Is Devin in or out tonight?

Should we make this the gamethread?

Mavericks at Golden State Warriors preview

9:30 p.m. Wednesday, The Arena in Oakland, Ch. 21/ESPN; ESPN-FM (103.3) and KFLC-AM (1270 Spanish)

09:59 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 11, 2006



By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News

Season series: Warriors lead, 2-1.

The Warriors (with San Antonio and the Lakers) are one of three teams with multiple wins vs. the Mavericks this season.



Key matchup
Dirk Nowitzki vs. Troy Murphy: What, you expected DeSagana Diop vs. Adonal Foyle? Sorry. Nowitzki scored a season-high 51 points the last time these teams met. His MVP push continued with a big game against San Antonio and the game-winning shot against the Clippers. Nowitzki drilled a 16-foot jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining even though he had missed nine of his previous 10 shots in the second half. "Down the stretch, when it comes down to the last shot, you have to forget about what happened before, concentrate and follow through on the shot," Nowitzki said. Murphy isn't the star. But he's a good, solid player who doesn't receive the credit he deserves. He has 33 double-doubles to rank in the league's top 10.

Inside the Mavericks
Making a stand: Since the Mavericks have held their last two opponents to less than 80 points, it's time to take another look at their defense. Dallas allows an average of 92.5 points to rank seventh in the league. The team has held 10 of its last 17 opponents to less than 90 points. "We think we can win a game with our defense," guard Jason Terry said. "We're convinced about that."

Briefly: Devin Harris joined the team at its San Francisco hotel after Tuesday's practice. He will work out with the team the rest of this road trip but isn't expected to play until Sunday's game against Utah.

Inside the Warriors
Feeling lost: Golden State carried an eight-game losing streak into Tuesday night's game against the Lakers. Five of those losses have been by five points or less and two have come in overtime. Golden State is 6-13 this season in games decided by three points or less.

Briefly: Guard Jason Richardson scored 40 points and hit the game winner the last time these teams met, but he's been bothered by a sore right knee and his availability for today's game is unknown. ... Baron Davis won't be playing either, but he got to remove his ankle-immobilizing boot four days ago and is working out.

<table bgcolor="#000000" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="99%"> <tbody><tr> <td> <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td colspan="3" class="bilabel" align="center"> PROBABLE STARTERS </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#cccccc"> <td class="dwsmodule"> Mavericks </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Pos. </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Warriors </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td class="dwsmodule"> Josh Howard </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> F </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Mike Dunleavy </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td class="dwsmodule"> Dirk Nowitzki </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> F </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Troy Murphy </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td class="dwsmodule"> DeSagana Diop </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> C </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Adonal Foyle </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td class="dwsmodule"> Jerry Stackhouse </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> G </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Mickael Pietrus </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ffffff"> <td class="dwsmodule"> Jason Terry </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> G </td> <td class="dwsmodule"> Derek Fisher</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>