After being thoroughly embarrassed by Kobe Bryant last Tuesday, the Mavericks came in looking to win their third in a row and reestablish themselves as a Western contender. The same could be said for Indiana, who doesn't appear to be a serious threat in the East since Artest got suspended. This should have been a game featuring two powerhouses; instead we got a 102-80 win for the Mavs.If you ever needed a game to truly show how important rebounding is, this was it. With 8:30 left in the 3rd Dallas was out rebounding Indiana 32-14, and Erick Dampier had as many boards as the Pacers. The Mavs had a ridiculous 19 Offensive rebounds and out rebounded the Pacers overall 49-30.

The Pacers came into this game 8th in the League in rebounding, but were undersized. O'Neal was playing C and Chroshere was playing PF. In the future, they need Harrison, Pollard or Foster to play Center, because they were annihilated on the glass today. No Pacer had more than 4 rebounds. That is not getting it done.As if they hadn't played bad enough to lose, no Pacer had more than 15 points.

At the very least, you have to be ready to score against the Mavericks. Offensively they just stood around, giving it to O'Neal who would take a bad shot and miss.Dallas saw several players excel last night: Dirk Nowitzki had 23 and didn't play for most of the 4th.

Devin Harris had maybe the best game of his career off the bench with 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. Jerry Stackhouse contributed with 15 in his 2nd game back from injury. Josh Howard chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Without Artest, the Pacers just aren't contenders. Losing James Jones, Dale Davis and Reggie Miller was enough to slow them down, but losing Artest is the last straw.

They have to pull the trigger soon, weather it's for Stojakovic or Odom. Jasikevicus doesn't provide the defensive stamina that Artest does and has struggled lately as well.The Mavericks with the win are tied with the Spurs for best record in the West and have kept their teams under 100 in their last 3 wins. They are 14-3 against teams who were in the playoffs last year.

Indiana's bench out rebounded their starters, which should never happen. Jeff Foster and Chroshere had 4 rebounds to lead the team; it ties the Sonics for lowest number of rebounds for the team leader in a game this year (the Sonics lost that game by 27).

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By: David Pincus