Eddie Sefko

DALLAS -- Of the last 18 NBA champions, seven of them have been Texas teams.

That puts the Mavericks, Spurs and Rockets collectively ahead of any other state in terms of championships over the last couple of decades. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls won six, but Houston got a pair of titles in 1994 and '95, San Antonio was able to ring it up in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 and the Mavericks joined the club this season.

Throw in the Mavericks' 2006 loss to Miami, and Texas has been represented in eight of the last 18 NBA Finals.

DALLAS -- Jason Terry would like to help everybody build the story line, but he'd be fibbing if he did.

Despite the natural, national stories about this Mavericks' trip to the NBA Finals being all about avenging the meltdown in 2006, that thought process simply isn't there.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- There were no fines or suspensions for the Dallas Mavericks from the Thursday dust-up in Los Angeles, but they did get some news.

The NBA office Friday downgraded Jason Terry's flagrant foul on Steve Blake to Penalty One from Penalty Two.

DALLAS -- Rick Carlisle's eyes were wide open when he took the Mavericks' coaching job in 2008. Mark Cuban is driven by results. And while the owner has shown more patience than most people realize with his coaches and teams, nobody connected with the Mavericks wants the Dirk Nowitzki era to be about piling up regular-season wins.

DALLAS -- The Mavericks have reached the point after 13 consecutive wins where they can consider everything that took place before the All-Star break to be insignificant.

DALLAS -- On Tuesday night, everybody at American Airlines Center found out how quickly a dud can turn into a stud.