THREE POINTS

A NICE RING

It’s probably the last thing Coach Avery Johnson and the Dallas Mavericks want to hear, but winning at least 65 games usually guarantees an NBA title. Of the 11 teams to have won at least 65 games, 10 have also won the title -- the 1972-73 Boston Celtics (68-14) were the exception, with the New York Knicks winning the title that season.

Dirk Nowitzki is almost as sure a bet for most valuable player, with nine MVPs coming from the 11 teams with at least 65 wins. The only exceptions are Milwaukee’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won it in 1971-72, the year the Lakers (69-13) had their 33-game winning streak (ended by Abdul-Jabbar’s Bucks), and Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, who won it in 1996-97 despite Chicago’s 69-13 record.

STRAINED DEFENSE

With the possibility of no more than 46 wins, the Miami Heat could win the fewest games as a defending champion since the 1995-96 Houston Rockets, who finished 48-34 the season after their second straight title. The Rockets were 47-35 after their first.

The worst record preceding that was the 44-38 of the 1976-77 Celtics.

PLAYOFF TIME

Though the NBA champion has come from the Western Conference in five of the last seven seasons, only two of them (the 2000 Lakers and the 2003 San Antonio Spurs) even had the best record in the conference.... Critics who pan the Detroit Pistons’ title hopes because of a 2-6 record against the top four Western teams should recall that Miami was 0-8 last season against that top four.... The Sacramento Kings will miss the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons.