No. 2 Dallas Mavericks (55-27) vs. No. 7 San Antonio Spurs (50-32)
The No. 2 seed Dallas Mavericks take on the No. 7 seed San Antonio Spurs in a first-round, Western Conference playoff series. This is a best-of-7 series.
Dallas won the season series against the Spurs, 3-1.
The Mavericks are certainly on a roll — winning five straight to close out the year — but they hardly caught a break in their first-round matchup. Through shrewd moves, this team has been built for a playoff run. Specifically, they’ve got a star (Dirk Nowitizki) and two complementary players (Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion) which seems like a recipe for playoff success. And that’s not even taking into account Caron Butler and Jason Terry. Yep, they’re loaded. And healthy. And ready to shake off almost a decade of being … just … this … close. They could go far.
The San Antonio Spurs should have had a much better season than they did, and the blame for that falls almost entirely on Richard Jefferson constantly underperforming and Tim Duncan getting into fisticuffs with this dude named Father Time. But Tony Parker is back and Manu Ginobili is still doing his thing — they get everybody on the same page and they could win this series. Biggest problem for the Spurs is matching up with Dirk. His mid-range game makes it so nobody on San Antonio can guard him. Like, don’t even try.
The odds makers have the Mavericks at -4½ -point favorites.
Dallas has a guy who is capable of averaging 30-plus in the playoffs in Dirk, so that means they rank among the league’s elite. The Spurs are clinging to the last rungs of their dynasty, and if they’re going to make one more run you have to think it would have to happen here. Doesn’t look like it, though.
Prediction: Look for the Mavericks to win a hard-fought series in six games.
Dallas vs San Antonio 2010 Playoff Schedule
Game 1: Sun, April 18 San Antonio at Dallas 8:00 pm EST on TNT
Game 2: Wed, April 21 San Antonio at Dallas 9:30 pm EST on TNT
Game 3: Fri, April 23 Dallas at San Antonio 9:30 pm EST on ESPN
Game 4: Sun, April 25 Dallas at San Antonio 7:00 pm EST on TNT
Game 5: Tue, April 27 San Antonio at Dallas TBD on TBD*
Game 6: Thu, April 29 Dallas at San Antonio TBD on TBD*
Game 7: Sat, May 01 San Antonio at Dallas TBD on TBD*
* If necessary
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