Jamal Mashburn underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Tuesday. Rehabilitation for Mash is expected to take 3 to 4 months. Mashburn's leg will be on a motion machine 8 hours a day for the next 6 weeks. He could be cleared for using a stationary bike as soon as next week but won't be allowed to lift weights with the leg for 6 weeks. Lorenzo Williams has re-joined the team for practices and could return to action as early as Monday. Lo suffered a fractured eye orbit January 9. Motta has found a new pet, scrappy player in David Wood. Look for Wood to be signed for the rest of the season and either Terry Davis put on IR with the pulled groin that has kept him out of the past 2 1/2 weeks or Donald Hodge to be released. Hodge is in the last year of his contract and won't be re-signed. Expect Thursday's trading deadline to come and go without any action from the Mavs - unless they can find someone to take Terry Davis. Terry is signed through next season and the Mavs would love to free up his money to go towards the free agency market. But Terry does have a trade clause of a 20% raise if traded. The games A lousy one and two good ones - all with the same outcome. A common thread amongst them all: poor rebounding. We were out-rebounded in all 3 games. Rebounding is usually one of the team's strengths. A second common thread was the total lack of transition defense. If the opponent had a fast break, it was almost a guaranteed layup or jam. And a couple of them were not even fast breaks, just a full court pass to the open player who snuck behind the sleeping defense. Guys, you got to keep your heads up (and also try putting your _hands_ up when the opponent attempts a shot). The Houston game was the lousy game. The Mavs looked like they were still on the All-Star break. You know you are in trouble when Olajuwon is having a poor game and in foul trouble in the first half and yet you are down 18 points at the half. Highlights for the Mavs: hmmm...Meyer did a pretty good job defending Olajuwon in the post. Highlights for the Rockets: Cassell was in the zone and had 31 points on 10-12 FG, 4-4 3-pointers, and 7-7 FT; Chucky Brown hit the open shots and had 16 points, and Drexler had a triple-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. Houston 121, Dallas 106. The Mavs almost always play lousy on national TV (watch out for this Friday's game vs the LA Lakers on TNT). The Utah game was a very good game. It was raining 3s for the Mavs. The Mavs made 14-31 3-pointers (both team records for a non-overtime game). Kidd actually hit 5-12 3-pointers - but missed the potential game tying one with a couple of seconds left. The Mavs actually led most of the way. The low post play of Karl Malone and Antoine Carr in the 4th is what saved the Jazz. The two combined for 23 points in the quarter as the Jazz out-scored the Mavs by 10 in the 4th. Jeff Hornacek was ejected in the 2nd quarter after picking up his second T while complaining about a bad offensive foul call on Chris Morris. Both teams only had 3 players in double figures: Malone 30, Stockton 21, and Carr 14; McCloud 20, Jackson 20, and Kidd 34. Utah 106, Dallas 103. The Lakers game was also a very good and entertaining game. Nick Van Exel's 3-point 3/4 court banker fortunately occurred just after the buzzer and didn't count. The shot of the night came from Popeye Jones. Popeye got the loose ball on the baseline halfway between the basket and the corner, with his back to the basket he reached out and flipped the ball up and it went in at the shot clock buzzer. The Mavs were up by 3 after 3. But the Magic is back - and I have to admit I enjoyed it. Mid-way through the 4th, Magic Johnson was responsible for a 6-0 Laker run. George McCloud could not defend Magic (he did a great defensive job one time and Magic just nailed the hook and George just slammed the ball down in frustration) and the double-team was slow to none in helping. The Mavs cut the Lakers' lead down to 2 with about 30 seconds left. Magic, from the post, kicked the ball out to the open Cedric Ceballos who nailed the 3 to put the nail in the coffin. LA Lakers 119, Dallas 114. Rookie watch: Cherokee Parks has been getting more minutes (13, 17, and 18) but hasn't done much with them - but at least he is getting some experience. He did have a couple of good boards (ie, they didn't just fall in his lap) in the Utah and Lakers games. Loren Meyer is still playing well. He has been showing very good post defense and does not go for the fakes like he did at the beginning of the season. Hopefully Lorenzo's return will not diminish Loren's minutes too much. Quote Dick Motta on why he doesn't wear his championship ring (77-78 with Washington): "It's too big. Every time I pick my nose it draws too much attention."