Worst First-Round Playoff Matchups for the San Antonio Spurs

Last year, the San Antonio Spurs became just the fourth team in NBA history to lose in the first round as a No. 1 seed. This year, the Spurs are currently in the lead for the West's top playoff spot with just under three weeks to go—can history repeat itself for the second straight year?

Many experts expected that San Antonio would fall off the map this season. Last year's first-round loss to the Memphis Grizzlies exposed the Spurs as old and unable to keep up with an energetic, athletic young team. Unfortunately for the Spurs, there are quite a few teams they might end up facing in the first two rounds that could very well pose the same threats the Grizzlies did just a year ago.

What would be the worst potential first-round matchups for Tim Duncan and company? Let's take a look.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets haven't exactly been a picture of consistency in the past month-and-a-half; since the beginning of March, the team is just 10-8.

But one of those wins was a win at San Antonio, and if the Nuggets are able to become and remain healthy, this team could scare anyone in the first round—especially San Antonio.

Danilo Gallinari, arguably the Nuggets' best player, has been on-again, off-again injured over the past two months, and he's played in just 33 of the team's 56 games so far this season. He's been out since March 19th with a broken thumb but should return this week.

Denver is the league leader in points per game with 103.2 points a contest despite not having a true No. 1 option type player. George Karl has a fantastically deep group of players who have worked together very well this season, and their offensive firepower will make them dangerous regardless of their opponent.

The Nuggets do give up 102.1 points a game, which is 29th worst in the league, so they are certainly beatable. But if they force San Antonio to run and keep up with them in a shootout, San Antonio could be knocked out of the first round for the second straight year.

Houston Rockets

Like the Nuggets, the Rockets are floating along despite some serious injuries. Kevin Martin, the team's leading scorer, has been out since mid-March with a shoulder injury, and leading point guard Kyle Lowry has been out for a month with a bacterial infection. 

When they're completely healthy, however, they are on equal footing with the Nuggets for depth, and they're a far better defensive team to boot. They're 19th in the league in opponents points per game, giving up 97.4 a contest, while they score the eighth most in the league with 98.5 points.

Lowry and Goran Dragic are easily the best one-two point guard punch in the league. Luis Scola is an excellent inside scorer, and recently acquired Marcus Camby has been great since coming over from Portland. If Kevin Martin returns and gives the Rockets some extra firepower, they could certainly win a first-round matchup against just about anyone.

Dallas Mavericks

The 2010-2011 NBA champion Mavericks are currently slotted in as the West's seventh seed, but with just 2.5 games separating the sixth-seeded Rockets and the 10th seeded Utah Jazz, playoff positioning will be shuffled around quite a bit before April 28th.

The Mavericks are faced with a lot of the problems the Spurs currently have—they are not young enough or athletic enough to keep up with many of the young athletic squads the NBA is producing. What they do have is experience and a high basketball IQ, and that is what makes them a dangerous matchup for the Spurs. The two teams have already met four times this year and split their matchups 2-2.

Dirk Nowitzki and company don't have the depth or talent they had last year, but they have the playoff experience and know how to be dangerous. If these two teams met in the first round, we could have another great Spurs-Mavericks matchup to add to the history books.