NBA Playoffs 2012: Teams That Will Bounce Back from Early Defeats

The first round of the 2012 NBA playoffs are upon us, and already we've seen some historic nail-biters that left us on the edge of our seats.  

The Dallas Mavericks lost two games that went down right to the wire, and the Memphis Grizzlies lost a game they led by 27 points.

Both of those teams will rebound and bounce back from early defeats, in addition to a surprise team, and I'll tell you why below.   

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks trail the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-0 in a tightly contested series. The Mavericks deserved a split in the first two games, losing both games by a combined four points. 

The Mavericks are the defending NBA champions and are too good to be eliminated without a fight in the first round. The series has been played closer than the 2-0 record indicates, and the battles will continue when the series heads to Dallas. 

Forward Dirk Nowitzki brought his A-game thus far in the series, averaging 28 points per game. Nowitzki is one of the best pure shooters from the power forward position that we've ever seen. 

Forward Shawn Marion is playing about as good of defense as anyone can play on Thunder forward Kevin Durant. Durant is shooting just 15-for-44 from the field in the first two games, and he won Game 1 on a "lucky roll." Marion contested the shot, but Durant got the shooter's roll. 

How does the saying go? The series hasn't started until the home team loses. Well, the Thunder took care of home court, and now it's the Mavericks' turn to do the same. 

Memphis Grizzlies

In Game 1, the Los Angeles Clippers completed a historic comeback—trailing by as many as 27 points—and won. The Clippers trailed by 24 with 8:00 to go in the fourth quarter, and went on a 26-1 run to close the game. 

The Grizzlies looked shell-shocked, dazed and confused during the comeback. But Memphis will respond and take Game 2 at home, evening the series at a game apiece.

What was more indicative from Game 1 was the fact that Memphis was able to take a 27-point stranglehold on the Clippers.

The Clippers do not have postseason experience yet, while the Grizzlies took down top-seeded San Antonio in last year's playoffs. 

Zach Randolph was not good in the first game, shooting 3-for-13 with zero trips to the free-throw line.

Randolph missed two months of the season with an MCL tear and is closer and closer to being 100 percent healthy. 

Utah Jazz

Call me crazy, but I think the Jazz-Spurs series will end up being highly competitive. The Jazz are a much younger team than the Spurs, and that youthful energy should help the Jazz in this long series. 

As previously alluded to, the Spurs lost to the No. 8 seed in the playoffs last year. 

If point guard Devin Harris could play better defense on Tony Parker, the Jazz could wind up stealing a game or two. 

The Jazz aren't talked about too much, but the team has a solid core in Paul Millsap, Harris, Gordon Hayward (the Butler kid) and Al Jefferson. 

The Jazz won't win the series but will take at least a game in it once their four contributors start clicking on the same page.