HoopWatch

Finally, my wish came true when the Golden State Warriors thrashed the Portland Trailblazers, 120-98, ending a 13-year playoff drought. And what better drama it is to see Don Nelson facing the same team he has helped resurrected, and led to the playoffs for six straight postseasons, from 1999-2005.

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.