(Sports Network) - It wasn't easy and took the entire 2009-10 season, but the Dallas Mavericks were able to lock up the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and will face rival San Antonio in the Western Conference quarterfinals starting tonight in Big D.
Western Conference Rivals Meet As Spurs, Mavericks Open Series
These two teams just met on the final day of the regular season, and the Mavs locked up the second seed with a 96-89 victory. Dallas won the season series with the Spurs by a 3-1 count.
The Mavericks extended the longest streak in franchise history by clinching a postseason berth for a 10th straight season -- the second-longest streak in the NBA behind the rival Spurs, who are in the playoffs for an NBA-best 13th consecutive year. Led by All-Star and MVP candidate Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas went 55-27 this season and owns the most 50-win seasons in the NBA since the 2000-01 campaign (9).
Head coach Rick Carlisle guided the Mavs to their second Southwest Division title in four years. Carlisle owes a lot of his success to MVP candidate Nowitzki, who's averaged at least 21 points per game in 10 straight seasons.
Nowitzki also has plenty of postseason experience, appearing in 97 career playoff games -- all starts, and averaging 25.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks.
Making the playoffs has also been the norm for the Spurs, who amassed 50-plus wins for the 11th consecutive time (1999-2000 to present) to become just the second team in NBA history to accomplish the feat. The Los Angeles Lakers totaled 50-plus wins in 12 consecutive seasons from 1979-80 to 1990-91, which is the longest streak in NBA history. Under head coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs have 12 consecutive winning seasons.
Led by future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan and top reserve Manu Ginobili, San Antonio always has a shot at making a deep run in the postseason despite finishing with the seventh seed.
It matches up well in this showdown with rival Dallas for obvious reasons, but playing a familiar division rival can be a problem since the opposition knows regular tendencies. The biggest question for the Spurs is if Tony Parker will be ready to go full blast after missing some time with a broken bone in his right hand. Parker still has a ways to go in terms of regaining his rhythm and conditioning, but never count out the heart of a champion.
The aging Spurs certainly have the experience to give their in-state rivals fits, but the February trade that brought Caron Butler and Brendan Hayward to Big D really toughened the Mavs up and made them far better suited for postseason play. Dallas went 23-7 after adding Butler and Haywood and closed the regular season by winning eight of 10 and five in a row.
These two rivals have met in the playoffs four times previously, including last season. The Spurs won sets in 2001 and 2003 before the Mavericks bounced back to win a pair of series in 2006 and 2009. Last season, the Mavs took down San Antonio in the quarterfinals in just five games.
See More:
