Golden State Warriors: Potential First Round Playoff Matchups
By Jamie Faue
Dallas Mavericks:
Mar 8, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard
Monta Ellis(11) reacts against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. The Mavericks defeated the Lakers 100-93. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Mavericks are currently the sixth seed in the West. But with five games separating them from the Thunder, in the ever changing standings of the West, they could easily drop to the eighth spot by the end of the season.
In their last ten games, Dallas has gone 5-5 with losses coming against the Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers, The Brooklyn Nets, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Thunder. Four of these five teams, are playoff caliber teams, and the margin in which Dallas lost each of those games was by more than ten points.
Dallas, has also had trouble staying healthy with injuries to Tyson Chandler and Chandler Parsons over the course of the season. Without Chandler, Dallas plays much like the Warriors do without Bogut and Ezeli — they tend to give up a lot of points in the paint and struggle to grab rebounds.
Without Parsons, Dallas loses a major scoring asset, despite strong contributions from Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki, sometimes Dallas just needs that extra contribution that Parsons is able to provide.
However, the additions of Rajon Rondo and Amar’e Stoudemire have helped fill those holes when Chandler and Parsons are missing from the Dallas rotation. These additions have also stacked the Mavericks roster with depth, which is key in the playoffs.
Dallas is similar to Oklahoma City in the sense that every player on the floor is a threat, but the Mavericks lack the explosiveness the the Thunder have. It’s for that reason, that the Warriors match up better with the Mavericks than they do the Thunder.
The Warriors, 3-0 against Dallas this year, have already won the season series and still have one more meeting in April. Golden State has also had some luck in the postseason against Dallas — who could forget the “We Believe” run in 2007?
However, this is a much different Warrior team than the 2007 “We Believe” squad. It is also a different Mavericks team, but given the success that Golden State has had against Dallas this season, the Warriors would win this series four games to two.