Haywood's situation getting more interesting

When Brendan Haywood was checking into the game early in the fourth quarter, he came to the scorer’s table right behind Dirk Nowitzki. After Nowitzki ripped off his warm-up shirt, he flipped it into Haywood’s chest.
It was an accident. “He stepped in front of the ball boy I was throwing it to,’’ Nowitzki said. It was kind of an interesting moment, however.

Haywood gave a sheepish laugh, but that was about the most emotion he showed in a game in which he played two seconds less than 10 minutes, his shortest playing time of the season other than the game after he was suspended, when he played eight minutes.

After the game, coach Rick Carlisle went out of his way to address his backup center situation. “Brendan is our guy,’’ he said. “In situations where we feel we need a little more energy and quickness in the game, that’s when we go to Ian. Brendan had a tough game. He was unable to get much going around the basket. But Brendan’s going to be our guy on most nights.’’