The Mavericks took care of their former player, Michael Finley. Now the Mavs need to get past another former player, Steve Nash to get to the NBA Finals. The Mavs are coming off an emotional victory against the Spurs in an epic Game 7 finale. As a fan of basketball I was hoping they would extend the series to a Game 9. The Mavs and Suns have a lot of interesting matchups. It's going to be interesting to see what adjustments Avery Johnson makes in this series. Against the Spurs he took advantage of his team's speed and athleticism with a dual-point guard back court and a small lineup. Against the Suns, does Avery stick with a small lineup or does he go with his power lineup? Unlike Phoenix, the Mavs have options in this series to play big or small and ultimately I think this gives them the edge in the series. However, Phoenix has been forced to deal with this in the first two rounds already, and Kurt Thomas could make his first playoff appearance in this series. The matchup I'm looking forward to is Devin Harris v. Leandrino. These two are going to be the X-factors for their respective teams. Bench production will be the key to this series and these two will play the biggest role off the bench. This series is going to be won in the backcourt. Jason Terry has to force Steve Nash to use a lot of energy on both ends of the court. Nash is coming off two Game 7's and has played heavy minutes. This series likely goes the distance as well, so Nash's health could become an issue. The Mavs might send an early message by knocking Nash to the ground when he goes in for a layup. In both series the Mavs have established themselves as the physical team. Dirk layed out Pau Gasol in the Memphis series, and Jason Terry punched Fin-Dog below the belt in the Spurs series. Should be an amazing series. Post all comments for this series here.
