Well, I hate to do this, but what did I tell’ya. Yes, I predicted a 67-win season for the Mavericks at my post, “Total Domination.” And they did get just that.

Anyway, going into this series, the Golden State Warriors hold the psychological edge. They have swept their season series against the Mavericks, and they were high scoring games. On November 6, they won 107-104, they again were victorious on March 12, 117-100, and defeated Dallas’ second stringers last April 17 for a 111-82 victory.

Dallas needs to heed to Avery Johnson defensive game plan for them to be victorious, and I believe they will just do that. They will clamp on these inexperienced Warriors. Nelson is just the master of the run-and-gun style that the Mavericks won’t thrive in. Expect Avery to preach defense all series long.

Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop have to be effective underneath to grab rebounds so as to prevent the Warriors from running. The wingmen trio of Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard and Devean George have to be quick on their feet to shut down the perimeter threats of Baron Davis, Stephen Jackson, Monty Ellis and Jason Richardson.

And Dirk Nowitzki will have a superb series. There is just no one in that Golden State roster that could match-up against the premier MVP candidate. Al Harrington is just too short and Andres Biedrins is too slow. Dirk will average over 30 points in this match-up.

The X-Factors are Jason Terry for Dallas, and Monty Ellis for the Warriors. Whoever has the better game will catapult his team to victory.

I predict a five-game series with Dallas advancing to the second round.

The cast for the Eastern Conference Playoffs has been completed for some time now, but the match-ups have yet to be determined. Most teams, especially the Central Division, are still battling for two of the top four slots, and gain home court advantage. Detroit has clinched the top spot, but Cleveland is just a half game behind Chicago for the second seed.

Out West however, the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Clippers are slugging it out for the eighth and last spot. Hell, the Clippers may even snatch the seventh spot if the Lakers lose their last assignment. Right now, the Warriors own that eighth spot at 40-40, just one game ahead of the Clippers (39-41). The Warriors have won their last three games, while the Clippers lost four of its last six, a bad omen for the Los Angeles boys.

The Clippers would love to go back-to-back in postseason wars. The last time they did that was in the 1991-93 seasons. They have Phoenix and New Orleans as their last assignments. A lone win, coupled with two Golden State losses, will catapult them to the play-offs since they own the tie breaker.

The Warriors, on the other hand, will clinch that play-off spot if they win their last two games. Thus, in any scenario, they need to win their last two meetings, one with Dallas and the other with Portland, to avoid any complications.

For me, I would like Golden State to go to the play-offs. Why? First, their coach, Don Nelson, was the one who brought the Dallas franchise back to life as he stirred the Mavericks to successive play-off appearances from 1999-2005, after the ballclub has stayed in limbo for a decade. What drama would emanate if Nelson faces his former team. It is also important to note that Nelson was the last coach to guide the Warriors franchise to their postseason appearance back in 1993-94 when his General Manager, Chris Mullin, was still playing for him.

Second, Golden State holds the edge against Dallas in their season series. And only two other teams have won twice against the Mavericks. They are Phoenix and Utah. But the Warriors may sweep Mark Cuban’s boys tomorrow, and hold that psychological advantage coming into the first round.

Lastly, I would love to see another running team making it to the postseason. That will really make it more exciting. Imagine Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, the Lakers and Golden State Warriors in the play-offs and eventually beating methodical and boring ballclubs like the Jazz and the Spurs. I would just love to see that.

That injury that sidelined him for four games solidifies his bid for a third straight MVP plum, a feat that he would share with Legends Larry Bird and Wilt Chamberlain. His Phoenix Suns lost three of four games since Nash was sidelined. And they barely won the first one against Portland. It was an overtime win, and a narrow one.

With Nash back in the line-up against the Los Angeles Clippers, he wasted no time in orchestrating plays and restoring order in the Suns offense. Phoenix thrives on their run-and-gun style, and they would love to score in the first eight seconds of the shot clock. An interesting stat was offered in the final eight minute mark of this game. Suns scored 43 points when they make a shot within eight seconds of the clock, and produced only 18 after the next eight. And the maestro of those plays is Steve Nash, the reigning two-time NBA MVP.

Nash scored seven points and had six assists in the first six minutes of the game. This led to a double-digit lead by the end of the first canto, and the Suns would not relinquish that lead till the end of the game. Nash scored a total of 13 points and dished out 12 assists in just 28 minutes for a 115-90 Suns victory.

Tonight, the Suns will face the Boston Celtics, and I expect another rout. That’s how important Nash is to the Suns. Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire are not the same without him. Their fluidity is lost without him. I saw them having fun against the Clippers. Rarely used forward Pat Burke even had a career-high 10 rebounds.

There’s a lot of talk going on on Dirk Nowitzki being this year’s MVP. But I still believe Nash is more valuable to Phoenix than Dirk is to Dallas. (Sorry Dirk!) He deserves to win the award more than the past two seasons. (pic courtesy of yahoonba)