JaVale McGee has played sparingly over the Mavs' recent stretch of games leading up to the All-Star break.

McGee has played sparingly over the Mavs' recent stretch of games leading up to the All-Star break.

Analysis:

During a three-week stretch in January, McGee was routinely seeing double-digit minutes as a backup center, but he's since returned to a more modest role, playing 10 minutes or fewer in each of the last eight contests. The 28-year-old was a DNP-CD on Tuesday against the Jazz, suggesting that the Mavericks are comfortable playing Zaza Pachulia (41 minutes Tuesday) big minutes with Dwight Powell (12 minutes) as the small-ball backup center, even against a Jazz team featuring Rudy Gobert.