The Mavericks had a tough question to figure out over this latest stretch. How could they replace the offensive production and spark-off-the-bench mentality that the injured Jason Terry brought after a stray elbow broke his orbital bone? The Mavs were praying that a committee of J.J. Barea, Roddy Beaubois and Deshawn Stevenson could somehow fill those shoes. The end result has many trying to figure out where Pointe-à-Pitre is on the map and where this kid named Roddy B. learned to play ball. (Not here at the Blitz, we labeled him “future superstar” in our Mavs preview.) Rick Carlisle had been spoon-feeding the rookie minutes throughout the season only to staple the Frenchmen to the bench for 4-5 game stretches. Needless to say, Beaubois has taken this opportunity for extra minutes and run away with it. The rookie’s electrifying speed, subtle confidence and ability to get to the rim is making Carlisle rethink his rotations, especially when he’s asking Nowitzki to play 40 minutes a night. The silver lining in Terry’s injury situation is that we’re seeing Carlisle beginning to trust Beaubois, which might have never happened otherwise. He’s beginning to realize there’s something this rookie can contribute to this team during an extended playoff run that can’t be found anywhere else on the roster. Beaubois isn’t without flaws in his game but its light years ahead of what everyone expected.

Upcoming Opponents:
3/13 vs New York Knicks – What can you say about the Knicks that hasn’t already been said. They have Tracy McGrady now but still managed to lose to the historically bad Nets.

3/17 vs Chicago Bulls –This is a good team that should play hard after recently losing to the Mavs at home. Derrick Rose won’t like playing the Mavs when (if) he meets Brendan Haywood.

My prediction for this stretch: 2-0