The bad news: The slapdown comes at an inconvenient time, with the Mavs trying to get back on track by launching a relatively cushy stretch with Thursday’s home game against the contending Rockets, who are two games ahead of the Mavs in the contentious West.

  The Flagrant 1 foul against Andrei Kirilenko was, of course, an accident, Nowitzki, trying to defend the Jazz player, falling off-balance and hooking his right arm dangerously around Kirilenko’s  neck. Kirilenko shot his free throws and then left for the hospital. Tests on his hip were negative, but he is expected to nevertheless miss a week. So Tracy McGrady will get his wish. T-Mac had called for a suspension   – weird, really, inasmuch as I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a third-party athlete stick his nose in thusly.

And for Thursday's late 8:30 p.m. tipoff, T-Mac and the Yao-less Rockets will get a Dallas team that has lost two straight and three of their last four.

  Houston, meanwhile, is on a 15-game win streak entering Wednesday’s meeting with Indiana.

  The Mavs are 39-22 as they prep for a stretch of nine of 10 games at home -- with the only roadie against the ice-cold Heat – and will obviously welcome back The UberMan after Thursday. The scoring part of KIDDIRK Nowitzki has in the last 10 games offered up five 30-points-plus efforts. Those of us who have wondered if Brandon Bass is worthy of a starting job might get our wish (for one night) as “The Animal’’ should be among the candidates to take Dirk’s spot.

Meanwhile, as Dirk prepares to miss his first game of the season, we’re wondering – I said wondering, not whining – about whether he truly deserved a suspension at all. His act was not intentional, it was fluky, it was a matter of two gangly guys getting tangled up, it could have just as easily been Dirk pulling on his arm, and Kirilenko could be tackled like that 100 more times and not necessarily even fall down at all.

I mean, check out the remark from Houston coach Rick Adelman when asked about the possibility of a suspension.

“I don’t know what (the league’s) criteria is,’’ Adelman said.

Well, I do. It’s “case-by-case.’’ Not “arbitrary.’’ But arguably “subjective.’’ “Case-by-case.’’

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