It's April again, and that means it's time for the Mavericks and Spurs to face off in the first round of the playoffs again.
These teams have changed a lot since last year, and while both teams have improved, have the Spurs improved enough to not only make the series more competitive, but to beat the Mavs?
Shiny New Faces
What's interesting about this series is that recent history has almost no bearing on the current teams facing each other in the first round.
This isn't the two teams that met last year, this isn't the Mavs team that played in the beginning of the year, and this isn't the Spurs team that played the Mavs two days ago.
Since these teams met in last year's playoffs, the Spurs have added Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, and DeJuan Blair, and lost Michael Finley and Roger Mason Jr. as a scoring threat.
The Mavs have added Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, Rodrigue Beaubois, and Shawn Marion, while losing Josh Howard.
The Spurs additions are more relevant, because now Tony Parker and Tim Duncan aren't being counted on to provide the bulk ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Alex McVeigh
Mavs-Spurs Playoff Preview: Shiny New Faces and the Ghost of Josh Howard
April 16th, 2010 by Alex McVeigh Leave a reply »
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