This is why the Mavs lost to the Warriors

We thought the reason the Mavs lost to the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs was because of BDizzle and his awesome unstoppable beard. I guess we were wrong. The real reason they lost is because they made shitty tv ads with Deion Sanders [via our compadres at Deuce of Davenport, who also found the video].

What makes this commercial even better is that Devin Harris raps in it. I may be white and Irish, but even I look more hardcore rapping than he does. As for Deion, well, he could really use some voice lessons.

-WCK

It died young and quickly

We'd like to bid the Mavs title hopes farewell. They sure weren't long for this world.

VICTORY IS OURS!

We're not going to lie, we were crapping our pants when BDizzle pulled that hammy 5 minutes into the game. Not to mention his knee was killing him. But something about this team and these fans said "we ain't losing." All of us were hoping Davis could pull a Willis Reed, but he did way more than that. He truly had one of the all time epic playoff performances in this series and in this game. And you know what, so did the Warriors fans. For those three home games, it was INSANE at the Arena.

Meanwhile Stephen "Dead Eye" Jackson was the man, hitting 7 threes and going for 33. J-Rich, Barnes and Biedrins were also clutch as hell. If you had told us before going into this game that the Warriors would absolutely blow out the Mavs even though Baron Davis pulled his hammy shortly after tipoff, we would have said you're nuts.

But that 18-0 run in the third quarter absolutely killed the Mavs. They never recovered, you could see it on their faces. Meanwhile, Nowitzki was beyond awful, going for only 8 pts. I think we need to reroute that MVP trophy immediately to Baron Davis.

We've also gotta tip our hat to Nellie, who totally outcoached Avery, and got his extremely sweet revenge on Cuban. We knew we had the Mavs from the first game when Avery switched up his starting lineup.

Best of all about this Game 6, there will be no ref conspiracy theories. The Mavericks simply got CRUSHED, and that's all she wrote.

Now, it's time for us to call out all of those who called us crazy (and much worse things) for picking the Warriors to win this series. I was a bit off, since I said the Warriors would win in 7. Meanwhile Dwyermaker revised his in 7 pick to 6 early in the series. We're also going to send a huge shout out to Dan Shanoff who also picked the Warriors to win this series as well.

Below are some of the best insults people threw at us for picking the Warriors before the series began.
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"The only way the Warriors will win, 100% injury rate."

"are you high?"

"Nellie's teams have NEVER proved to be effective in the playoffs against quality competition."

"LMAO, you're too delusional."

"Have you ever watched the Mavs outside of GS games?"

"Wow. You have got to be the most ignorant basketball fan in the history of the game. Golden State doesn't play defense, they've never been in the playoffs, and we ALL know that how you play leading up to the playoffs doesn't mean squat once you're in."

"Mavs in 6 at worst."

"you're fat."
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We appreciate the comments guys. But look who's laughing now. We are. Enjoy your summer Mavs fans. I'm sure that MVP trophy that Herr Luftball gets will help ease the pain. Oh wait, no it won't.

-WCK

Stop Kissing Up To Dirk

The East Coast take on the West Coast tilt:

This morning, following the Mavericks 118-112 win over the Warriors in Game 5 last night, I couldn't help but notice that every basketball analyst had all of a sudden turned into Dirk Nowitzki's jock strap.

"He was clutch." "He made the shots when he had to." "This is why he should be the league MVP."

Excuse me, but did I miss something here? Did anyone else notice that in the second half, prior to his making those two 3-pointers towards the end, that he was only 1-for-3 from the field. Yes, he had only taken three shots the entire second half up to that point.

(I'll concede the fact that he did have 30 points and 12 rebounds, but to not exist in most of the second half like he did was unacceptable. Plus it took a calling-out by Avery Johnson to wake this guy up, which most analysts played up as a superior coaching job by Johnson when the truth is that Nowitzki should not need any kind of impetus to get up for a playoff series. And besides, the player who should get mentioned most in the Mavs win is Devin Harris, whose nine points in the fourth quarter - 16 total - kept the Mavs in the game as everyone else was melting away.)

You can blame it on good defense by the Warriors, but if you're one of the leading contenders for MVP, getting shots off should not be a problem.

The truth is, Nowitzki and the Mavericks didn't win that game. The Warriors lost it.

City of Oakland had a nine-point lead with four minutes to go after a rediculous 3-pointer by Baron Davis (who would later foul out). Instead of playing the sensical game and working the ball inside and penetrating on every possession, the Warriors decided to hoist 3-pointer after 3-pointer like it was the only way they could score. Needless to say, they went that final stretch shooting 0-for-8 from the field, including 0-for-5 for 3-point range.

Why, oh why, did they have more 3-point attempts than 2-point ones? I'm sitting there thinking they should grind it down every possession and when there's less than a minute left in the game, that's when Dallas would have to start fouling.

Instead, the Mavs ended the game on a 15-0 run and walked away with the win (prompting Mark Cuban to immediately go buy a whole new set of shirts because he seemed to sweat through every single one he owned during last night's game).

What do I call the Warriors 3-point shooting ways: The Jimmy Rollins syndrome. Whenever the Phillies shortstop hits a home run, he all of a sudden begins to think that he can hit a home run at every at-bat and starts swinging for the fences (then again, he does have nine HRs this season - he typically strikes out 1,573 times in a row - which ties him for third in the league with Texas' Ian Kinsler).

That's what the Warriors did last night ... and it cost them the game. Next time, stick to normal basketball and don't try to show off with 3-pointers at the end of the game.

-PB

The Roller Coaster Ride

Even though the Warriors lost this game, I think our original statement about this series is holding true, that this would be the greatest 1 v. 8 playoff matchup in NBA history. The Warriors were down 21 at one point, only to storm back and take a 9 pt. lead and then finally - after 5 games - the MVP decided to show up. The Warriors proved they can rise from the dead, while the Mavs, for once, proved they can actually be clutch (although D-Wade probably disagrees). This series certainly has an NBA Finals feel to it.

What was strange though was that down the stretch the Warriors totally collapsed. The Mavs did a good job of denying BDizzle the ball, but still, he could have come back out after passing off to Barnes or Jackson to get himself one on one with Harris again. The Warriors didn't do that and they paid the price. It also kind of hurt that Davis fouled out (the last one True Hoop thought was a horrible call) seeing as he's the key to the entire series.

Meanwhile, I can't say I'm all that worried about the Warriors. The Mavs can't beat the Warriors 3 straight. The last time they beat the Warriors 3 straight was 1942. The Mavs also played their best game of the series by far (Austin Croshere? What the hell?) and they still only won by a hair's breath. The Warriors, however, didn't even bother to show up for the first quarter. But that's what you get with the Warriors. They're the Phoenix Suns on amphetamines. They take horrible shots and make horrible passes at times, but they also can catch fire as well. That's just who they are. It's their greatest strength and their greatest weakness all rolled into one. Dallas has deserved to win the two games they've won in the series, no question, but at the same time the Warriors sometimes get so out of control they essentially beat themselves. Stephen Jackson getting ejected again was also not real surprising, although I have to be honest, those were the two quickest T's I've ever seen in my life. Jackson got called for pulling a "Baron Davis" by clapping too much and I believe the refs seem to dislike him more than other players. Why? Well Jackson gets two T's for clapping while Jason Terry gets only one T for bodyslamming Baron Davis. Huh?

But now the series shifts back to Oakland, where the fans (and Jessica Alba) will bring everything they have and it will be absolutely deafening. Plus TNT has been doing a great job of using Gangsta Rap instrumentals whenever they go to a commercial break in Oakland. That's unbeatable.

There's no question that the Warriors know they should have won this game. No one even thought Game 5 would even be close. The Warriors also know that they can win no matter what the Mavs throw at them. And you know BDizzle is fuming about that 6th foul. The Warriors are pissed, big time, and they always play well the game after Stephen Jackson gets ejected. The City will do what Dwyermaker originally predicted them to do - win it in 6, at home, in Oakland.

-WCK

Warriors lose... Stern to Prescribe Xanax

Our good bud Dwyermaker is posting on the Warriors defeat tonight:

Yes, the Warriors lost on Wednesday night, albeit not in a complete landslide as many had expected, with the Warriors leading even into the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, BDizzle and Stephen Jackson got tossed, but the Warriors still kept it a game into the 4th quarter. Have to say that Reggie Miller and the rest of the announcers created unnecessary drama over Jackson's slow exit suggesting that it should result in a suspension. Please... if Jackson gets anything more than a heightened fine it is a travesty and more of a reflection on Jackson's reputation and the goal of the modern NBA to completely sedate their players.

