Will Dallas Mavericks win the NBA title??

[tolbiny]

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The one wildcard's Miami. Shaq's been playing like he's 25 again ever since D-Wade went down, and if they're both performing at peak capacity, I think Miami's the most talented team in the East. If they were in the West, they'd still be in danger of missing the playoffs altogether or would have to go through four tough series while they were trying to gell again, but given their easy road, I can see them coasting into the Finals and stealing a 7 game series from Dallas.

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Right, Miami's going to just coast right through Washington, Detroit and Cleveland, on the road. Last year they had a much easier path to the finals, especially with Cleveland wearing out detriot over 7 games while Miami had NJN done in 5.

[Colt McCoy]

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The one wildcard's Miami. Shaq's been playing like he's 25 again ever since D-Wade went down, and if they're both performing at peak capacity, I think Miami's the most talented team in the East. If they were in the West, they'd still be in danger of missing the playoffs altogether or would have to go through four tough series while they were trying to gell again, but given their easy road, I can see them coasting into the Finals and stealing a 7 game series from Dallas.

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I think Shaq is embarassed because he's the one that pushed for coasting through the regular season and turning it on once the playoffs start. They ended up with Wade going down and no cushion at all. He was wrong. Riles was right. Now he's having to personally make sure they get there.

The problem now is that fat old Shaq will wear himself down before they get there, and Wade may or may not get back and won't be 100% if he does. Plus Kopono has gone cold, Eddie Jones is a choking dog, Walker has stunk all year, and The Glove plays like an old man. I think they'll be lucky to get to the finals.

[FlyWf]

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The one wildcard's Miami. Shaq's been playing like he's 25 again ever since D-Wade went down, and if they're both performing at peak capacity, I think Miami's the most talented team in the East. If they were in the West, they'd still be in danger of missing the playoffs altogether or would have to go through four tough series while they were trying to gell again, but given their easy road, I can see them coasting into the Finals and stealing a 7 game series from Dallas.

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I think Shaq is embarassed because he's the one that pushed for coasting through the regular season and turning it on once the playoffs start. They ended up with Wade going down and no cushion at all. He was wrong. Riles was right. Now he's having to personally make sure they get there.

The problem now is that fat old Shaq will wear himself down before they get there, and Wade may or may not get back and won't be 100% if he does. Plus Kopono has gone cold, Eddie Jones is a choking dog, Walker has stunk all year, and The Glove plays like an old man. I think they'll be lucky to get to the finals.

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Unless Wade comes back healthy, they'll be lucky to make the 2nd round.

[tuq]

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The Suns are clearly the 2nd best team, but they'll also have one of the toughest roads as they'll have to get through the Spurs in the semis and then go to Dallas just to get to the Finals.

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People sure love to talk up the Spurs. They've got a nice winning streak going and the best PD in the league to be sure.

That said, I'm not sure the Suns wouldn't rather face them than Utah, a team completely ignored on this board but who has the 4th best record in the NBA and is only one game in the loss column behind the Spurs. If they were in the EC their record would be good enough for the one seed, 3 1/2 games clear of the Pistons, and this doesn't even take into account that they would have an even better record by virtue of their EC-heavy schedule. Not to mention every time I've seen them I've been very impressed.

I just think that given their past history there is a lot of overrating of the Spurs, and the exact opposite is happening for the Jazz. Trust me, there will be no easy second round matchup for anyone, unless one of those teams gets upset in the first round.

EDIT: Dallas is 1-1 this season against Utah - their loss being of the type that tdarko doesn't like to talk about, a December thrashing in Utah which came well after their slow start. The other one was also in Utah, a three point Dallas win. I would have guessed AK would give Dirk fits, but Dirk averaged 32 PPG in those two games.

[iggymcfly]

I don't know about "well after their slow start". That loss to Utah was Dallas's 3rd loss in 5 games. They were only 14-7 at that point of the season.

Since that Utah game? Dallas is 37-2. 37-2! How sick is that? In order to get eliminated, they'd have to lose twice as many games in a 7-game stretch as they've lost in the last almost half a season.

Utah's certainly having a nice year, but they're just not on the same level as Dallas right now.

[Fallen Hero]

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I'm not sure the Suns wouldn't rather face them than Utah, a team completely ignored on this board but who has the 4th best record in the NBA and is only one game in the loss column behind the Spurs.

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I'd rather play phoenix in the playoffs than the spurs, but I know that's not a popular opinion.

[tuq]

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I'm not sure the Suns wouldn't rather face them than Utah, a team completely ignored on this board but who has the 4th best record in the NBA and is only one game in the loss column behind the Spurs.

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I'd rather play phoenix in the playoffs than the spurs, but I know that's not a popular opinion.

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Doesn't compute? Aren't you a Spurs homer?

[tuq]

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I don't know about "well after their slow start". That loss to Utah was Dallas's 3rd loss in 5 games. They were only 14-7 at that point of the season.

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It was over a month after their 0-4 start and not long after a 12-game win streak. So they went 14-3 during that stretch, including that Jazz loss. That's pretty solid. I really don't know what you're getting at here.

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Utah's certainly having a nice year, but they're just not on the same level as Dallas right now.

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Who said they were? The exchange is about who would Dallas/Phoenix rather face, the Spurs or the Jazz? It's clear you're a Mavs homer but it's affecting your ability to make sense in this thread.

[Borden]

Mavs are the Fav to win.

but knowing the Mavs they'll beat the Suns and get up 3-0 in the Finals on the Pistons and then lose Game 7 at home to Det.

I can't see Wade being even 75% come playoff time so Miami will probably go to Round 2 and lose once Shaq loses steam.

Losing Kapono for two weeks, and having JWill playing with a torn abdomine doesn't help things either

[kidcolin]

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Who actually knows who will win, it was certain a west team would win last year eh? But I do think it is utterly insane that Dallas is consistently never a favorite to win on this board even though as my first sentence of this post points out it doesn't matter.

SA has one nice streak and now they are the favorites in the west when two teams have dominated the entire league for an entire season minus the first 4 games is a concept I still can't wrap my mind around. I think maybe some are holding on to the image of a Spurs team that is deteriorating each year. I still think they are one of the 3 best teams in the year and obviously when you are in that category you have a legitimate chance at winning the title but when deciding favorites I just can't see how SA is anything but 3 on this list.

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I think most every NBA follower understands that Dallas is the favorite. They just aren't an overwhelming favorite in such a stacked West.

While I would never call SA the favorites, they've got a hell of a shot. They've been really turning it on and absolutely trouncing teams. As much as I hate the Spurs, but when they're playing this good, you have to be scared of them. Even if Dallas or PHX gets through them, it won't be a cakewalk. It'll be a 6 or 7 game nailbiter.

Oh yeah and Dallas is gonna choke because Dirk isn't a superduperstar and Stern hates Cuban.