Continuing the roll before the playoffs

A victory tonight over Seattle gets the Mavs another step closer to their eighth consecutive playoff spot. The magic number is three. Denver and Golden State, currently tied for eight and two games back, are also playing tonight.

Knocking out a few wins does more than lock up a berth.

“The only thing I want to do is have some momentum and that’s the best thing that I think we can have,” Avery Johnson said after shootaround. “If we can win our share of games in these last couple of games that we have, I think we’ll be in good shape.

“To win that game in Phoenix won’t do us any good if we come out here and don’t play like we should tonight. We need to put together some games. We haven’t put together three, four or five games like we should and this would be a good time to do it.”

The Mavs have won three of the last four, including key wins over the Warriors and Suns. The longest winning streak this season is seven, which ended Jan. 12. A clean sweep of the last five would make it a six-game run.

“The marathon is coming down to the end now,” Jason Kidd said. “These five games are important. We want to win all five going into postseason on a high note, healthy and confident. We have a great opportunity to do that.”