By DWAIN PRICE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - Count Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley among those who believe Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is a smart businessman.

"If he's not the best owner, he's one of the best in the league," Heisley said. "He's a fan-oriented owner, which the NBA needs more of.

"I'm not in awe of Mark Cuban. I just respect people that get the job done."

Nearly two years ago, Heisley and Cuban received their NBA ownership papers from commissioner David Stern on the same day. But while the Grizzlies own the second-worst record in the NBA, the Mavericks are thriving to the point where many believe they have a legitimate shot at unseating the Los Angeles Lakers as this year's NBA champions.

The Jazz aren"t the only ones playing a homecoming game tonight.

Eddie Gill, who starred for two seasons at Weber State, also returns to Utah -- as a Jazz opponent.

Gill spent most of this season playing for the Kansas City Knights of the American Basketball Association before signing a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies this week, and now he finds himself in the starting lineup.

In his debut with the Grizzlies on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers, Gill played all 48 minutes and had 20 points and seven assists.

""I didn"t anticipate playing the whole game, but I felt comfortable," Gill told the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

With starter Jason Williams and backup Brevin Knight in street clothes nursing injuries, Gill got a crash course in the Grizzlies" offense, learning 15 plays.

""I was pleased with what I did for the first game," Gill said. ""Nervousness was not a factor."

DALLAS - This is how far the Mavericks have come over the past two years.

About the only complaint the players had after Tuesday's relatively easy 104-91 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies was that they have a practice scheduled for today on what normally would be an off day.

But that's the price the Mavericks have to pay to acclimate the four players acquired from the Denver Nuggets in Thursday's blockbuster trade.

One of those players, Raef LaFrentz, scored 11 of his 17 points in the first quarter as the Mavericks rolled to a 34-21 lead and hardly broke a sweat.

Most players on a 10-day contract hope to get a few minutes of playing time during their stay in the big-time.

But after Eddie Gill was shown about 15 plays from the Grizzlies' playbook over the weekend, he started against the Clippers Monday night.  Then he proceeded to play all 48 minutes.

Ron Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal says that Gill's improbable and often impressive debut stood out on a night when both of the Griz's established point guards wore street clothes. Just eight players were dressed and available to play.

Tuesday night was a bit more normal.  The Grizz had nine players available, and Gill only played 27 minutes while losing to Dallas.

Antonio McDyess is ready to play basketball again. The Denver Nuggets forward has been ready for a week now. He will make his season debut Friday at the Pepsi Center against Memphis.
No kidding this time.

McDyess has missed every game this season after undergoing surgery Oct. 12 to repair a partially torn patellar tendon. He has endured a laborious rehabilitation while watching teammates lose. Several of his closest friends on the team were traded Thursday in a deal that shifted Denver's focus back to rebuilding.

The Memphis Grizzlies released veteran guard Elliot Perry after a 10-day stay.  Perry played well, and injuries resulted in him being on the floor at the end of Thursday's close loss to Phoenix.

However, the Commercial-Appeal's Ron Tillery reports that the Grizz will be looking for a younger guard for the rest of the season.  Players of interest are Isaac Fontaine, Charlie Bell and Eddie Gill.

The story has it, one of the reasons the Vancouver Grizzlies struggled in British Columbia, especially later on, was the inability of point guard Mike Bibby and small forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim to get along.

That story has been communicated across many lines, but Abdur-Rahim and Bibby consistently have refuted its accuracy.

Duncan continued his magical overhaul at the line Tuesday, making his final 11 free throws of the game ? including four in overtime ? as the Spurs held off Memphis 99-93 Tuesday in front of 16,229 at the Alamodome.

"When your money man can do that," Antonio Daniels said, "you can't ask for anything else."

The Spurs could have asked for an easier victory Tuesday.

The Grizzlies still have not settled into Memphis.  The latest problem is the attendance count.  

Ron Huggins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports the Grizzlies announced a crowd of 12,867 for the Nuggets game, compared with The Pyramid's turnstile count of 9,376.

The crowd announced by the Grizzlies represents numbers of tickets sold and complimentary tickets used. The NBA considers it the official attendance. The Grizzlies say they will request an audited count for every remaining home game.

And Memphis fans thought all hurdles were crossed for getting a new stadium.  Not necessarily.  Chris Conley reports that attorney Duncan Ragsdale (great name for the part!) is seeking a restraining order because $20 million in privately issued bonds have not been sold. Sale of those bonds is a precondition to the arena contract going ahead.

Closer to the court, the Grizz don't appear to be involved in any speculation about trading deadline deals.

This is why the Hornets need Jamal Mashburn back:

Sunday should have been a gimme: At home against one of the worst teams in the NBA. In their last game before Mashburn's return, the Hornets shot an anemic 34 percent from the field in a 92-78 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the Charlotte Coliseum.

Out since November with a severe abdominal strain, Mashburn is scheduled to start tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks. His ability to create halfcourt offense was sorely missed Sunday, particularly in the first half.

That's when the Hornets missed 21 of their first 24 shots and trailed by as much as 18.

The Hornets briefly led in the second half, but three straight offensive rebounds by Grizzlies forward Tony Massenburg put them away in the last three minutes.

"They deserved to win; they played better," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "We just didn't have any `oomph' ... whatever that means."

Mashburn is the "oomph" provider. He led the team in scoring last season, good for about 20 points per game, and could bail the Hornets out of the bad possessions that plagued them Sunday.

Grizzlies coach Sidney Lowe, whose team had lost 13 of 14, considered himself fortunate to avoid Mashburn's return.

"He does so many things -- score inside, score outside, handle the ball," Lowe said. "When they've got (center Elden) Campbell in the post, you can't double-team as much when he's there. Between him and David Wesley, they're short a couple of key shooters.

"It's just like us missing Jason Williams and Lorenzen Wright."

In-grown toenails had kept Williams out of the Grizzlies' last seven games. Though he made 1 of 9 from three-point range, Williams hit back-to-back 20-footers in Memphis' decisive 10-0 run.

Massenburg did the rest with those three offensive rebounds.

"I was just playing the long bounces," he said. "Sometimes it's actually easier to get those when you're boxed out, because you're the only one with a path to the long ball."

Silas, still on the NBA's all-time rebounding list, knew how devastating Massenburg's boards were.

"When we needed the ball we couldn't get it," Silas said. "That hurt us even more than not making shots."

Notes

Doctors have decided to leave Wesley's left foot (cracked bone) in a protective boot for another week, although Hornets vice president Bob Bass said Wesley could begin some rehabilitative work. ...

Bass doesn't expect Thursday's trade deadline to prompt much activity -- for the Hornets or the league at large.

He said the possibility of the luxury tax kicking in over coming seasons has teams reluctant to acquire big contracts.