Dallas ? Dirk Nowitzki was looking forward to having Thursday off, a sign of how bad things are for the Dallas Mavericks.

Nowitzki is the type who has to be locked out of the gym to keep him away. Yet after enduring a fourth straight loss, he hung his head and softly said, “Sometimes, you’ve just got to get away for a day, relax a little bit and clear your mind.”

Dallas started the season in a similar rut, dropping five straight to bottom out at 2-7. Then new coach Rick Carlisle made some changes and saw instant results. The Mavericks won 20 of their next 26 games and nuzzled up near the leaders of the Western Conference.

Josh Howard was out for much of the turnaround, dealing with an ankle problem just after he’d shaken off a wrist injury. He was finally starting to get into a groove when he hurt a shoulder last Friday night against Phoenix. And that’s exactly when this latest collapse started.

A game against the Suns that already was slipping away turned into an embarrassing blowout, followed by another loss in Sacramento. It was the first time Dallas dropped consecutive games since the opening weeks.

Nowitzki did all he could to end the skid in Denver, scoring 44 points and pulling the Mavericks even in the final minute. But they lost again and flew home to Dallas, where Chris Paul and the Hornets were resting and waiting. The Mavs hung tough for three quarters Wednesday night, only to see New Orleans pull away.

Just like that, Dallas finds itself ninth in the race for eight playoff spots in the West.

“I think the main thing is we’ve got to keep our spirits up somehow, as frustrating as it is,” Nowitzki said, followed by a long exhale. “We’ll sit on this one, then come in with a good attitude Friday. We want to work. We want to get better. That’s the only way it’s going to work. Get away (Thursday), get some distance and hopefully come in with a fresh mind Friday and go at it again.”

It might not be that simple.

Nowitzki and Jason Kidd give Dallas two elite starters. Jason Terry has been tremendous, too, pumping in 20-plus points per game since becoming the sixth man. But Carlisle doesn’t have much he can depend on beyond those guys.

When Howard is out and with Terry coming off the bench, Nowitzki is the only starter averaging double-digits. On Wednesday night, Nowitzki alone averaged more points than the other four starters combined.

Carlisle keeps juggling the rotation to find the right combinations. Gerald Green went from playing 7 minutes over an 18-game stretch to starting the last two games. James Singleton’s season has included 12 DNP-Coach’s Decision and four starts.

On Friday, the Mavericks traded backup center DeSagana Diop to Charlotte for three-point specialist Matt Carroll and backup center Ryan Hollins.

The 26-year-old Diop has limited offensive skills and wasn’t part of the Mavericks rotation of late, averaging just 1.6 points and 3.5 rebounds.

“I think I needed to go somewhere to get a lot more minutes,” Diop said. “I wanted to play. It was very frustrating.”

It was the second time in a year the Mavericks traded Diop. He was sent to New Jersey in the Jason Kidd trade last February.