Dallas goes into this stretch holding the eighth and final playoff spot. By the time Dirk Nowitzki and the guys return home, they could be all the way up to the third or fourth seed (and thinking about home-court advantage in the first round) or down to No. 9 (and thinking about the lottery).

Considering how things have gone this season, Nowitzki said Monday he has no idea what to expect.

"That's I guess kind of the fun part about it," he said. "These last 19 games, we're going to let it all hang out and see where it takes us. That's the only way we can approach it. ... It's been weird, but, hey, if you look at the other teams, it's not only us that's been struggling. If we've been up and down and we're still (2 1/2) games out of third, then what does that say about the whole rest of the conference?"

The Mavericks' maddening season went from a 2-7 start to a 10-1 surge. New coach Rick Carlisle scrapped the Princeton-style motion offense he was putting in and eventually gave Jason Kidd total control of the offense. Things were going pretty well until a recent stretch in which they were crushed by a San Antonio team missing Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, then a week later were crushed by an Oklahoma City team missing its two leading scorers, prompting team owner Mark Cuban to threaten everyone's roster spot.

The game against the Thunder was a great chance for Dallas to finally beat a Western Conference team on the road in 2009. Instead, the Mavericks have since slid to 0-9, making this visit to the homes of the Suns, Trail Blazers, Warriors and Lakers seem even tougher. The first game is Tuesday night, the last Sunday afternoon.

Road woes aren't the only thing working against Dallas.

Josh Howard was just starting to play his way back into form from various injuries but is lost again to an ankle problem. He will miss at least the next two games while remaining in Dallas for more tests on his ankle, and perhaps miss the whole trip.

Another challenge is that the Suns need a win Tuesday night even more than the Mavs do. Phoenix has lost four straight and another loss to the team immediately ahead in the standings (by four games) would be a double-whammy. Working in the Suns' favor is the memory of a 28-point win over the Mavs when they last met in Phoenix, and knowing they have an easier schedule down the stretch, perhaps making them eye this game as the perfect kick-start to their playoff push.

"This one right here can really put a dent in their self-confidence," Mavs sixth man Jason Terry said. "They're going to be excited, feeling a sense of urgency, but so are we. It's going to be a good game."

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said he's looking for his inside guys to demand an extra post-up or two, and for wing players to each contribute an extra jumper and an extra defensive stand, to compensate for Howard's absence. Nowitzki said Kidd will need to think about shooting more.

Terry's theory: just get it to him and Nowitzki. The big German is the league's fifth-best scorer at 25.3 points per game and Terry averages 19.7, tops among all bench players in the NBA.

"It wouldn't be crazy for me and Dirk to shoot 25-plus shots a night," said Terry, who averages 15.9 shots per game, just behind Nowitzki's 19.6. "We're going to have to score in the high 20s for us to be successful."

When this trip ends, things will still be uphill for the Mavericks as 11 of their final 15 games are against teams in playoff contention. Dallas is trying to keep alive eight-year streaks of making the playoffs and of winning 50 games.

"What it comes down to anyway (is) winning big games," Nowitzki said. "I think we're ready."