For two months Jet Terry and I have talked about the Mavs moving up in the standings and making a run. For the first month and a half of that time, talk was all it was. But in winning 5 of their last 6 games, 4 against good Western Conference foe's the Mavs have done two things:
- Given themselves confidence
- Moved up to the 6th seed and gotten away from the Lakers
They also have put themselves in position to play the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. That should excite you if you are a Mavs fan. This team plays the Spurs tougher than any team in the league - they stick out their chins and put up their dukes against this bunch. Ginobli (not playing), Parker, Duncan, Bowen (not playing much) and Coach Pop seem to entice our Mavs to play with great heart and determination. This series will be a throwback to years past and will be great fun to watch. I\'m pretty sure it won\'t be the quality of the 2006 series that went to 7 games and required over-time before the Mavs prevailed, but I\'m just as sure that the effort, intensity and desire to win will be!
Jet is the 6th man of the year, Dirk is scoring nearly 26 a game, Kidd is playing at a very high level and most importantly - Josh Howard seems happy and motivated. You may be saying to yourself, self, why didn\'t he say healthy when talking about the improvements for Josh...well that goes without saying I guess, or maybe I wonder about the whole Josh and how healthy is he or was he thing....maybe I do...don\'t you? But I don\'t want to go any further down that path - I find Josh quite likeable and when he is motivated by whatever motivates him - he is a differece maker for these Mavs. So enjoy the timing of this nice run and enjoy Mavs v Spurs, it will be a very good series.
