Sport-Blog.com

By Ed Jennett


Although neither one would want to say it, they are clearly better off as opponents then they were as teammates. Since leaving the Dallas Mavericks as a free agent to return to the Phoenix Suns All-Star PG Steve Nash has won back to back NBA Regular Season MVP Awards and led his new (old) team to back to back appearances in the Western Conference Finals. His best friend, Dallas Mavericks All-Star PF Dirk Nowitzki, has also thrived. The Mavericks replaced the pass-first Nash with a shoot-first point guard, Jason Terry. This change forced Nowitzki to learn how to create his own shot. He was also forced to take on more of a leadership role. When Dallas made the decision to waive SG Michael Finley, the third member of The Big Three with the one-time waiver exemption, Nowitzki became the undisputed leader of the club.

Nowitzki led the Mavericks to an exciting seven game series victory over the defending World Champion San Antonio Spurs in the second round. The two Texas teams had the most evenly contested series of the first two rounds and either team could have advanced to the Western Conference Finals. In fact, the Spurs probably should still be fighting for a chance to defend their championship. San Antonio lost Game 7 in overtime after SG Manu Ginobili failed to score after driving to the basket in the closing seconds and then PF Tim Duncan was unable to score on a put back or draw a foul. Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich made a tactical error by drawing up the final play for Ginobili. The final play of regulation should have been drawn up for Duncan, who finished the game with a playoff career-high 41 points, along with 15 rebounds and six assists. Duncan was being guarded by Nowitzki who was clearly overmatched and the other four Spurs on the court at the time were all shooters, so they should have been able to make an open shot if their man left to double Duncan.

San Antonio attempted to go back to Duncan in overtime, but Mavericks Head Coach Avery Johnson had C DeSagana Diop guarding him. The shot-blocking specialist used his length to force Duncan into taking bad shots during the overtime session and the Spurs season was over.

Phoenix advanced to the Western Conference Finals by making the other half of the city of Los Angeles hate them. Just as they did against the Lakers in the first round, the Suns needed the full seven games to eliminate the Clippers in the second round. This time however the Suns were the ones who had to hold off a late-series rally after taking a 3-2 lead on the Clippers. If this series goes all seven games the Suns will not be able to rely on homecourt advantage in the final game. Despite Phoenix being the second seed due to winning the Pacific Division, Dallas has homecourt advantage due to having a better regular season record, 60-22 to 54-28.

Although Nash was impressive in winning consecutive Regular Season MVP awards, Nowitzki was just as impressive. The Suns were without All-Star PF/C Amare Stoudemire for almost the entire season, but Nash still had All-Star SF/PF Shawn Marion to help him. While Nowitzki has a strong supporting cast, none of his teammates are close to being as good as Marion.

Both players have followed up MVP-caliber regular season performances with spectacular performances in the playoffs as well. After averaging 18 points and 10 assists in the regular season, Nash is averaging 20 points and 10 assists through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Nowitzki has stepped up his production to average 28 points and 11 rebounds through rounds one and two. These are improvements over the impressive 26 points and nine rebounds that he averaged during the regular season.

This is the second year in a row that the Suns have advanced to the Western Conference Finals. Last year they were overpowered by the larger and defensive-minded San Antonio Spurs and lost in five games. The state motto of Texas will apply in this series as well. Just as they were a year ago, the Suns will be overpowered by a larger and better defensive team. The Mavericks are not at the level of the Spurs or the Detroit Pistons in terms of defensive prowess, but they are much better under Johnson than they were under previous Head Coach Don Nelson. Despite the offseason additions of tough defensive-minded players SG Raja Bell and PF/C Kurt Thomas (who is expected to return to action after being out with a foot injury since the end of February) Phoenix is still a weak defensive club. The Suns allowed opponents to average 102.8 points per game in the regular season, and so far have allowed their playoff opponents to average 106.9 points per game. Defense still win championships, even if the teams playing are the high scoring, running and gunning, Suns and Mavericks.

Prediction: (4) Dallas over (2) Phoenix in 6 games