Will Mark Cuban and Mavs help eliminate Houston tonight...with a loss?

Oddsmakers seem to think so making Dallas 7 point dogs.

A Utah Jazz win eliminates the Rockets no matter what the Rockets do against the Timberwolves tonight. So do the Mavs stick it to Houston and rest starters in last game?

The big question is what can the Mavs win mean for them? They would be tied with Memphis for for 6th place. 6th gets OKC in first round instead of Spurs.

Who has the tiebreaker between Mavs and Grizz??

12:46 EDIT: Added "Help" to my title. Apparently Rockets do have the tiebreaker vs the Jazz so best the Mavs could do is help eliminate Houston. Utah needs to lose one game for Houston to get in.....this is confusing.

On another note, does Cuban hate the Rockets or the Clippers more? Is it even close?

Mavs will win

Better coached

Mavs haven't even clinched a playoff spot...

Houston has the tiebreaker over Dallas. Utah has the tie breaker over Houston

If the Rockets are to make the playoffs, they need the following:
-- Houston goes 2-0 to finish at 41-41 AND Utah loses once or Dallas loses twice.
-- Houston goes 1-1 to finish at 40-42 AND Utah loses twice.

Have to think Houston take this by 4 plus every which way possible.

If there's a team with zero heart it's Houston, but for Christ Sake, vs Minnesota in a must win.

McHale should still be coaching

OK this game would be a lot more fun if there wasnt another to go. Texas teams are in a tangled web.

Yahoo Sports:

Dallas, meanwhile, is playing for its playoff lives. And yet when spotted a 6-23 night from the free throw line from DeAndre Jordan – a former unofficial Dallas signee, no less – the Mavs still failed to turn the corner. The Mavs were even afforded the luxury of an early local start for the home team – one that plays in Los Angeles no less – and 21 bench points from the up and down (and sometimes nightlife chummy) Raymond Felton.

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Weirdly, the Mavs could even finish 5th in the West by winning out. (Getty Images)

This means the Mavericks have yet to clinch a playoff berth, and they’re two games up on ninth-place Houston with two games left to play. If Dallas loses to a tough Utah squad in Salt Lake City on Monday, a very real possibility (Utah is eighth in the West and fighting for its own place in the postseason), the team’s season might come down to a needed win over the potentially resting San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Houston and Dallas split the season series and could finish with identical in-conference records, which means a Dallas win over fellow Southwest Division partner San Antonio could swing the final tie-breaker.

So to be clear... the Rockets are fighting for their playoff lives, and the Mavs are fighting for their playoff lives, and mark cuban has fk all to do with it!

Jazz have been the better team all season long. They should win this. I tentatively expect them to smash it.

Originally Posted by IBetYou

Jazz have been the better team all season long. They should win this. I tentatively expect them to smash it.

How so?

Either way none of these teams are going anywhere.

Originally Posted by Seto

How so?

All the way around. Much better on the wing spots. Better at centre. Better at pf -Favors has overtaken Nowitzki. As a team they defend better, run better. They're better

Originally Posted by lakerboy

Either way none of these teams are going anywhere.

Yeah the 2nd round of the playoffs in the West is set. You could argue the conference finals are set too but at least the 2nd round has a bit more intrigue to it.

Originally Posted by IBetYou

All the way around. Much better on the wing spots. Better at centre. Better at pf -Favors has overtaken Nowitzki. As a team they defend better, run better. They're better

Why don't they have a better record then? The way you're making it sound they should be 10 games above Dallas.

Neither team is anything special. The Jazz have some nice pieces that could develop in the coming years but right here right now they are right where they should be, a .500 team.

Lets be honest, Cuban, Carlisle and Dirk all know that it won't matter if they face OKC or SA. They're losing either way in 4-5 games. Maybe they should just settle for the 7 seed that way they can save time on travel.