American Airlines Center. Beginning at 7 a.m., a lottery number will be given to each fan. At approximately 7:30 a.m., there will be a drawing to determine the first person in line. All numbers sequentially following the drawn number will be the second, third, fourth, etc. in line.

Lottery numbers (at American Airlines Center) do not guarantee anyone the right to purchase game tickets. Tickets will be sold upon availability. American Airlines Center® policy prohibits camping out on the premises.

Individual game tickets are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased at the American Airlines Center box office, on Mavs.com or by calling 214-747-MAVS (6287). Get in on the action and be there for all the thrills!

Fans can visit Mavs.com or call 214.747.MAVS for more information and a complete listing of regular-season home games.