It’s anyone’s guess whether the Dallas Mavericks will enter tonight’s game prepared to face the team with the second best record in the Western Conference. New Orleans has had an extraordinary season, hopefully not like the extraordinary season the Mavericks enjoyed last year which ended in first round failure.
If the Mavs win, they could face New Orleans in said first round. If they lose, they may face the Lakers. Either team poses unique challenges that the Mavs are ill equipped to face.
All in all, the combo of Gasol and Kobe pose the greater threat. Dallas did not perform well enough against L.A. this season, so the mental edge would definitely go to the Lakers. Guess it’s a good thing Kobe didn’t get his way last summer, eh?
New Orleans will run the Mavs into the ground, much like the Warriors did last year. But there’s a chance that Jason Kidd brings enough leadership and ball control to handle this young and energetic team.
There’s no such thing as an easy matchup this year. Dirk and Kidd will have to lead the Mavs one game at a time through a grinding schedule of top level playoff contenders to make it back to the Finals. As a matter of fact, let’s not even talk Finals. Let’s talk Round One wins and leave it at that for now.
Let’s see if we can get any juice out of Jason Terry and Brandon Bass, the two most important contributors after the obvious Dirk, Josh, and Jason. Make no mistake. Every player has to show up tonight. Tonight’s game is too important.
Tipoff is at 6pm CST tonight.
