Eastern time moan

Don’t ask Josh Howard to explain the Mavs’ relatively ordinary 8-6 record against the Eastern Conference this season, especially since they went 27-3 against that circuit last year.

“I don’t know why,” he said today at shootaround. “I just think we need to come out playing a little bit harder, which I think we’ve made a conscious effort on. Other than that, I think we’ll be all right.”

I then asked if perhaps they’re taking those teams a little too lightly.

“I agree with you on that, too,” he said. “Just playing to the level of our competition. I said after that last game that we can’t do that if we’re a championship team. We need to keep playing like we’re champions.”

Avery Johnson pointed out that Eastern teams have improved. Also, several of those teams – Atlanta, Indiana, Milwaukee and Washington, to name a few – caught the Mavs at the right time.

“We weren’t playing very good early in the year when we played a lot those teams and we paid the price for it,” Johnson said.

As for the suggestion of playing down to the competition, Johnson took it in another direction.

“I don’t want to say playing down to the competition as much as it the competition playing up to us,” he said. “I think it goes both ways. A lot of times if teams come in and they’re a severe underdog, they play a little bit more relaxed. Sometimes the ball goes in a little bit more when there’s not as much pressure.”