With nine of the next 10 games at home, the next step the Mavericks take includes improving the thing Minnesota became known for this season: that matchup zone. Or at the very least, the Mavericks will work on improving defense of any kind.

In the final 30 games of the season, the Mavericks want to do better than allow their current league-worst 101.6 points per game. Against Phoenix on Sunday, the Mavericks held off the Suns with their tricky matchup zone, but that's not the only way they want to improve defensively.

"The zone worked well, but the zone bailed us out," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We've got to get better at man-to-man defense. We have to be a good man-to-man team if we want to compete."