As Nathan points out, the effort was there last night against the Dallas Mavericks.  Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Co. are one of the hotter teams in the NBA right now, and with Nowitzki's play last night it would have been difficult for any team to pull out a W.  There was positive overall demeanor after a terrible outing against the Thunder.  I love the way the good squad brings the Indiana Pacers back in games, but am I the only one who worries because this has tuned into a trend?

Anyways, the Indiana Pacers will look to leave Texas after tonight's game with a 1-1 record for the weekend.  They will have to do so against the Houston Rockets.  As pointed out below, Hoosier Courtney Lee has seen his playing time increased since the deadline trades the Rockets made.  Also, watch for Chase Buddinger tonight, as his play has elevated since the deadline.

After the jump check out the links of the day.  Also, the Pacers are now in the midst of a tough rut since they came out of the gates strong under Coach Frank Vogel.  What do you guys think is the reasoning?  Is it the difficult stretch of games recently, the "new coach high" is gone, or another factor?  Let me know what you guys think as we all look forward to tonight's game!

• Box Score
• PACERS: Game Rewind: Mavericks 116, Pacers 108
  Danny Granger scored 22 points and Darren Collison had 17 but the Pacers fell to the red-hot Mavericks 116-108 Friday night in Dallas. Tyler Hansbrough added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Roy Hibbert had 11 points and eight rebounds.
• Mavericks take off against Pacers' faltering defense | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
  DALLAS -- The Indiana Pacers used the first 24 minutes against the Dallas Mavericks as an extended warm-up session. By the time the Pacers finally got going Friday, they were down by 11 points and the Mavericks were shooting better than 63 percent from the field.
• Mavs Moneyball
• PACERS: Countdown to Tipoff: Pacers vs. Rockets
• Notebook: Vogel sticks with 10-man rotation | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com
  DALLAS -- Frank Vogel has used predominately a 10-man rotation since taking over as interim coach of the Indiana Pacers at the end of January.
• Game Preview
• The Dream Shake
• Brewer's line includes a foul per minute, but Mavs win 8th straight | Dallas Mavericks News - Sports News for Dallas, Texas - SportsDayDFW
  SportsDayDFW.com is the official website for the Sports section of The Dallas Morning News newspaper. This page contains the latest Dallas Mavericks news, notes, commentary, analysis, blogs, e-mail newsletters, photos and videos.
• Rockets guard Lee has bigger role in aftermath of trades | NBA Basketball | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
  Complete news coverage of the Houston Rockets basketball team, with schedules, scores, stats and Houston Chronicle columnists and bloggers.

• Charlotte Bobcats vs. Los Angeles Lakers - Recap - March 04, 2011 - ESPN
  NBA Basketball Recap: Final statistics from the Charlotte Bobcats vs. Los Angeles Lakers game played on March 04, 2011