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NBA team reports on the half of the Western conference, exclusive to InsideHoops.com.

DALLAS MAVERICKS: The Mavericks haven't been known as a defensive team and won't get confused with the Pistons anytime soon but they may be improving defensively. ... Through 27 games, they have held eight opponents under 40 percent, something that happened just nine times last season. ... Tuesday's 123-94 win in New York was the Mavs seventh straight win over the Knicks and also was the most productive game of forward Josh Howard's career. He had career highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds and has surprised coach Don Nelson by being his only player to start every game. ... Tuesday's blowout allowed C Dirk Nowitzki to rest himself and his new teeth. Nowitzki, who lost some teeth in a collision with teammate Jason Terry and Atlanta's Jason Collier Saturday, played just 25 minutes, his second-lowest amount of the year. ... Dallas also has improved its play on the road as it had five in a row before Wednesday's 113-110 loss in Atlanta and is 9-4 after going 16-25 a year ago. ... The departure of Steve Nash has hurt the Mavericks in the assist department. Entering Tuesday's action, the Mavericks were averaging 17.3 after managing 23.9 in Nash's final season in Dallas. ... Terry leads the team with 3.6 per game and the Mavs have had 25 or more assists just six times so far. Terry made his return to Atlanta Wednesday night and scored a season-high 23 points but watched his former team shoot 53.5 percent and dish out 26 assists. .... Guard Jerry Stackhouse missed the last three games with a sore right hand. .... Dallas has had 126 consecutive sellouts and the latest one was Saturday's 90-68 win over Atlanta, a game that featured season ticket holders giving their tickets to veterans of the war in Iraq.

DENVER NUGGETS: The Nuggets were 12-7 after opening their seven-game road trip with wins in Washington and Toronto. But they finished the trek with a 3-4 record after losing in New York, Philadelphia, Miami and Orlando. ... Second-year forward Carmelo Anthony has missed three straight games with a sprained left ankle and does not expect to return until at least Sunday. ... Despite missing Anthony and center Marcus Camby (bronchitis), the Nuggets hung tough with the Suns and were handed a tough 107-105 loss Monday. ... Because of injuries, the Nuggets have used nine different starting lineups, two more than last season. Only guards Andre Miller, Earl Boykins and forward Kenyon Martin have appeared in every game. .... Denver's defense has slipped a little, allowing seven of its last nine opponents to score over 100 points. Entering Wednesday's game at Seattle Denver had allowed an average of 56 points in the paint over the last six games and has won just once. "We've slipped defensively," coach Jeff Bzdelik said to the Rocky Mountain News. "Our first seven games of the year we weren't very good defensively. Then during the 12-game stretch in which we were 10-2, our defensive numbers were as good as anybody in the league. These last six games have not been very good." ... In Tuesday's practice, Greg Buckner (chest cold), Nene (hip) and Franciso Elson (foot), joined Anthony and Camby on the sidelines. All but Anthony played in Wednesday's loss to the Sonics, who have won both meetings vs. Denver by a combined 35 points.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Golden State management must have been thrilled watching three former players suit for the other team. That's what happened in Monday's 103-101 loss to the Wizards, who start ex-Warriors Larry Hughes, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. The trio combined for 72 points Monday and the Warriors lost on Arenas' basket with 0.8 seconds left. "Sometimes you think when you play against him, 'What if Gilbert was here?'", guard Jason Richardson said to the Contra Coast Times "But you can't dwell on it. That's the NBA." ... Guard Derek Fisher is eligible to return from the injured list but isn't quite ready. He was jogging in pregame warmups and his sprained right knee has shown improvement. Fisher's injury has given more action to Speedy Claxton, who is averaging 17.5 points and 38.8 minutes in his last six games. .... In their first national TV game of the year, the Warriors ended a four-game losing streak with a 109-99 win vs. Memphis on Wednesday. .... Richardson scored 24 points and has led the Warriors in points four straight games. ... F-C Clifford Robinson scored 25 points on December 14 at Dallas went just 7-of-31 from the field in his next four games. But Robinson, who turned 38 last Thursday, finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 from the field Wednesday.

