Last season, the NBA’s Southwest Division was the strongest in the league. Three teams – the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets – had winning percentages over .600. To put that in perspective, the entire Eastern Conference had just two teams with winning percentages that good, and the NBA as a whole had just seven. That may not happen again, but the division will once again be very good, despite the presence of the lowly Memphis Grizzlies.
This season, the division will probably be a two-team race between the Spurs and Mavericks, though the New Orleans Hornets are an up and coming team, and if Houston can stay healthy, they may be in the thick of things as well. But other teams in Texas will most likely be the ones to contend with.
Last season, the Dallas Mavericks won the division with an NBA best 67-15 record. Dirk Nowitzki was the league’s MVP, Josh Howard was a budding star, and the team had a deep bench. Then, they met the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. The Warriors were a team that was just two games over .500 in the regular season, and the lowest seed in the postseason. The Mavericks promptly lost in one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history.
They are back to try and seek redemption in 2007-2008, and if they learned anything from their experience, then maybe it was for the better. Dirk Nowitzki is still an outstanding player, as is Howard, and they have nice complementary pieces in Devin Harris, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse. They’ll likely win the Southwest again, but that will mean very little if they have another early exit from the playoffs.
If the Mavericks were busts in the playoffs, the Spurs were anything but. After finishing 9 games behind Dallas in the playoffs, San Antonio went the distance and cruised to the NBA title, sweeping an over-matched Cleveland Cavaliers team.
The way the won the title last year is the same way they may win it again this year. Tim Duncan will man the low post, Tony Parker will penetrate and lead from the point, Manu Ginobli will come off the bench to provide offense and they’ll play great defense all around, led by Bruce Bowen. The Spurs aren’t an exciting team for the casual fan to observe, but their goal isn’t to excite an audience or win divisions, it’s to win championships.
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It’s hard to pick against the Spurs. They have been the standard in the NBA in recent years.