Spurs, Mavericks and Hornets: Will Any of These NBA Surprises Fall Back Down?
The NBA’s Southwest Division is home to three of the league’s top six teams in the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and the New Orleans Hornets.
Are any of these three division rivals legit or will they fall back into the pack of average NBA teams with 65 games to go?
One thing that these three teams have in common is that they are all flying under the radar in this young 2010-11 season—a season that will forever be remembered for the circus act that LeBron James lay on the doorstep of the NBA.
In fact, the league’s attention grabbers have been the defending champion L.A. Lakers (deservingly so) and the Miami Heat (not deservingly so) in their “Heat or Three-peat” marketing campaign.
The San Antonio Spurs have the best record in the NBA at 14-2 and their division rivals including the Hornets and Mavericks are each tied at a respectable 12-4. In fact, the only other teams in the NBA with only four losses include the Lakers, Celtics and Magic.
The Spurs have recently evened up their head-to-head matchup with the Hornets this season at one game apiece, losing the first contest 90-99 and winning the second contest 109-95. They had overcome a 17 point deficit to the Hornets at half time by shooting 60 percent, to go on and win on the road by 14 points.
While the Spurs have lost their first game of the season to the Dallas Mavericks (94-103), the Hornets and Mavs have split their two contests in two very close games.
The top ten teams that the Hornets have beaten include the Spurs, Mavs and Jazz.
The top ten teams that the Mavericks have beaten include the Celtics, Hornets, Thunder and Spurs.
Certainly none of these three teams are dominating the other in head-to-head combat, but the Hornets face a rematch with the Spurs on Dec. 5th that should prove interesting. The Spurs rematch with the Mavericks is on Dec. 30th.
The New Orleans Hornets continue to surprise the NBA for being unexpectedly where they shouldn’t be and the Spurs have also been a big surprise because of their advanced ages. The Mavs, on the other hand, may have a better record than most people expected, but they’re a team everyone expects to do well with the exception of finals competition.
Invariably, all three teams have good coaching, proven depth and early MVP candidates in Chris Paul, Manu Ginobili and Dirk Nowitzki. Each of these MVP candidates are playing dominating roles in their team’s success this season.
The NBA is a star driven league and you need elite players to win, but you also need a solid and integral supporting cast of players who know and can fill their roles.
The Hornets have Chris Paul, David West and Trevor Ariza; the Spurs have Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker; the Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry.
But more importantly, these three division rivals share deep benches that are conducive and indicative to success.
Will any of these teams fall back into the pack?
Anything is possible in today’s NBA, but the tenacious Spurs, Hornets and Mavericks all have the tremendous potential to stay among the top six teams in the league. They exude chemistry and synergy that must make the likes of the Miami Heat envious. This means that they also have a legitimate title shot.
Unfortunately in the end, they will have to fight it out amongst themselves to gain the privilege of challenging the Lakers for a shot at the Western Conference supremacy.
