Golden State Warriors (1-0) @ Dallas Mavericks (0-1)

Start time 6:30 PM PST @ The American Airlines Center

Probable starters for the Golden State Warriors

PG - Baron Davis
SG - Monta Ellis
SF - Jason Richardson
PF - Stephen Jackson
C - Al Harrington

Probable starters for the Dallas Mavericks

PG - Devin Harris
SG - Jason Terry
SF - Devean George
PF - Josh Howard
C - Dirk Nowitzki

Team leaders this season
PPG - B. Davis (20.1) | D. Nowitzki (24.6)
RPG - A. Biedrins (9.3) | D. Nowitzki (8.9)
APG - B. Davis (8.1) | J. Terry (5.2)
SPG - B. Davis (2.1) | D. Harris (1.2)
BPG - A. Biedrins (1.7) | D. Diop (1.4)

Games played this season
Apr 22 - Golden State Warriors @ Dallas Mavericks (97 - 85)
Warriors leaders - B. Davis 33 PTS | B. Davis 14 REB | B. Davis 8 AST
Mavericks leaders - J. Howard 21 PTS | J. Howard 13 REB | D. Nowitzki 4 AST

Apr 17 - Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors (82 - 111)
Warriors leaders - M. Pietrus 22 PTS | M. Barnes 12 REB | M. Barnes 5 AST
Mavericks leaders - M. Ager 20 PTS | J. Barea 10 REB | J. Barea 3 AST

Mar 12 - Dallas Mavericks @ Golden State Warriors (100 - 117)
Warriors leaders - M. Pietrus 20 PTS | J. Richardson 8 REB | S. Jackson/J. Richardson/B. Davis 7 AST
Mavericks leaders - D. Harris 16 PTS | A. Croshere 13 REB | D. Harris 5 AST

Nov 6 - Golden State Warriors @ Dallas Mavericks (107 - 104)
Warriors leaders - B. Davis 26 PTS | A. Biedrins 8 REB | B. Davis 8 AST
Mavericks leaders - D. Nowitzki 26 PTS | D. Nowitzki 11 REB | D. Nowitzki/J. Terry 6 AST

If we take game two, we're going to sweep 'em or end it in five games. That's why it's pivitol that if the Warriors want to end the series ASAP, then taking both road games are a must.

In Baron we trust

Best you believe that. This game ride or dies on Baron's shoulders. Those little things that Jackson did like hitting the three in Nowitzki's face in the clutch or Jrich timing the block on Harris... those little things take off the burden. If we get just a bit more production from those guys, this is our series. And if we win this series, either I'll hear excuses from Barkley and Cuban or we'll finally get the respect we deserve.

4-0 vs dallas and 4-0 on national tv, make em both 5.

Team has momentum and no pressure! Baron and Barnes were the only real good performers in Game 1 so maybe Monta and JRich can step up.


Warriors by 10

In order to be successful this game, we need more from Monta and JRich. They have to get over their 1st game jitters and play their normal game, but slightly ramped up.

I think Dallas will try to send Diop and Damp at us trying to outmuscle us out of rebounds as well as slowing the game down and taking the ball to the rim. This means we need play smarter, take the high % shots and take them out of the game. I also noticed that Diop is a step slow and we can get fouls out of him if we take it to the rack. And we all remember Dumphere and what he is "capable" of...

I think that Warriors win the series, but Dallas wins game 2 big, by like a 15-20 point margin that hovers around 7-10 in the first half, grows to 25 in the third and then is cut down a bit but never in jeopardy. We're talking about the 6th best regular season team all time here; they're beatable, but we're not gonna sweep them.

I don't think they'll sweep them either. It's just too hard to do that to a team with so much talent.

I do, however, agree with others that JRich will step up big in this series. He's had to wait 6 years to get into the playoffs and now that he's over that first game awe he's going to light the fire.

tHe_pEsTiLeNcE wrote:I think that Warriors win the series, but Dallas wins game 2 big, by like a 15-20 point margin that hovers around 7-10 in the first half, grows to 25 in the third and then is cut down a bit but never in jeopardy. We're talking about the 6th best regular season team all time here; they're beatable, but we're not gonna sweep them.

I haven't seen Dallas do one thing to us that would scare me. What else can they do to beat us that they haven't tried before? It's like us trying to beat San Antonio, no matter what we do they just are a horrible matchup for us. I believe that Dallas is the same way. Hell when most of our players had an off game, in the Warrior's first playoff game, on the road and we still won by 12. I truly believe that the Mavs will be very lucky to even win one game.

jsw548 wrote:

tHe_pEsTiLeNcE wrote:I think that Warriors win the series, but Dallas wins game 2 big, by like a 15-20 point margin that hovers around 7-10 in the first half, grows to 25 in the third and then is cut down a bit but never in jeopardy. We're talking about the 6th best regular season team all time here; they're beatable, but we're not gonna sweep them.

I haven't seen Dallas do one thing to us that would scare me. What else can they do to beat us that they haven't tried before? It's like us trying to beat San Antonio, no matter what we do they just are a horrible matchup for us. I believe that Dallas is the same way. Hell when most of our players had an off game, in the Warrior's first playoff game, on the road and we still won by 12. I truly believe that the Mavs will be very lucky to even win one game.

I'm torn on this. My head tells me that Dallas will win several games, and the Warriors will be very lucky to win the series. Not undoable, but Dallas is still favored IMO. But my heart tells me that the Ws have that intangible (good matchup for the Ws and Nellie knowing a lot about the Dallas players' weaknesses) and will win the series (still don't think it will be a sweep or even in 5, maybe in 6).

My Head's arguments:
Dallas won 67 games this year, they beat Phoenix (who play very similar to the Ws) twice and they are much deeper than the Ws, playing 10 guys pretty regularly. Dallas has much more playoff experience, and they will figure out how to relax and adjust to play the Ws in a long 7 game series. Nowitzki had an MVP kind of year, and he will figure out how to play against the Ws. Dallas is not going to shoot 35% on most nights, and they will get their offense going. They can dominate the Ws on the boards (as they did in the second quarter last night) and score inside on easy putbacks. The Ws have had a great run, and are playing well. But as soon as they get into a position where people "expect them" to win and there is more pressure on, it will be much tougher. It will be a lot harder for them to win at home than you might think, because of the pressure.


My Heart's arguments:
The Warriors are peaking at the right time. They have beaten Dallas repeatedly the past couple of years, even without Don Nelson. They match up great with Dallas, and know how to scramble on defense and take the Mavs out of their game. The Ws have many more offensive weapons, and Pietrus, Barnes, Richardson, Ellis and Harrington can contribute much more than they did Sunday night. Don Nelson has the Mavs number, he and the Ws are absolutely in the minds of Dallas. Dallas is a weak minded team, Nowitzki is not a leader, and there is nobody to step up and really pull them together. They will continue to wilt under the pressure, will remember last year when they choked in the playoffs to Miami, and will be lucky to win 2 games in this series.


So I guess we'll see if my head or my heart is right!!

excellent, well reasoned post hoopitup

nellie was saying how he was worried about those last couple games to end the season because the warriors hadnt had a stinker game... well my friends, yesterday was pretty darn close to a stinker game and we still won!! harrington, j-rich and monta were pretty much terrible at least offensively, and we still found a way to win!!! now thats the sign of a good team....

My head says mavs, my heart says warriors. I dont know!!!!!!

On one hand i dont think Baron will be able to have another game like that on wednesday. Dirk wont be quite that horrible (although i dont think he will play at his usual level) and neither will stackhouse.

On the other hand J-rich, Monta, and harrington should play better (especially J-rich). They didnt shoot particularly well, and they played the style of game no one (including myself and probably many other people on this board) believed they could play and win.

I think ill go with my heart warriors by 5

Warriors win a wire-job by 5. And we set the national sports media abuzz as they wonder, "Who the hell are these guys?"