HOUSTON ROCKETS: Although the Rockets lost in overtime to Dallas when swingman Tracy McGrady scored 48 points on Dec. 2, they are 6-3 in their last nine games. On Monday in a 114-102 victory over Toronto, Center Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady combined for 74 points. It was the highest combined total since guards Kenny Smith and Vernon Maxwell combined for 74 against Denver on April 5, 1991. ... The Rockets had reached 100 points in three straight games for the first time since March 21-24, 2003 but followed Monday's impressive display with Wednesday's 90-87 loss to the expansion Bobcats, who also beat them in overtime Saturday. "This is who we are at present," coach Jeff Van Gundy said to the Houston Chronicle. "Without a change in our behavior, our preparations, our intensity, our concentration, our energy, our execution ... without changing something for the positive, you're not going to get change." ... G Charlie Ward returned to practice Tuesday and was activated from the injured list Wednesday after being out since November 27 with a bruised right knee. ... Yao and McGrady scored 20 points in the same game for the eighth time this season. ... In both losses to the Bobcats, the Rockets have endured awful stretches in the fourth quarter. On Saturday, they didn't score for the first six minutes and Wednesday they had five points in the first six minutes.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: Through Wednesday, 34 overtime games have been played and the Clippers have involved in six of them and won twice. The latest one was a rather improbable 100-91 win over the Hornets that saw the Clippers blow a 21-point lead before reserve guard Rick Brunson scored 11 of his 18 points in overtime. ... The Clippers were down to eight players at the end of the night. Corey Maggette (groin), Marko Jaric (foot) and Kerry Kittles (back) did not dress and Quinton Ross lasted just 6:20 before injuring his hip. ... While Los Angeles enjoyed a 9-6 mark in November, it is just 3-6 in December as Tuesday's win snapped a five-game losing streak. ... While the injuries to Maggette and Jaric are not considered serious, the Clippers placed Kittles on the injured list Tuesday with a sciatic condition caused by a bulging disk in his back. Kittles missed the Clippers first 10 games with a sore right knee and is expected to be out for two weeks. ... The injury to Ross gave rookie Lionel Chalmers a chance to play major minutes as he scored eight points in 44 minutes. ... Center Chris Wilcox averaged 13.6 points last month but has slumped this month, averaging just six points. He reached double figures in points in nine of his first 10 games but has done so just three times in his last 13 contests.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS: Perhaps the Lakers were preparing for the in-person battle between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant on Saturday night as Wednesday's 101-89 win over the New Orleans Hornets featured a small skirmish when Dan Dickau tripped Caron Butler with 3:30 remaining. Butler appeared to take a swing at Dickau and was tossed. "It was just a natural reaction to pull him off my leg," Butler explained to the Associated Press. "That was it. I've known Dan for a while, he's a cool dude." ... Guard Chucky Atkins scored a season-high 30 points and center Chris Mihm matched a league-best and established a career-high with 21 rebounds. The big nights by two players acquired from Boston in the Gary Payton trade enabled the Lakers to avoid their first three-game losing streak at the STAPLES Center. They have dropped consecutive games in their six-year-old homecourt just six times and hadn't lost three in a row at home since February 7-14, 1999. ... On Monday, the Lakers scored a franchise-low 24 second half points in an 82-72 loss to Memphis. ... Bryant entered Wednesday shooting a career-worst 39.5 percent and since his strange interview during ESPN's halftime show on December 15, he is shooting 37 percent (30-of-81) in his last four contests. ... Center Vlade Divac was placed on the injured list a second time with back problems. Divac, who made his return to Sacramento last Thursday, has scored just six points in eight games. Replacing Divac was forward Brian Grant, who had been out since November 23 with right knee tendinitis. Bryant countered O'Neal's "corvette remark" with this response in Tuesday's LA Times: "I don't think I'm a Corvette," he said. "I'm 230 [pounds] now. I'm like a mixture of a Corvette and a Hummer."

MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Memphis is 7-5 since new coach Mike Fratello took over on December 3. The Grizzlies had won a season-high three straight games before Wednesday's 109-99 loss at Golden State. Memphis is giving up 87.8 points per game under Fratello and Wednesday's defeat marked the first time since November 26 at Minnesota, it gave up more than 100 points. ... Wednesday's game marked the return of assistant coach Eric Musselman to the Bay Area. Despite guiding the Warriors to 38 and 37 wins in two seasons he was fired. Asked about his emotions, Musselman told the Memphis Commerical Appeal he wasn't sure what to expect. "It'll be strange because we really had two good years," he told the Newspaper Wednesday. "We were hired to change the culture there and we did what we were hired to do, which was to instill a winning attitude. We went from 18, 19, 21 wins to the upper 30s and knocked on the playoff door. ... Forward Brian Cardinal, who was known as "The Janitor" for his constant hustle with the Warriors, also returned but did it in street clothes as he is on the injured list with a sprained right ankle. ... The highlight of Memphis' four-game trip was Monday's 82-72 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was their first road win against the Lakers in 19 tries.

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: Kevin Garnett is known as "The Big Ticket" and earlier this week, he offered his own nickname for Cleveland star LeBron James. In Tuesday's St. Paul Pioneer Press, he said "I like to call him 'The Gift,'"He's handled everything that has been thrown at him. He's handled it with a great sense of embracement and he hasn't looked back. So I'm happy for him. I'm happy not only for him, but for Cleveland. He's definitely been the gift for that town and also the league." ... The Timberwolves have lost three in a row on the road after Tuesday's 107-97 loss at Cleveland. They were without guard Latrell Sprewell, whose sprained left foot and left big toe kept him out of a game for the first time with Minnesota. The injury is expected to keep him sidelined for Thursday's game at San Antonio and Sunday's home game vs. Washington. ... Despite having three days off, Minnesota encountered some travel issues. Due to an ice storm in the Minneapolis area, the Wolves canceled practice Monday and did not leave for Cleveland until that afternoon. ... Getting off to good starts has become a problem for Minnesota recently. Over its last six games, Minnesota has shot 37.9 percent while allowing foes to shoot 50.8 percent in the opening quarter. In their first 18 games, the Wolves shot 53.3 percent in the first 12 minutes. ... The Timberwolves have not lost four in a row away from home since November 2002.