Damage meaning win a series for the first time since they eliminated the Phoenix Suns in 2006.

Perhaps.

For all the good feelings that Jason Kidd's 20 assists and the team's 140 points generated against a no-defense Phoenix team Sunday, this is still a team that lost to Memphis on Friday night.

It's a team that has lost seven games by 20 points or more, and that includes losses to Memphis, Phoenix, Milwaukee and New Jersey.

After all that, the Mavericks are in position to win 50 games if they can run the table at home or if they lose one home game but win at New Orleans on Sunday.

And being positioned to advance out of the eighth position in the seedings has seldom been more significant.

In most seasons in the West, it doesn't matter so much if you finish eighth, seventh or sixth. Either way, you are facing a division winner and headed for an early exit.

Not the case this spring.

If you finish eighth, you get the Lakers. So if you finish eighth, you are finished for the season.

The No. 8 Mavericks' record is only 5 1/2 games worse than the No. 2 Denver Nuggets. There is virtually no separation between the seven teams that will make the playoffs that don't play home games at the Staples Center.

And one of the teams that could be the Mavericks' opponent if Dallas is successful in escaping eighth just got considerably weaker.

The San Antonio Spurs learned Monday that Manu Ginobili isn't coming back. Not for the regular season, not for the playoffs. The ankle that has bothered him periodically throughout this season is not healing.

When the Spurs lose one of their big three, they become as vulnerable as any team that makes the playoffs in the West. And, yes, I realize that the Mavericks lost a regular-season game to them when neither Ginobili nor Tim Duncan played.

That was the regular season. That was just one of those head-scratchers that the Mavericks have tossed out there this season.

The Spurs aren't likely to climb into the No. 2 spot ahead of Denver, but it's still a possibility.

For the Mavericks, the return of Josh Howard has elevated the team's play, given them another weapon. Are the Mavericks close to being one of those "teams you don't want to play?"

I think that's a little strong. And no telling how long Howard will stay on the floor before he is forced back to the bench with another injury.

The teams the Mavericks are trying to catch are coming to town. Dallas trails Utah by a game and plays the Jazz tonight. The Mavs trail the Hornets by two games and play them here Friday night and in New Orleans on Sunday.

These are the most crucial games the 46-31 Mavericks will play. But their work is cut out for them.

Unless they sweep the Hornets, the Mavericks aren't in position to win tiebreakers against either club. Utah owns a better conference record. New Orleans has the better division mark.

So to get out of the dreaded eighth spot isn't going to be easy. But given this team's ups and downs and baffling losses, it's amazing that advancing in the standings down the stretch is even feasible.