Lucky Number 13 - Mavs Win 96-87

Despite a rough night for Dirk Nowitzki, strong performances by Caron Butler (above) and Jason Kidd led to yet another comeback win from down 10 points or more by the Mavericks. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

(An outlandishly awful stomach virus has me seriously dragging ass on this post. I wasn't able to pay attention to much of the game so my analysis is likely not on par with the usual.)

Here's the AP recap.

My thoughts:

• Before the trade, I strongly believe that this Dallas Mavericks team would have lost this game, plain and simple. Especially with Dirk Nowitzki struggling (3-16 for 12 points) and without Jason Terry. Jason Kidd (20 points) and Caron Butler (18) were able to pick up the slack and deliver as six Mavs scored in double-figures.
  

• Slow starts have been a trend for the Mavs recently and this game was no exception as the Nets scored 33 points in the first quarter and Dallas struggled to get to 39 by halftime. Luckily, a big third quarter (Dallas outscored the Nets 31-15) turned the tide for the Mavs.

It wasn't pretty against the worst team in the NBA but, overall, a win is a win. Dallas hasn't been playing it's best basketball recently, but still has 13 straight wins to show for it. One can only imagine what this team will look like once everybody is healthy.

Dallas takes on the New York Knicks Saturday night in Dallas.

Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen locally on Fox Sports Southwest.