Is there any question that this was a boring regular season short of a couple exciting (Warriors') games to make the playoffs at the end? The league's crackdown on laughing and clapping at referees, suspensions for technical fouls, and calling ticky-tack flagrant fouls has turned players into emotionless drones and the quality and excitement of play has been reflected, especially during the regular season. Fortunately, the competition in the playoffs picks up and the NBA finally becomes watchable. The NBA front office and referees have to understand that emotions run high both in victory and defeat and this is something to be celebrated, not shunned. Just because David Stern may need his daily dose of Xanax to get through the day does not mean he needs to kill the emotions of the playoffs for everyone else.

In summary, Free Mumia... I mean Stephen Jackson... and the Warriors will rebound in game 3, feed off the emotion at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (to hell with Oracle and all companies that pay to have arenas named after them... doesn't that give us all less of a reason to use their products???) and the Warriors will win by 10 in Game 3.

-dwyermaker

Special editor's note: Anyone else think Reggie Miller was beyond dreadful for this game? His worst line had to be "when the Warriors are in them, they give them trouble." I'd have some trouble too if the Warriors were in me. I hope Awful Announcing captured some of Miller's incredible work.

Here we go again

Game 2 of the epic first round matchup of THE CITY v. Mavs begins shortly. As you may remember, we picked The City to win this in 7. After the Warriors won Game 1, we started to feel a little better about our insane pick. We also feel good because the boys over at Stephen Jackson's Gun Rack, who have done a phenomenal job so far in handicapping these NBA playoffs, have made the Warriors their pick of the night. We know Stephen Jackson will bring his A-game, and probably his piece as well.

Warriors haters can suck it.

We got a ton of crap for picking the Warriors in 7 earlier this week. Well, we're feeling a little better about our pick today. The City took it to the Mavs for 4 quarters, while Don Nelson pretty convincingly outcoached Avery Johnson as the Warriors won 97-85. Bizarre call by Johnson to alter the starting lineup of the league's best team, but he must have felt he needed to do something different because of that 0-3 regular season record against the Warriors. Dirk Nowitzki did his usual A-Rod in the postseason impersonation, while Josh Howard wasn't all that great either. Meanwhile Baron Davis, the key to the series, was unreal. He went for 33 pts, 14 boards, 8 assists and 3 steals (because no one on the Mavs can guard him). We're also really glad that Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy don't play for us anymore. Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington are working out much better.

Some people will say, whatever, it's one game and point to the fact that Stack, Dirk and Howard had off games. True. But so did J-Rich, Monta Ellis and Harrington. And Biedrins was a non-factor. The Warriors didn't exactly play the game of their lives but won, and that should scare the Mavericks the most.

Outside of the Bay Area, pretty much no one in the mainstream media (except for Simmons), gave the Warriors much of a chance. Well, it might be time for people to rethink their thoughts on this series. The Warriors may not win the series, but they're not going away any time soon.

-WCK

Liveblog: Warriors v. Mavs Game 1

1st quarter
6:50 - Total brickfest to start out tonight, no one can hit anything.
6:53 - Both teams are starting out small, which I think helps the Warriors. Hopefully they'll eventually hit their strides and we'll see some more scoring.
6:55 - Josh Howard gets the home call when he flops on an Al Harrington backdown. Oh that's right, Dick Bavetta is reffing this game. Guess we should call it now for the Mavs.
6:57 - Terry hammers J-Rich. Hard foul. Think the Mavs are a little angry that for the last few days some people have been saying they could fall to the Warriors in this series? I say yes.
7:00 - Matt Barnes is sporting a ridiculous new haircut, which I love. He looks like one of those guys from the Mad Max movies.
7:04 - Dick Bavetta makes a HORRIBLE call on J-Rich when Harris essentially runs into him and flops. That was just an atrocious call. J-Rich responds by burying a three and then punching Dick Bavetta in the face.
7:08 - Warriors made a nice little run and are up by a few.
7:15 - Warriors up 23-17 after one quarter. Warriors look pretty good and are definitely playing with fire.

