The Midwest Division just got a little scarier for the Spurs.

San Antonio pulverized an arch foe from Sacramento on Thursday but also had to hear about two other rivals muscling up for the season's stretch run.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban and Coach Don Nelson were bulldog-determined to get inside strength to take on the West in the playoffs. They got their deal at the 11th hour.

Center Raef LaFrentz, who can cause more big problems for the Spurs' inside fighters than Shawn Bradley and Juwan Howard, now toils for the Mavericks.

The big guy comes to Dallas from Denver with malcontent Nick Van Exel, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and the Little General, Avery Johnson. Gone from Dallas are Howard, Tim Hardaway (sorry Tim) and Donnell Harvey.