It won't be like this every night. They won't have the pleasure of starting Dirk Nowitzki at center because the other team doesn't really have one. They won't be able to start Nowitzki at center, get a one-point first half from him and win comfortably anyway.

The first basketball success of record at American Airlines Center could not have been possible without the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons were, uh, handy to have on hand in Tuesday night's season opener, showing up short on size themselves.

The Mavericks, you see, are still trying to determine exactly what they have in the middle, in this new zone world, even after a month together. Comforting, then, to see an opening-night foe that wouldn't press them too much for immediate answers.

"This is a learning process for all of us," Shawn Bradley said, savoring Dallas' 94-87 season-starting triumph and the defense and rebounding he contributed to it. "Things are changing and they're going to keep changing. That's what happens when anything's new."

It is no exaggeration, admittedly early as it is, to say that concern is what the Mavericks have in the middle, and not because they're even thinking about Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan yet. They're actually not unlike the other prime tenant in the new building. As with the Stars, the Mavericks need quality centermen just to stay where they are on the West's best-of list.