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This is the sort of thing that I would normally put into a bullet point in my preview, but I came up with it after the preview was already published and I find it pretty interesting so I didn't want it to get buried.
There are only four players on the current Mavericks roster who were on the 2011 Championship team -- the injured Dirk Nowitzki of course, Shawn Marion, and two little used guards, Rodrigue Beaubois and Dominique Jones.
This season, former Clippers Chris Kaman and Elton Brand have played more minutes each than any of those players and have played more combined minutes than the collection of Mavericks who won the title just 18 months ago.
Kaman: 406 minutes played
Brand: 358
Marion: 347
Jones: 162
Beaubois: 150
Nowitzki: 0
Which means that on the basketball court this season, the 2012-13 Mavericks have been more similar to the 03-04 Clippers than to the 10-11 Champion Mavericks. Members of that Clippers team have played over 100 minutes more than members of Dallas' title team, 764 minutes to 659.