2nd quarter
7:20 - Mavs instantly go on a 6-0 run and we're all tied up again. We're finally starting to see some Diop here. The chessmatch begins. Wonder how long before Nelson brings Biedrins in.
7:25 - Warriors instead bring Ellis back in. Trying to kill them with speed and it seems to be working as the Warriors go up by 5.
7:27 - Diop gets his 3rd foul when Jackson drives to the hoop. This could be of some trouble for the Mavs, since they've played better when Diop is in there.
7:30 - Davis gets poked in the eye on a drive to the basket. If the Warriors lose Davis, who is incredibly injury prone, at any point in this series, they have literally no chance. They have a negative chance of winning the series if that's even possible.
7:35 Our buddy Dwyermaker chimes in - Did you see Dampier sitting on the bench looking like he was going to kill somebody? As if he hasn't already proven to everyone that the Mavs way overpaid for him and the Warriors made a slick move not trying to sign him when he was a free agent. Someone needs to explain to me how Howard is still making $1.6 million per season and able to play with Dampier making about $10 million per year...
7:41 - Frenetic pace to this game as Howard nearly does a flip after dunking. Probably worthy of a tech, but whatever, this game has picked up and although sort of sloppy, it's just brimming with energy. These guys are fighting hard and it's only Game 1. I wonder why we don't see this kind of intensity in the regular season? Oh wait, I know why.
7:47 - The Warriors really need this game as a confidence booster. They're playing well, but if they lose this game, they might not play with the same fire in upcoming games.
7:48 - Game is tied at half and Nowitzki has sucked a huge one in the first half, missing 37 makeable shots. Strangely the score is 38-38 at the end of the first half, didn't expect that.

HALFTIME - Barkley makes a good point at half. Why did the Mavs change their starting lineup when facing a #8 seed? Because they went 0-3 this year against the Warriors Charles.

3rd quarter
8:11 - Baron Davis leads the Warriors with 11 rebounds. That's not exactly a good stat. The Warriors need to do a better job rebounding.
8:12 - But if they start burying threes like Stephen Jackson did, then they don't really need to rebound.
8:14 - Starting to agree with Barkley now as the Warriors go on a mini-run. Why exactly did AJ change the starting lineup and why did he start that same lineup in the second half? This lineup isn't working so well.
8:20 - So Diop comes in and all of a sudden the Mavs are up by 1. Hey Avery, I think I'm seeing a trend here.
8:22 - The refs seem to feel the same way as I do, when Diop pushes Biedrins in the back and then follows it up with a layup. Clear offensive foul but no call.
8:25 - We're starting to see the Warriors weakness in this series, they aren't doing well with rebounding. But Diop just picked up his 4th foul. Please get Dampier in there. He moves like a slug.
8:31 - Mavs go on a little run but the Warriors just won't go away as Davis buries a 3 with almost no time remaining on the shot clock to tie it up.
8:32 - Dwyermaker thinks Barnes's haircut makes him look a little like Sanjaya. I still say Mad Max extra. Those tattoos make him too badass to be a Sanjaya clone.
8:35 - A shot of Cuban looking seriously concerned as the Warriors go up by 2. Classic. Davis then buries a long range 3. That's right Cuban, you're team isn't having a an easy time. And Davis buries another 3 as time runs out! Warriors up by six with a quarter to go. Suck it Cuban!

4th quarter
8:47 - Regardless of who wins this game, the Warriors have proved they can definitely hang with the Mavs. Avery Johnson has also proved he's not quite as good a coach as I thought he was. Keep Diop in there for crying out loud Avery!
8:50 - Baron Davis comes back in, hopefully for the rest of this game. He's been having one hell of a game.
8:54 - The Czar tells us that the Warriors have earned the Mavs respect tonight. Yes, yes they have.
8:57 - Nowitzki bricks another shot, he's been putrid this game. The Warriors have to win this game. Nowitzki won't be this bad all series.
9:03 - In case anyone can't tell, Baron Davis is the key to the Warriors doing well in this series. Harris can't guard him one-on-one because he's too small and Devean George can't guard him one-on-one because he's too slow. And they can't pull Howard off of J-Rich or Jackson. And Jason Terry isn't really a great defender.
9:08 - Warriors up 10. HUGE.
9:10 - J-Rich loses the ball, then gets a huge block on Harris. Just a great play, the kind you don't see in the regular season. Barnes then decides not to let the clock run down and jacks up a 3, but buries it. Good thing you made that shot Barnes, I would have killed you if you didn't make that.
9:15 - Davis buries a game ending 3, which is only fitting. 33 pts, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals. Dominating performance.
9:20 - Cuban can suck it. Warriors win. And yes, we called this one.

