After coming out of the gate at 0-4, the Dallas Mavericks downed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 93-87, for their 10th straight win.
So much for that "Finals Hangover."
Yes, there seemed to be some cause for concern about the Mavs coming out of the block. After a tough opening night loss to San Antonio, Dallas followed that with a 31-point loss to Houston, a three-point L to Golden State and former head coach Don Nelson and an 18-point loss to the L.A. Clippers, who are currently mired in an early season funk themselves.
There was no concern in Mavs' camp, though.
No blog entries from owner Mark Cuban. No public tirades from the Little General, head coach Avery Johnson.
Dallas has found its groove. During this streak, the Mavs have won pretty, scoring 119, 115 and 111 in wins over Phoenix, Memphis and Chicago, respectively. The've also came out on top in some battles - an 85-73 win over New Orleans/Oklahoma and an 89-84 W over the Grizzlies.
Dirk Nowitzki - 27 ppg during the run - and the rest of Johnson's crew have shown that the touhgness he has instilled in the group hasn't subsided. It runs deep. Dallas could have easily folded when it lost Josh Howard for eight games early on, but instead, the Mavs went 7-1 without their swingman.
After years of being stuck in purgatory, Dallas has officially become a playoff team, meaning the regular season is somewhat insignificant. That is a term that has been reserved for teams such as the Pistons and Spurs, but the Mavs have crashed that party.
The streak could continue for the better part of the week. Dallas' next four are against Toronto, Sacramento, at Washington and at New Jersey. Not exactly four teams setting the world on fire right now.
It gets a little tougher after that, as the Mavs host Detroit, who I picked to face off with Dallas in the '07 Finals, Dec. 7. That test is followed by a home meet with Denver and league-leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, a matchup at 12-3 Utah and a home contest with noted Mavs killer Kobe Bryant - 62 points in three quarters last January - and the Lakers.
Those are four tough tests, no doubt. But I can't see Dallas being phased by anything else this season considering how the campaign began.
Even at 0-fer for the first week of the season, I knew the Mavs would come out of that spell and remain one of the L's best.
This time tomorrow, Ben Wallace will be battling Shaq for post position for the first time since late May. Ben Gordon will have taken 20 shots and Dwyane Wade will have taken 648 free throws.
Yes, the new NBA season kicks off tomorrow night. Before the first tip, here are the ten teams I believe have the best shot to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy next June.
10. Houston Rockets: The Rockets could go from Lottery to late May if everything goes according to plan: Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming play more than 65 games apiece, Shane Battier gives his trademark hardnosed effort, Bonzi Wells takes his meds. You know Jeff Van Gundy will have these guys playing tough D every night. And, if healthy, Houston will almost certainly improve on its 90.1 ppg average from last season. T-Mac can get a third of that alone. Watch out for rookie Steve Novak, too. The 6'10" Marquette product displayed his range all preseason long. Look for him to hit a couple clutch threes for H-Town this season.
9. New Jersey Nets: For some reason, I still think this is too high for Jersey. I know they played Miami tough even though they lost the series in five games, but I'm just not sold on them. Jason Kidd is a year older. Vince Carter is, well, Vince Carter. And I don't believe in their front line past Nenad Krstic. Jersey's perimeter trio of Kidd, Carter and Richard Jefferson will make them one of the League's more exciting teams, of course. And rookie Marcus Williams has the potential to make 21 GMs wish they selected him...just as long as he stays out of any computer labs he comes across. Krstic is the key here. If he builds on his '06 numbers-13.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg, potential double teams could free up Jefferson and Carter to run wild and Jersey could go deep into the '07 playoffs.
8. Cleveland Cavaliers: This is a lot of people's sexy pick to make it out of the East. I don't see it. Dan Gilbert (a Spartan!!!) paid $23 million for three years to forward Drew Gooden, who averaged 10.7 points and 8.4 boards in 05-06. That's $8 mil a year to a guy who played 27.5 minutes a night and had PT taken from him by a guy who looks like Sideshow Bob. Outside of a couple draft picks (Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson), and singing tge aging David Wesley, Cleveland's roster is the same as the group who played admirably before losing to Detroit in seven games in the east semis. Yes, Larry Hughes will be healthy, but I don't think he's the right guy to play Pippen to LeBron's MJ. If a young Washington team wouldn't re-sign him, what does that tell you? Speaking of LeBron, he can only get better. He has no ceiling. Everybody knows that. He also doesn't have much help at The Q. Brooklyn's calling his name.
7. Chicago Bulls: Former Bull John Paxson made the biggest signing of the summer when he stole Ben Wallace from the Pistons for $60 million over four years. That deal just adds another piece to an already stout defensive squad that held opponents to a league-low 42.5 percent shooting from the floor. Eddy Curry-remember him-has already been forgotten, and Wallace will help Bulls fans forget the underachieving Tyson Chandler, too. As long as they stay together, Chicago is set on the perimeter for at least the next decade. Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon anchor a group that includes Chris Duhon, Luol Deng and pitbull Andres Nocioni. That group combined for 70 percent of the Bulls 97.8 ppg last season. That's where the problem lies. Chicago has to get some scoring from the post positions. Yes, Wallace and cagey vet P.J. Brown are tough, but they only combined for 16.3 points per game last season. I know scoring isn't why those two were signed, but the wing quintet is sure to have some off nights. Does Scott Skiles roll with his veteran 4 and 5, or does he insert number two pick Tyrus Thomas and Mike Sweetney to provide some scoring punch? Oh, and what does Skiles do when Ben has a 3-25 stretch from the charity stripe?
6: Los Angeles Clippers: L.A.'s other team is STACKED. Never thought I'd ever say that. When two-time champion Sam Cassell is coming off the bench, you know you have a squad. Elton Brand and Chris Kaman anchor what I think is the best post combo in the League-36.6 ppg, 19.6 rpg combined in 05-06. Elgin Baylor drafted big man Paul Davis out of Michigan State, who I think could develop into a solid post player. Baylor also added some depth with the signing of Tim Thomas. Corey Maggette should see more than 32 games this season, and will regain his starting spot from Quinton Ross. The wildcard for the Clip Show is newly-dubbed starting point man Shaun Livingston. Livingston. The 6'7" third year guard recently had a lot of weight put on his shoulders, and hell need to quickly improve on his game management skills. If he can show why he was drafted fourth overall in 2004, he could lead the Clippers to places no one ever thought they'd go.
5. San Antonio Spurs: I could get a lot of flack for having the Spurs this low. They were a foul call and a heroic Dirk Nowitzki performance from the West finals, and who knows what could have happened had they gotten past Dallas? Yes, the core remains in Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan, but the rest of the roster is unproven, suspect, and old. The meat of Gregg Popovich's bench-Mike Finley, Brent Barry and Robert Horry-averages 34 years of age. Beno Udrih regained his spot as back-up point guard after he couldn't get off the pine in the playoffs, and post monsters Fabricio Oberto. Francisco Elson and Jackie Butler will man the middle for San Antonio. Those three venerable big men have a combined career average of 3.6 ppg and 3 rpg a game. Parker is emerging as a elite point guard and Duncan is the best power forward of all time. I'm just not sure how much they can get out of the rest of the parts. The Spurs are still better than 90 percent of the League, though, so you know they'll be around come late spring.
4. Detroit Pistons: Plain got beat by Miami last spring. I know everyone in the organization harped on the starters playing a boatload of minutes throughout the playoffs, but Miami was just the better team. You could argue that the Heat could have been going for back to back titles had Wade and Shaq been healthy for the '05 conference finals. Still, Detroit still has arguably the best starting five in the League even without Ben Wallace. No, Nazr Mohammed won't sell afro wigs and jerseys; and he won't have a "GONG" noise played whenever he blocks a shot or catches an oop, but he will give the Pistons a viable fifth option on offense and Flip Saunders won't have to worry about "Hack a Nazr" at the end of games-.785 FT percentage in 05-06. Backcourt mates Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton will continue to carry the bulk of the offensive load-38.6 ppg in 05-06, but those two will need to defer to the wiry Tayshaun Prince at times. Prince (14.1 points, 4.2 boards last season) is a match-up nightmare at 6'9." He can take smaller guys down low and blow by bigger wing players. Flip Murray-10.3 ppg during the 05-06 season-will add scoring off the bench and give Billups and Hamilton a chance to take a breather at times. Detroit will miss Wallace on the defensive end, and I think they'll employ a lot of zone to make up for that loss. The Pistons won't win 64 games again this season, bu tthey'll be in the championship conversation all year long.
