With three low-pressure games remaining, Rick Carlisle would like to see a sharpened defense from his Dallas Mavericks before they open the playoffs.
The Mavericks coach, however, is also trying to get his players some rest, and his team had a particularly taxing effort before Sunday night's visit to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Dallas (48-31) is locked into the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference, but its defense has hardly been at playoff level. The Mavericks have allowed an average of 118.8 points while splitting their last six games and gave up 69 in the second half Friday while letting Denver take them deep into the night.
Dallas came away with a 144-143 win in double overtime when Raymond Felton converted a layup with 1.5 seconds left then blocked Kenneth Faried's close-range shot.
"We have to do some things better defensively, but we have time to prepare," Carlisle said.
He put most of his starters on the bench for the second overtime -- they all still played at least 30 minutes -- and gave point guard Rajon Rondo the night off in the opener to a three-game trip. Dallas also gave Chandler Parsons more time to continue healing from an ailing right knee that's caused him to miss the past three games.
Carlisle has said he is planning on keeping tabs on his players' minutes.
"I think we'll have enough time before we start that first (playoff) game with a couple of days to get some good practice in, especially if guys are rested," center Tyson Chandler told the team's official website.
Dallas does have a little something to play for, its first 50-win season since going 57-25 in 2010-11 en route to its only NBA championship. The Mavericks will get to face two lottery-bound teams to cap this trip, including Monday's visit to Utah.
They've won the past six meetings with Los Angeles and now look to a sweep a season series from them for the first time.
The Lakers (21-58) must win one of their final three games to avoid finishing with the worst record in franchise history, currently the 19-53 mark from 1957-58 while in Minneapolis. They've already recorded the franchise's most losses in one season.
Los Angeles is 5-17 since the beginning of March and all of those victories have been against teams well under .500. The Lakers ended a five-game skid with Friday's 106-98 victory over Minnesota -- the only team below them in the West.
Ryan Kelly had a season-high 21 points while rookie Jabari Brown provided 20 points and a career-best seven assists. Jordan Clarkson contributed 18 points and is averaging 19.5 in his last 11 games.
"Just like in any situation, you're going to see some bright spots. And we've been able to see that," coach Byron Scott said. "I think I've made it pretty clear to our guys that there is still something to play for -- not the playoffs, or anything like that, but just pride and just being a professional and a competitor. That's the bottom line."
Clarkson had 15 points in his only start against Dallas on March 8, but Monta Ellis scored 31 in that 100-93 road victory for the Mavericks in the teams' last matchup.
In this visit, Dallas will seek its first three-game road win streak over the Lakers and its first string of three consecutive victories away from home since Jan. 2-5.
lineup
Clarkson
Jabari
Wesley
Kelly
Black
or something like that
vs
Rondo
Monta
Parsons
Dirk
Chandler
or something like that
