2014 NBA Playoffs: San Antonio Spurs(1) vs Dallas Mavericks(8)

Spurs in 4 ...

 

Game 1: DAL at SAS | Sun., Apr. 20, 1:00 PM ET | TNT
Game 2: DAL at SAS | Wed., Apr. 23, 8:00 PM ET | NBATV
Game 3: SAS at DAL | Sat., Apr. 26, 4:30 PM ET | TNT
Game 4: SAS at DAL | Mon., Apr. 28, 9:30 PM ET | TNT
*Game 5: DAL at SAS | Wed., Apr. 30
*Game 6: SAS at DAL | Fri., May 2
*Game 7: DAL at SAS | Sun., May 4

 

Im thinking Dallas gets 2 games. Spurs in 6

 

Wow...that escalated quickly.

 

Spurs in 5. I hope Dallas pulls off the miracle upset, but they haven't beaten San Antonio in any game for over 2 years.

 

GO MAVS GO??

Of course for the Rockets benefit

 

Shoot, I clicked on the wrong one. Wanted to vote for Spurs in 6. Which is just wishful thinking anyway. Accidentally clicked "Mavs in 6". PSHAW! AS IF!

 

Had a good conversation with my brother who's a Mavs fan. He was really hoping for OKC instead of San Antonio as he feels it was a better matchup. He said he feels San Antonio and Dallas have similar strengths but the Spurs are much better in those areas. With that I have to go with Spurs in 5.

 

I think the most interesting thing about San Antonio's playoffs is that if things play out as per the seeding currently, San Antonio would not have to leave Texas until the conference finals when they would play OKC which is the closest out of state team anyway. With an aged roster, that could mean one or two extra nights in their own beds between games which could give them an edge. Obviously I'm rooting for Houston to slay the giant in round two, rendering this whole thought experiment moot, but it is interesting.

Also, if we meet them in Round2, we will be coming off of a series back and forth to Portland, which is at least a 4 hour flight. Thus, we really need to take care of business early so that we do not come into Round2 tired and jet lagged against SA.

 

I am a die hard Mavs fan. so here is my opinion on the series.

Most knowledgeable Mavs fans wanted to play OKC. We matched up well with them. They are not great at defending the 3 and our bench is much better. We had advantages in that series and Carlisle is a good enough coach to come up with a game plan to exploit those advantages. You can see 2011 for proof of this. Was Dallas the best team in 2011? Maybe, but a lot of it had to do with Carlisle doing things in the playoffs he never did in the season. Turning point in the Miami series was inserting Barea into the starting lineup to break down the defense. Against the Lakers he exploited their lack of defending the three.

The issue here is that our 2 main strengths this season is our bench being one of the best in the league and our three point shooting being one of the best as well. We can't exploit that against the Spurs though because they are slightly better in both those categories. Carlisle usually also has a coaching advantages over most teams, and he would have with OKC, but not with SA....no better coach in the league than Popavich.

So to summarize, Mavs will compete and keep all the games close, may even steal a game, but we would be very lucky to even go 6. My prediction is Spurs in 5. We just don't match up with them.

Out of the top 5 teams in the West here is the order of our best matchups.

1. Portland
2. Houston
3. OKC
4. Clippers
5. Spurs

 

Clutch, are you willing to license the email list of the CF members? I want to market my new online Anger Management course and I'm willing to split the profits with you 50-50. We'll be rich as kings!

Edit: Whoops, meant to send this message privately.

 

Spurs in 4.

 

Carlisle is a great coach and he should get credit for his matchups in the 2011 run, but the players also had to step up big as X-Factors. I can't believe I'm saying this, but JJ, Peja, Cardinal, and Stevenson all had huge roles each series. Dirk was Dirk, Jet was Jet, and Chandler/Marion helped seal it all together with great defense. That 2011 team was a complete team that could compete with anyone (obviously). With that being said, I don't think they would've won it all if Carlisle wasn't the coach.

This year is a different story. I only watched a handful of games this season, but Carlisle lost a number of games with some idiotic personnel decisions. Just look at all those 4th quarter meltdowns. You can't blame him too much because there wasn't much else he could do with this roster.

There's just no series here. I don't understand why the Grizzlies were trying to play the Thunder when they are a better matchup against the Spurs. Mavs will only be able to keep 1 or 2 games close and the Spurs should sweep. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

Spurs in 5. Dallas just isn't deep enough.

 

I'd be surprised if Spurs don't wrap this series up in 5 or less.

 

Spurs in 5. Dirk and/or Monta will win one.

 

I have been watching the Mavs all year because I can't get Comcrap or the Rockets. The Mavs come on Fox Sports SW in place of the Rockets (thanks for screwing your fans Les!) Your analysis is a good one, likely correct. The X factor is the Mav's shooting. If they get hot for a few games, they can rain threes and maybe win a few. You match up much better with OKC and you are a M.Ellis miss away from playing them.

 

Dallas is taking down the Spurs. Duncan will be completely neutralized on defense. Dirk will win the matchup.

Ellis is the x-factor who will win at least one game all by himself.

 

I am starting to think this guy hibye is right..

 

Wouldn't it make more sense for spurs to put Leonard/Boris Diaw on Dirk and let Tim guard the paint?

Not sure why Pops would have Duncan as the primary defender on Dirk.