HOUSTON _ One look at the NBA standings as the season hits the one-quarter mark, and you know things are out of whack.
Denver and the LA Clippers join Golden State among the top three in the Western Conference. The Houston Rockets came into Wednesday's match with the Mavericks with the third-worst record in the conference. And yes, the Mavericks had a better record.
Who had that one pegged back on opening night?
Next thing you know, dogs and cats will be living in harmony together. Mass hysteria.
OK, maybe we're overreacting a touch. But the sample size is no longer small and it includes the Mavericks' 128-108 victory at Houston on Wednesday night. They look like they're going to be fighting for the playoffs all season. While you have to figure Houston and Golden State will get their stuff in order, they both have work to do and injuries to overcome.
Ten teams in the West are within three games of each other and the Mavericks are right in the thick of it all.
"That's how life works sometimes," point guard Dennis Smith Jr. said about the Mavericks entering Wednesday's game in front of Houston. "It's been crazy to see, but my focus is the Dallas Mavericks. We're tied for eighth in the West. A win should push us up. That's what we'll focus on. We put our work in and we feel like we deserve it."
It was more of the same at Toyota Center as the Mavericks looked like the dominant team through most of their second road victory of the season. They are a long way from proving they've got the hang of these road wins. But it's a start. They benefited from Houston missing All-Star point guard Chris Paul. But they did what they needed to do against James Harden.
The Mavericks were up by 21 in the third quarter. Houston cut it to five late in the period, but the Mavericks punched it back up to 117-95 with 7 minutes left and there was no more drama down the stretch.
They now have won eight of their last 10 to nose above .500.
Not many people had the Mavericks' penciled in for that record after 19 games. For certain, nobody had them there after a 2-7 start to the season.
But here they are.
"I'm not shocked by anything because early in the year everybody's juiced up and going hard," coach Rick Carlisle said. "I don't get carried away either way with that stuff.
"I think everybody knew it was going to be very bunched up in the West, very difficult. It speaks to the parity and it speaks to the opportunity every night. You can move up with a win or drop way down."
Don't the Rockets know it. At 9-10 coming into Wednesday's meeting and riding a three-game losing streak, they were in a bad spot, especially with Paul's injury.
"The league now, there's not an easy game out there," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni said. "You look down and we're in 13th place and Utah's in 14th, and it's like, oh my gosh. It's a good thing it's early."
But not as early as it used to be.
Dirk getting close? After shooting jumpers from every distance and angle and running, then shooting more and running more, Dirk Nowitzki took his sweat-soaked body off the practice court at the Toyota Center.
It was an hour long workout after which he talked about his impending comeback after being out since April after left ankle surgery.
"It's going good, but we really only started two weeks ago to run and jump and do all those things, so it's going to take me awhile," Nowitzki said. "I still don't feel like my legs and my wind are great. Plus our guys are playing really, really well, so I don't feel like I need to rush out there and do anything crazy."
The workouts Nowitzki has been going through away from his teammates and the limelight are exhausting. Lots of wind sprints the length of the court and back. Full-speed defensive drills that include sliding laterally to give the ankle a workout. And of course, plenty of shooting, often after sprints to simulate the fatigue of a game.
Afterward, he walks without a trace of any pain or gimpiness.
So even though coach Rick Carlisle's hope that a November return appears to have been a bit too ambitious, the light certainly is shining brighter at the end of the tunnel.
"We were hoping," Nowitzki said about getting back before December. "I mean, it feels good. I could probably go out there and play a few minutes but there's really no need."
If it helps, both his coach and owner believe the debut of Nowitzki in his 21st season is nearing.
"I don't have an exact timetable," Carlisle said. "It could be sometime in the next couple weeks if things continue to go well. But nothing's for sure. He's doing better."
Said Mark Cuban: "I think the first week of December. That's my bet. But who knows. I'd say within the next two weeks. I don't want to play semantics with the date."
