Dallas Mavericks happy to stay under the radar

They are the NBA's hottest team, have been for almost two months and own the third-best record in the league.

And they are as invisible as Claude Rains.

They have the NBA's most flamboyant owner in Mark Cuban, play in one of the premier cities in the Midwest United States and are led by one of the best players in the game.

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And when it comes to title contenders, they are an afterthought. No one seems interested in taking the Dallas Mavericks seriously.

They are dwarfed in the Western Conference by Los Angeles Lakers, the two-time champions, and a San Antonio Spurs team with the best record in the NBA.

They are overshadowed in the Eastern Conference by the tradition-rich Boston Celtics, the star-studded Miami Heat and the rising Chicago Bulls.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks are 45-16, have won eight consecutive games and 18 of their last 19.

They are 43-9 when Dirk Nowitzki is healthy and 2-7 when he is not. They are 6-2 against the Lakers, Spurs, Celtics and Heat. Both losses came against the Spurs while Nowitzki was out with an injured knee.

The problem for Dallas is, they have had years when they won plenty of games during the regular season, only to suffer a quick burnout once the play-offs started.

In three of the past four post-seasons, the Mavericks were knocked out in the first round.

"Under the radar is always good," Nowitzki said. "I think the Lakers, to me, are still the heavy favourites in the West. After that, there are a bunch of teams bundled up."

Dallas have suffered through the years with an inability to provide Nowitzki with a productive No 2 scorer. After the Lakers' Kobe Bryant was finally teamed with Pau Gasol, three consecutive trips to the NBA finals ensued.

Caron Butler was the closest thing the Mavs could come up with, but he was lost for the season with injury after only 29 games. And still the Mavs won.

Dallas has never been known as a strong defensive team, but the addition this year of centre Tyson Chandler has given the Mavericks an inside presence Nowitzki has never had before. Chandler does many of the things - rebound, defence -that are not Nowitzki's strong suit.

Meanwhile, Jason Terry has returned to his Sixth Man of the Year form. And recent additions have helped, Peja Stojakovic giving them an outside shooter to open the court for Nowitzki, and Corey Brewer an athletic forward who plays tough defence.

It may be time to re-examine the Mavericks. Nowitzki thinks they now match-up much better with the tall Lakers and Spurs.

"We're long as well, now," he said. "We can match up with their length when we're all hungry. And it should be a fun match-up if we see them."

sports@thenational.ae