Steve Merril's NBA Fullcourt Report (April 17)

Dallas Mavericks

The defending NBA champs have had a tumultuous season. The Mavericks are just 6 games over .500 (34-28 SU) with a losing record on the road at 13-18 after back-to-back overtime losses against the Lakers and Jazz. Dallas had been playing without point guard Jason Kidd recently; he missed four games with a strained right groin muscle. The Mavericks lost three of those four games without Kidd on the court; their lone ATS win came in a 95-85 win over Memphis as a 5½-point favorite. Kidd has returned and played in the past four games with the Mavericks going 2-2 SU and 3-1 ATS. On a side note, the Mavericks have decided to part ways with Lamar Odom. He averaged 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 20.5 minutes per game in his 50 games as a Maverick. Those are all career-low numbers.

Denver Nuggets

One of the deepest teams in the NBA has been severely hampered by injuries all season. The Nuggets suffered another injury last week when Al Harrington left the Nuggets 123-84 win over the Warriors in the third quarter with a torn meniscus in his knee. He has continued to play, but has not been quite as effective over the past week. Harrington has been one of the team’s best players and leaders all season long. He has played in all 61 games this season while averaging 14.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Head coach George Karl just wants his team to play fundamental basketball. “My team tries to be spectacular,” Karl said. “They try to be fancy, they try to be cute. Just play solid, smart basketball and you'll win a lot of basketball games. We need to get more comfortable with solid, not spectacular.”

Orlando Magic

This team was plagued with more distractions last week when word leaked out that Dwight Howard wants head coach Stan Van Gundy fired. Orlando has been dealing with the uncertainly of Howard’s future all season, and things got worse at a shootaround press conference when Van Gundy revealed what he was told Howard said. “It was weird,” Jameer Nelson said of the situation. “There is nothing you can do about it. It’s done and over with. The rest of the guys have moved on.” Orlando was mired in a 5-game losing streak when this news broke, but the Magic have since gone 4-2 SU/ATS in their past six games, including a home underdog win on Monday night versus the Sixers, 113-100. Dwight Howard has missed the past five games with a herniated disk in his lower back and there is no timetable for his return.

Utah Jazz

The Jazz received some bad news last week that point guard Earl Watson needed surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in his right knee. Watson is the inspirational backbone of the team's second unit, and his loss is a major blow to the Jazz. Utah has also been without another key contributor as C.J. Miles has been sidelined with a moderate strain of his left calf. “They've been great for us all year,” Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said. “We're really going to miss them.” With Watson and Miles out, Utah becomes an extremely thin team at guard and wing because the Jazz are already missing Raja Bell and Josh Howard, while Jeremy Evans has been battling a sprained ankle. The Jazz continue to be a much stronger team at home this season, going 22-8 SU (17-12 ATS) at home, compared to just 10-22 SU (13-18 ATS) on the road.