But I think we learned one thing, once and for all.

Starting with the 140-116 victory over the Phoenix Suns and continuing through the thrashing of the Utah Jazz that gave Dallas the chance to leap out of that dreaded No. 8 spot in the Western Conference standings, and concluding with Friday's win over New Orleans, we figured out that the Mavericks need Jason Kidd.

They need him now. They need to re-sign him for next year.

Without him, they are a team with no chance of playoffs, of excitement, of anything.

With him, what are they?

That's a good question.

It doesn't appear that the Spurs, the Rockets, the Nuggets, the Jazz, the youthful Trail Blazers ... it doesn't appear that anybody in the Western Conference is bound for the NBA Finals other than the Los Angeles Lakers.

Barring something unfortunate happening to Kobe Bryant, the Lakers look to be headed back to the NBA Finals. They could probably get there even without center Andrew Bynum, but just to make sure they were ready to pummel all Western Conference competition, Bynum returned to the lineup Thursday night with 16 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes.

But if you have a chance to be as good as anybody but the Lakers - and the Mavericks have that chance with Kidd running the show - then you go for it. You just never know what might happen.

The week began with Kidd tossing out 20 assists and moving past Magic Johnson into third place on the NBA's all-time assists chart in the win over Phoenix. Oh, if only you could get the rest of your Western Conference rivals to play with the Suns' no-defense attitude.

Kidd was strong again Wednesday night when the Mavericks scored a blowout win over the Utah Jazz. He only had 10 assists this time but he collected them in a mere 28 minutes as the Mavericks moved into a tie with Utah for the No. 7 seed.

On Friday, he was in danger of being outscored, 42-0, by the Hornets' fabulous point guard, Chris Paul, until hitting three free throws in the final 30 seconds. It didn't matter.

The Mavericks gained early control of that game in the first quarter when Kidd handed out six first-quarter assists for a 30-17 lead.

Kidd's 3.8 ratio of assists-to-turnovers is better than Steve Nash's, better than Utah's Deron Williams, better than ... well, better than every starting point guard in the league other than Toronto's Jose Calderon.

This weekend home-and-home series with New Orleans will go a long way in determining if the Mavericks can, in fact, avoid that No. 8 spot in the playoffs, which signifies certain death against the Lakers.

Going up against Paul, Kidd sometimes looks his 36 years. That's understandable. There's not a point guard in the league who doesn't get undressed from time to time by the Hornets' gifted playmaker.

But over the course of a year, Dallas seems to have finally learned how to benefit from Kidd's ball distribution. That's even true for Josh Howard, who struggled more than most to fit in with Kidd's style of running the offense but has been on fire of late.

Back-to-back blowouts of Phoenix and Utah at home and a solid win over New Orleans do not provide any guarantees for the postseason. But the victories increased the Mavericks' chances of avoiding Los Angeles in the first round.

Denver or San Antonio without Manu Ginobili or Houston?

All of those teams would be favored against Dallas because of the home-court advantage. But all three of those teams are beatable as well.

The Mavericks need Kidd playing at his best to make that happen. And they need him back on the court in 2009-10 if they want to be a team that has a chance to matter.

Noon, today (Ch. 8)