Took a little break for the holidays but we’re back! The Southwest remains the league’s most competitive division, being the only division in the league with each team above .500 going into Saturday. The Mavs still lead the division, but the Spurs are making their and it should be an entertaining battle the rest of the season in the division race.
A special two-week edition of the NBA’s most competitive division, where the Mavs still rule the roost. Just how competitive is this division? Going into this weekend, the Southwest Division is the only one in which each team has reached double-digits in victories (each team has at least 11) and has seen each team play at least .500 ball for their past 10 games.
Standings
Dallas 19-8 (5-2)
Houston 15-11 (4-3)
San Antonio 13-10 (4-3)
New Orleans 12-13 (4-2)
Memphis 11-15 (3-3)
Not much change in the standings as the Mavs continue to lead the division while the Rockets overtook the Spurs for 2nd place.
In this space each week will be a report on the goings on in the NBA’s Southwest Division.
Dallas 10-3
Houston 7-6
San Antonio 4-6
New Orleans 5-8
Memphis 4-8
In a rough Game 4, Dallas was outcoached and outplayed. Well, maybe just outplayed. Does any real coaching go into handing Chris Paul the ball and watching him score? In a surprising twist, Jason Kidd was ejected from the game due to a flagrant foul. Just minutes later in the fourth quarter, a fan was ejected for talking trash to Chris Paul as he came flying into the stands under the basket.
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.
