For weeks now, we’ve been speculating who the San Antonio Spurs will face in the first round of the playoffs. For a while it looked like it would be the Utah Jazz, then the Lakers got hot and a renewal of that rivalry seemed imminent.
Now it seems like we could see the Dallas Mavericks possibly jump into the playoff picture. At the end of February, the Mavs were 25-32 and showing no signs of making a push to the postseason. Now they’ve won nine of their last 13, and are just a game and a half behind the Lakers for the eight spot in the West.
The Lakers have been struggling lately, getting trounced in Phoenix, losing at home to the Wizards and getting beat by Golden State. Combine that with a number of injury issues and it looks like all the work they did to rise from the ashes may go to waste.
The Jazz are in their own skid as well, dropping seven of their last 10, and they just can’t seem to pick up a win on the road.
The Mavericks are definitely the hottest team at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture. They play the Lakers on April 2nd, which could be a big gauge of where the team is at, but it might be time to start thinking about firing up the I-35 rivalry again.
Seems like a good thing for the Spurs. San Antonio won the season series against Dallas 4-0. Most recently, the Spurs squeaked out a one-point win at home against the Mavs, but that was without Tony Parker.
Even though Dallas is pretty hot right now, I’d still have to put them down as a team the Spurs want to see in the first round of the playoffs. In terms of preference, I’d probably rank them below the Jazz, but above the Lakers, Rockets or Warriors.
What do you guys think? Bring on the Mavs or let’s hope we stick with a different team?