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Haywood Factors Quickly Into Mavs' Run At Lakers

ORLANDO –Brendan Haywood thought he was coming to Dallas to give the Mavericks some much-needed and more-reliable depth behind starting center Erick Dampier.

That plan lasted one game.

Haywood now must become the workhorse -- getting his second consecutive start Friday night against the Orlando Magic -- who is expected to do everything Dampier used to do, and more.

Dampier fractured the middle finger of his right hand Tuesday and is expected to miss a month before he returns, which has made last weekend's trade for Haywood and Caron Butler from Washington especially fortuitous for the Mavs.

"We were fortunate to have Brendan here. If he wasn't, we'd certainly be in a different kind of scramble mode right now,'' said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. "There is no substitute for a second, seven-footer.''

Haywood's first start was nearly flawless in Wednesday night's victory over Phoenix. In 34 minutes, he had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, nine rebounds and five blocks. His past success against Orlando and Dwight Howard also gives the Mavs a good shot Friday night.

"It's kind of like being thrown right into the fire,'' Haywood said after a Friday morning workout. "I'm still feeling my way, trying to find my niche. I didn't come with any real expectations, except that I was joining a really good team.''

Haywood and Butler still haven't had a real practice with the Mavs, in the midst of a four-games-in-five-nights stretch, but they already feel a major difference between the two teams.

"Here, they expect to win every game,'' Haywood said. "Before (in Washington), we hoped we could win.''

They've gone from a sinking ship and the chaos that surrounded Gilbert Arenas, to a team that now thinks it legitimately can challenge the defending NBA champion Lakers.

"Can we compete with the Lakers now?'' Haywood asked. "Yes we can. And I think it will be a very entertaining series. We'll definitely have a shot to win it, too.''

Butler will be starting his third consecutive game Friday night alongside point guard Jason Kidd, who is quite the contrast from Arenas, who was a score-first, pass-second point guard.

"They have a real floor general here,'' Butler said. "And nobody cares about personal accolades. It's all team-oriented here. You get to your spot on the floor, and they find you. It's been fun learning the system on the fly.''

With a much-better team around him now, Butler is unlikely to be the 20-point-per-game scorer he was in Washington the last few years, but he'll be a happier one.

"That (beating the Lakers) is the plan. That's why the moves were made, to compete with the Lakers,'' Butler said. "They are the team to beat, and I'm looking forward to that challenge.''

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/02/19/h...run-at-lakers/