Join us for Warriors v. Mavs liveblog tonight

Go ahead and join us tonight as we liveblog the Warriors/Mavs game. I'm already on record as picking the Warriors in 7. Let's see how that works out.

-WCK

Warriors Begin the Trek to the Promised Land

We have a guest poster today who is a bigtime Warriors fan. He brings the pain on the Mavs and Mark Cuban. He also explains how the Warriors are the "Borat" of the NBA Playoffs. Read on if you dare.....

If the West Coast Kid's comments haven't inspired enough naysaying and general rage at the idea that the Warriors are going to take it to the Mavs beginning tonight, I invite you to read on and suggest having a small dog or other domesticated animal of choice near by so that you can kick it at the end of this column.

As a disclaimer: I am and always have been a biased Warriors fan... and yes, in the past this has clouded my judgment and perhaps led to some poor choices that have both impacted my financial situation and general self-respect. That being said, I fully believe as both the Warriors have grown and improved, so has my own ability to predict the outcome of sporting events.

That being said, I fully believe the Warriors can and will win this series with the Mavs and I am particularly confident in Game 1 tonight. Let's just say, if I weren't already 6 figures in debt because of various questionable decisions about continuing my education I would be making a little trip to Vegas to enjoy all the anti-Warriors sentiment flowing into my bank account. Speaking of which, here's how you know you are a die hard Warriors fan. I was in Vegas for the NBA All-Star weekend for a bachelor party and the highlight of the weekend for me was making 2 dollar horse-racing bets at the MGM Grand Sports Book next to Chris Gatling (former Warrior power forward from the early 90's). I was so stoked that one of my friends (Lakers fan) half-jokingly asked me later if I got Gatling's digits. A little pathetic? For sure. But undeniably awesome if you ever were at a Warriors game in the early 90's and saw Gatling throw down on Manute Bol from just inside the free-throw line with 15,000 Warriors fans in going completely insane? No doubt.

As for the game tonight, one thing that kills me about the comments we've seen so far is that everyone keeps asking how we can possibly question the strength of a team with one of the best records in the history of the NBA. First of all, if you stretch out the last 22 games of the Warriors season when everyone was finally getting healthy and gelling together, the Warriors won 17 of them. You stretch that over a season and that's not that far off from what the Mavs did and this is the team the Mavs are going to have to play in the first round. Who cares what happened the first 60 games of the season with injuries and two different starters not even on the squad? And if you do care so much about those regular season games when the Mavs were so dominant, guess what? The Mavs did not beat the Warriors once! So essentially, any argument that you should pay attention to the regular season falls completely on its face because the Mavs did not beat the Warriors once in the regular season. Do I care that the Mavericks went 4-0 against Team A or B? Hell no. Did they beat the team (Warriors) that's in front of them right now? No - even when both teams were at approx full strength (before the Jackson/Harrington Trade which increased the Warriors playoff level potential exponentially) AT DALLAS earlier in the season.

Plus, have you watched Dallas in the playoffs the last couple years? It's all about whining to the refs about calls they didn't get, Nowitzki freaking out on his own teammates, calls that Wade got in the finals, and fines on Mark Cuban for telling it like it is. Please. Teams do not win Championships like that. If Cuban were smart he would sit at home, shut up, and stop being a distraction to his team, his coach, the refs, and everyone trying to watch the game. Cuban needs to realize nobody really cares about him. He's become a Jerry Springer-esque side-show over the past few years. Someone you really could care less about, but that you just can't take your eyes off of and can't help talking about. That's it really. If Cuban were to die tomorrow, nobody would truly care any more about him than if it were the poor transvestite who came out to her/his life-long love last week on Springer. The only difference is that 100 million people have seen Cuban make a fool of himself for 3 years and have become attached to him because the TV cameras have yet to stop rolling. I have not seen the Mavs in a serious situation in the Playoffs and thought to myself, wow, they handle themselves like Champions. Like the Spurs the last decade, like the Bulls did, like Miami last year. Not to mention the fact that once you get passed Nowitski and Howard and you look at that roster, you're telling me that that is a championship team? I just don't see it.

Then you have the Warriors, one of the hottest teams in the league with a young, hungry core of players and some solid vets willing to do whatever it takes to win, as they've shown over the past two months. Plus, they have a saavy, experienced coach whose style exactly fits this late 2000's (meaning 2005-2010) NBA game.

