Playoff Preview?

The Mavericks take on the Spurs, tonight in Dallas, in a game that will decide who plays who in the first round of the playoffs. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp/David Zalubowski)










It appears as though the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs are on yet another playoff collision course. The game tonight decides whether the Mavs take on the Blazers or the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Either way Dallas has home-court advantage, but lets take a look at the possibilities.

Playoff Implications

If Dallas wins, they clinch the second seed in the Western Conference while the Spurs would clinch the seventh seed.
If the Mavericks lose, however, the Phoenix Suns would have to beat the Utah Jazz at home for Dallas to get the second seed and then the Mavs would play the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. But, if the Mavs lose and Utah wins, Dallas would be the third seed while San Antonio would be the sixth seed, pitting the two teams against each other in the first round. And if Portland loses to the Golden State Warriors and the Jazz beat the Suns, Utah will play the Spurs in the first round in the two vs seven matchup while the Mavs would take on the Blazers in the three vs six.

By the Numbers:

The Spurs are 14th in the NBA in points per game (101.5) and eighth in points allowed (98.3). San Antonio is also sixth in the NBA in shooting percentage, making 47.4 percent of their shots as a team.

Dallas is 10th in the NBA in points per game (102.1) and 15th in points allowed (99.4). The Mavericks commit the third-least most turnovers in the NBA this season at 12.9 per game.

The Mavericks are 2-1 this season against the Spurs and have won the last two games. The last game was a 112-103 victory for Dallas in San Antonio, on Jan. 8.

Prediction:

If the Mavericks continue their recent trend of playing hard for 48 minutes I think this will be an easy victory for Dallas. However, this is a team that has proved all-season long that they sometimes pat themselves on the back for too long and coast through games. San Antonio is a tough team that has won five of seven games in April and eight of the last 11 overall. On the road, the Spurs are 21-19 this season and have won three of their last four away from home with wins over both the L.A. Lakers and Denver Nuggets. But, the Spurs are also a team that have shown at times this season a lack of consistency and focus.

In my opinion Dallas will win this game. Rick Carlisle has the Mavericks too focused at the moment for a let-down.

Dallas 110 Spurs 103