3. Miami Heat: If it ain't broke, you don't fix it. That's essentially what Pat Riley did as no additions or subtractions were made to the core of the Heat's title-winning rotation. Dwyane Wade will continue to be the focal point of the Heat offense and everyone else will continue to know their role. This could be the last go round for a number of players on the Miami roster-Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Antoine Walker....And Shaquille O'Neal. The most dominant center of our era is, sadly, on his last legs. O'Neal had the lowest scoring and rebounding averages of his career last season-20 ppg and 9.2 rpg, respectively. He's averaged just 68 games a season since he won his first title in 2000. It'll be tough, but it'd be nice to see one of the all-time greats go out on top.
2. Phoenix Suns: Let's get this out of the way right now: Steve Nash will not win a third straight MVP award. You could argue he shouldn't have any. Anyway...the Suns and Mike D'Antoni have changed the game. Teams are building their rosters like Phoenix, but not with the same results. The Suns have averaged 58 wins a year since they acquired Nash prior to the 04-05 season. Phoenix even won 54 games last season without Amare Stoudemire. Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa helped pick up the slack, 26.4 ppg combined. But scoring-108.4 ppg-hasn't been the Suns' problem. Stopping opponents from scoring-102.8 ppa-has. In last year's playoffs, where defense usually tightens up, Phoenix surrendered more than 105 points a night over its 20-game run. If they had a stopper, or a coach who put at least a little bit of emphasis on defense, I'd rank Phoenix as the League's best team. But since they don't...
1. Dallas Mavericks: In 2003-04, the Mavericks gave up 100.8 ppg. Two years later, Dallas allowed a shade more than 93 points a game, good for top seven in the League. The Mavs already could score at will. Head coach Avery Johnson stressed defense to his group, which I believe propelled Dallas to its first finals appearance in team history. With Nash, Finley and Nowitzki, Dallas was Phoenix before Phoenix was Phoenix, if that makes sense. Two-thirds of the group is gone and has been replaced with well-rounded players such as Josh Howard and Jason Terry. Nowitzki, however, is the engine that makes the Mavs run. Dirk posted career highs in points per game (26.6), field-goal percentage (.480) and three-point accuracy (.406). Dallas has youth (Maurice Ager, Devean George) and experience (Jerry Stackhouse, Austin Croshere) on its bench. Mark Cuban has three big bodies in Desagana Diop, Erick Dampier and DJ Mbenga that can #### and push with the best of them. If they don't have a hangover after a Finals loss where they were up 2-0, David Stern may have to present Mark Cuban with the Larry O'Brien trophy. Then Stern's head will explode.
Before I get to the final ten teams in my preview and my award, division and playoff winners, here's some quick hits, things I'm looking forward to and questions about the upcoming NBA season.
-The Bulls will be perimeter oriented, similar to how Jersey was when they got to the finals, minus K-Mart. I wanna see how far they can get with no post presence. -The slide of the Pacers. Best record in 03-04, 46 wins in 04-05, .500 last season, Yes, I know key guys were injured last year, but this team needs to be blown up because their door closed the night of the brawl. Don't forget, they beat the Pistons by 15 that night, were 7-2 and Artest was averaging something like 24, 8, 6, and 2 steals -How tough and exciting the Pacific division will be this season -Can T-Mac and Yao stay healthy and can Bonzi be content coming off the bench -When will the Isiah suicide watch start? -When will Doc Rivers be fired? -How will Miami's seed in the playoffs be affected with Shaq playing 50-55 games during the regular season? -Will Rasheed stop shooting eight threes a game? -How much zone will the Pistons play since they don't have a help defender anymore? -Can Dallas rebound after losing a 2-0 lead in the finals?-Will D-Wade be satisfied with one ring
-Will we see Kobe from games 1-5 of the Phoenix series, or Kobe from games six and seven?
-If Miami goes back to back, does Shaq call it a career?
-How the shift from Shaq/Kobe will switch to Wade/Kobe
-How quickly Chris Paul will ascend to best point guard in the L status
My name is Jason Carmel Davis, and I am a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Yes, we do go to class in East Lansing, not just to bars and the liquor store.
I'm almost positive I had an SI with me in the womb, checking out Ralph Wiley. He's the main reason I ever decided to pursue a career in sportswriting .
I even remember the first highlight I ever saw on SportsCenter. I don't remember who was reading it, but it was Michael Jordan's 63-point game against the Celtics in the Garden in the 86 Playoffs. I've been hooked ever since.