These two teams remind me of a couple of movies. The Mavs are the Peter Jackson's King Kong of the playoffs. Critics love them, it's a long epic designed for the long-haul, but for some reason that you just can't put on paper it comes up short and leaves you feeling a little cheated. The Warriors are the Borat of the playoffs. Nobody gives them enough credit, even the studios don't put them in enough theaters because of the controvery but everyone loves them, they still pull through and make a killing. Plus you have the threat of hookers and lawsuits (see Stephen Jackson) and you know we'll pull out a bag of our own poo if things don't go right.

I rest my case.

-dwyermaker

UPDATE: Thanks to the anonymous poster who informed us that we previously had "late 2000's NBA game." But that meant in the 2005-2010 range. And yes, with some luck, Don Nelson will still be coaching in 2907.

Getting smacked by the public after being linked on Deadspin

Well today was a big day for us. We got linked on Deadspin. Then we got killed for picking the Warriors over the Mavs, even though a few posts before this I picked the Mavs to win the series. Look, I'm a Warriors fan, which makes me delusional already. I know Foyle sucks, and I know our defense is terrible (although despite what stats say, I still think our defense is better than Phoenix's, which I realize isn't saying much). We're not asking for much here on the West Coast. Hell I'd be entertained with a Mavs in 6 series. I'm just glad my Warriors have finally made the playoffs. The last time they were in the playoffs I hadn't even reached puberty yet which i'm still waiting for by the way.

-WCK

Why The City will beat the Mavericks

Let's make this clear right away, this will be the best 7-game series of all time pitting a #1 seed against a #8 seed. The Warriors have what it takes to win this thing and here's why.

1. Confidence - The Warriors have won 6 of their last 7 against Dallas (although one of those wins admittedly shouldn't count because Dallas was resting it's starters). This is no fluke. The Warriors are a confident team and not only do they believe they can beat Dallas, they have kicked their butts of late.

2. Teacher versus pupil - Nellie taught Dallas coach Avery Johnson everything he knows about coaching. While you can counter that Johnson knows an awful lot about how Nellie coaches, Nellie is 3-0 against Avery. Nelson also has a history of abusing teams and players he used to coach (see Warriors final regular season game against Phoenix and Steve Nash). This has a familiar feel to the Raiders/Bucs Super Bowl when Jon Gruden basically knew where Rich Gannon would be throwing on every single play.

3. Guard play - The Warriors are one of the few teams in the league that can hang with the 4-headed monster of Dallas that includes Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Devin Harris and Jerry Stackhouse. Baron Davis is too big and physical for either Harris or Terry to effectively guard, Monta Ellis is just as fast as Harris, and both Stephen Jackson and J-Rich are larger than normal guards, meaning Howard and/or Stackhouse will be forced to guard them leaving Davis to operate the offense without much distraction. Should Dallas decide to put Howard on Davis (which seems bound to happen at some time) J-Rich and Jackson will feast on the smaller Terry and Harris, and the less than quick Stackhouse.

4. Center play - While Diop and Dampier are together quite a powerful duo, Dampier is coming off a shoulder injury. Meanwhile Andris Biedrins has emerged this year for the Warriors as a force in the paint, averaging nearly 10 points and 10 boards a game while shooting 60% from the field. While Biedrins is foul prone, the Warriors have Adonal Foyle on the bench. Biedrins, if he plays well, combined with Foyle, can effectively eliminate the typically huge Dallas advantage of size and rebounding in the paint.

5. Adaptability - The team that's the closest match to the Suns (which has also given the Mavs trouble over the years) is the Warriors. The difference is the Warriors actually play defense and can play a power game. The Warriors are more than capable of neutralizing Dallas's center-duo by running and gunning. Conversely, if the Mavs want to slow it down, the Warriors have the necessary centers to play power basketball (which the Suns don't have since Stoudemire is their only true mobile center). No other team in basketball has quite the same roster as the Warriors to effectively challenge and beat the Mavs at their own game.

6. Health and team play - Everyone on the Warriors is finally healthy and the team has gelled since the trade with Indiana earlier this year. This team is better than it's #8 seed suggests.

7. Nowitzki will suck for at least a few games - Why? Because I say so.

Prediction: Warriors in 7.

-WCK