Dirk Nowitzki frequently mentions the Mavs’ ambitions to finally win a championship. But does the Texan team even have any chance of making it through the first NBA playoff round?Right now, the Mavs are sitting at the 8th spot in the Western Conference with a record of 43-30. They still have 9 more games to play and are only 3 games behind Utah, Portland and New Orleans (which they will play two more times). However, it looks like a justified assumptions that they will end up staying where they are right now which would mean that Dallas would face the L.A. Lakers and Kobe Bryant in the first round.
Over the course of the regular season the Mavs lost all three games against the Lakers which pretty much says it all. Dallas is not the same basketball team anymore that made it to the NBA Finals in 2006. Jerry Stackhouse is getting older and not even in the rotation anymore, while Josh Howard turned from a former All-Star into a ghost who rarely plays because of his ankle problems. Dirk is still an excellent shooter, but can barely defend a mailbox.
So what would it mean for the franchise to lose in the first playoff round for the third time in a row?
Nothing good, that’s for sure. Dirk pointed out that he’d be willing to stay in Dallas and even take a paycut after the 2009-10 season if he feels that the team could win a championship. But given the aforementioned circumstances it doesn’t seem very likely…
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