Bleacher Report - Articles by Cody Payne

Will The Mavs Take Advantage Of This Playoff Oppurtunity?

Cody Payne — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:57:02 -0400

If the Mavs can win the last four games of this regular season, they have a very good chance of moving up to sixth place in the Western Conference, which would mean they would avoid having to play Kobe and the L.A. Lakers or Chauncey and the Denver Nuggets.

The Mavs have a home-and-home set against the New Orleans Hornets starting tonight in Dallas, coming off two stellar performances against the Suns on Sunday afternoon and the Jazz Wednesday night, where they won both games by an average of 27.5 points.

Chris Paul has destroyed the Mavs both times this season. averaging 30 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds, and four steals.

Jason Kidd has done a good job running this Mavericks team this season, although when he guards CP-3 it's a completely different story.

Kidd has averaged just 10 points and 4.5 assists while shooting a lousy 6-for-20 (30 percent) from the field in the two meetings this season. So look for Wright and Berea to get a few more minutes guarding Chris Paul tonight. We may even see Josh Howard trying to maintain the six foot All-Star.

Kidd had 10 assists and Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points while going 12-for-18 from the field Wednesday night. Jason Terry added 21 points with five three-pointers off the bench, as the Dallas reserves outscored Utah's 63-30.

The best chance the Mavs have tonight, and throughout the playoffs, is for the bench to continue to contribute. The Mavs bench, led by the soon-to-be Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry, is one of the best benches in the league. When the bench is at it's best, the Mavs are a very difficult team to beat.

"Knowing the importance of each game and the sense of urgency, we treat every game like it's a Game Seven playoff game," Terry said. "We go out there and fight and scrap and do whatever it takes to win. We've got each other's back."

That kind of determination and drive is whats going to get the Mavs (in my opinion) a lot further than what most people think in this postseason.

Dirk Nowitzki Gives the Mavs Hope

Cody Payne — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:40:01 -0400

Even though Nowitzki is not the locker room leader, some think he should be he is still doubtlessly the leader of the Dallas Mavericks franchise.

From his lethal jump shot and his marvelous driving ability to his stunning free throw shooting and his much improved passing game, Dirk is unquestionably one of the best (if not the best) player(s) in the league.

Look at what he has done with a, not so great, Maverick team this year. He has led them to possibly yet another 50 win season and a ninth straight playoff appearance. Not even Kobe can say that (the Lakers missed the playoffs in the 04-05 season).

Dirk did all of this without the help of small forward Josh Howard in the lineup, for almost half the season with an assortment of injuries. Even shooting guard (and front runner for the sixth man award) Jason Terry missed a few games with a broken finger.

Dirk is the only player left on the team who has not missed a single game this season because of injury (he missed a game early in the season because of a one game suspension for accidentally hitting Utah's Matt Harpering in the face).

The 06-07 NBA MVP is the heart and soul of this team, whether he expresses it with his words or his unbelievable play. I have never seen a player who wants to win more than Dirk Nowitzki does.

His goal in life has been to come to America and win an NBA Championship. Now whether he will be able to do that with this team or not, I honestly do not know.

A healthy Mavericks' ball club could definitely surprise a few people in the playoffs. In able to do that, it would do them best to go ahead and get out of that eighth seed to avoid playing the Lakers in the first round—even though I believe that would be a better series than some think. The Mavs would much rather see the Denver Nuggets or the San Antonio Spurs over Kobe and the Lakers.

The point is, with Dirk Nowitzki the MVP, the All-Star Power Forward from Wurzburg, Germany on your team, anything is possible.