[Cinco de Mayo]

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- After the most successful January in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks open February with a stern test.

The Mavericks look for their 10th straight victory Wednesday when they meet the league's top defensive team, the Memphis Grizzlies.

Averaging 99.9 points to rank fifth in the league, Dallas has held its last nine opponents to less than 100 points. The streak helped the Mavericks move into a first-place tie with San Antonio in the Southwest Division.

Josh Howard scored 22 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 21 for Dallas, which set a team record with 13 victories in January with Tuesday's 98-94 triumph over the Chicago Bulls.

The Grizzlies have limited their opponents to a league-low 87.1 points and are playing their final home contest before a six-game road trip.

Chucky Atkins scored 19 points and Mike Miller added 17 off the bench as Memphis won for the second time in five games with Monday's 86-77 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Coach Mike Fratello could move past Hall of Famer Chuck Daly into 17th place on the all-time list with his 639th victory, which is seventh among active coaches.

Nowitzki scored 35 points to lead the Mavericks to a 90-83 win over the Grizzlies in their last meeting December 9. Dallas has won six of the last seven encounters and is 17-3 all-time at Memphis.

http://www.nba.com/games/20060201/DALMEM/preview.html

[Cinco de Mayo]

Dallas has won nine straight.

Hopefully, we can show the same fire we showed in the second half against the Rockets. And that Frat starts Chucky again. And that Lorenzen doesn't embarrass himself even worse than he has this season. And that Jake plays...

[MemphisX]

10 straight for Dallas because noone on the Grizzlies has a pair.

[Cinco de Mayo]

Just got home from the MSU game.

Eddie Jones and Bobby Jackson combine for 3-18 tonight, 0-5 from downtown. Five assists and four turnovers.

Time to put those two old dogs out to pasture.

And Atkins, a 75 percent foul shooter with his second really good game in a row, falls apart at the line with 23 seconds left. Seems like whenever you put our jersey on, you can flush your free throw percentage down the toilet.

[Gambino]

Memphis played great defense in the 3rd quarter. Dallas played great defense especially inside in the 4th. It was a great game. I will not look forward to playing you guys if we meet up in the playoffs. You are very impressive defensively.

[Bonzinator]

i think its pretty much a lock that you guys are gonna have the fifth seed and play the spurs or the mavs. that sucks

[Cinco de Mayo]

Originally Posted by Bonzinator

i think its pretty much a lock that you guys are gonna have the fifth seed and play the spurs or the mavs. that sucks

If you take a glance at the standings and our February schedule, I think you might reconsider that.