NBA Playoffs: Ranking the Dallas Mavericks' Potential First-Round Matchups

It has been an interesting season for the NBA's defending champions.

Coming off its improbable run to the team's first ever NBA Championship last season, Dallas has had an up and down year and sits at 33-26 with eight games to go in the regular season.

That record is good enough for sixth in the Western Conference right now. While it's still possible for the Mavs to miss the playoffs  as of this writing, the Mavs are in.

The question is who will the Mavericks open up their title defense against? Dallas can still technically get as high as the number three seed with seven games to go, but in all likelihood they will end up somewhere in the five through eight range should they get in. 

That is a pretty large range, and the top half of the west isn't exactly set in stone either. More likely than not, the Mavs will open up against one of these five teams. So which matchup would be best for Dallas? Which would be worst?

Here is my ranking of the five potential matchups in the playoffs for the Dallas Mavericks. 

5. Oklahoma City Thunder

Would likely happen as:

1 Oklahoma City vs. 8 Dallas OR 2 Oklahoma City vs. 7 Dallas 

In my mind there would be no worse matchup to start the playoffs for Dallas than if they had to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it more likely than not would result in them being eliminated.

Sure the Mavs knocked out OKC in last year's Western Conference Finals, so they certainly could beat them (Dallas would be one of the best eight seeds in recent memory), but these are different teams now, and the Thunder have been the best team in the West all season long.

Dallas no longer has Tyson Chandler to secure the middle, and the one-two combo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant has been running through the league all year long, both scoring more than 25 points a game.

They also have great role players like James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison, so the Mavs would have to play flawlessly to knock them out.

Their best hope in this series would be if Dirk does what he did to them last year, and completely go off. Without 30+ point games from Nowitzki, I can't see the Mavs staying with the Thunder.

Dallas' chances: 20 percent

4. Los Angeles Lakers

Would likely happen as:

3 Los Angeles vs. 6 Dallas OR 4 Los Angeles vs. 5 Dallas 

Another team the Mavericks eliminated from the playoffs last season was the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, Dallas swept L.A. in one of the most surprising results in recent playoff history to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

However, would any Mavs fan really want to play the Lakers in the first round? After all, this is the same team who won three consecutive Western Conference Championships (and 2 NBA Championships) before the Mavs eliminated them last year with the same core group of players they have now.

Leading them is five-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant, and he is joined by the excellent frontcourt of Pau Gasol and first-time All Star Andrew Bynum. They also added Ramon Sessions at Point Guard, which is a pretty big step up from Derek Fisher.

Sure they no longer have Phil Jackson at the helm, but still the Lakers would be a tough out for anyone. Make no mistake about it; they have not forgot how Dallas ran them out of the gym in Game 4 to close out the series last year.

Dallas' chances: 35 percent

3. Memphis Grizzlies

Would likely happen as:
4 Memphis vs. 5 Dallas  

The Grizzlies are being called the dark horse in the Western Conference, and it's easy to see why.

The Grizz knocked out San Antonio in last year's opening round before pushing the Thunder to seven games in the second round despite only being the eight seed.

This season Memphis currently sits in fifth place in the West and are considered even more dangerous because they have their top scorer Rudy Gay back in the lineup.

They also have a dynamic frontcourt combo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph and experience from last year. Not to mention they play excellent team defense led by Tony Allen.

Long story short, no one wants to see this team in the first round. Having said that, the way the seeding is currently at, the Grizzlies are the least likely of these five teams for Dallas to face.

Dallas' Chances: 40 percent

2. San Antonio Spurs

Would likely happen as:

2 San Antonio vs. 7 Dallas OR 1 San Antonio vs. 8 Dallas

Make no mistake, the Spurs are going to be an extremely tough out for anyone in this year's playoffs. Having said that, I would still rather face the veteran spurs than the three teams below them on this list.

Part of the reason for that is certainly familiarity. The Mavericks and Spurs seem to play each other most years in the postseason, and Dallas certainly knows what to expect from them. 

Also this same Spurs team had a great regular season last year like they did this year, and then got bounced in five games by Memphis. Sure, Manu Ginobili was injured, but can you honestly say you trust San Antonio more this year in the playoffs?

Dallas would have a chance in this series if it played solid team defense and limited Tony Parker—certainly easier said then done.

I very well could be proven wrong by Duncan and Popovich once again and San Antonio could win the NBA title, but for now as a Mavericks fan, I wouldn't hate seeing the Spurs as their first round opponent.

Dallas' Chances: 49 percent

1. Los Angeles Clippers

Would likely happen as:

3 Los Angeles vs. 6 Dallas OR 4 Los Angeles vs. 5 Dallas 

One through eight, the West is going to be tough this year. Whichever team wins the three series to get to the finals to play the Heat or Bulls (yes I'm limiting the East to those two teams) will be battle tested and ready to go.

The Clippers very well could be that team. After all no one else can throw at you a guard-big man duo as good as Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The Clippers got Paul so they could compete for a championship, not just make the playoffs. 

But at the end of the day, this is the best matchup for Dallas in the playoffs. The Clippers, outside of Paul, are inexperienced. Rick Carlisle is a better coach than Vinny Del Negro. Dirk Nowitzki will be able to operate in the post against the Clips defense, and no one outside of Paul and Griffin really scares you when you look at the roster.

The Clippers are just one game out of the Lakers' three spot in the West, and if Dallas can hold serve at six with LAC passing Kobe and the Lakers, things would work out well for Dallas in the West—in the first round at least. 

Dallas' Chances: 62 percent