>>My home town Mavs are in the NBA finals for the first time in their 26 year history.
>>The Heat vs. The Mavericks.
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>>I love Shaq, but Dallas has too much dept. They'll wear Miami down like they did the Suns... plus, Dallas has the home court advantage.
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>>Dallas in six.
>>
>
>The NBA playoffs have been wildly entertaining so far. Most of the games and series have been close, new stars have emerged, and the most entertaining teams (like the Suns and the Mavs) have advanced instead of being bounced in the early rounds. I think it's great that the finals will be between two teams who haven't been there before. I don't know that I agree with your pick, though. Yes, the Mavs are deeper and have home court advantage. But they still have to figure out a way to stop Wade and Shaq.

I think you will see a heavy dose of Josh Howard on Wade, and a combo of players on Shaq including Eric Dampier who sat out the Phoneix series. If the Mavs can oust San Antonio with Tim Duncan, and shut down the high flying Suns and Stevie Wonder, I'll take the Mavs in 6. Since this is a 2-3-2 playoff format, home court means squat.

> Everyone says this is Dwayne Wade's team now, and to an extent that's true. But Shaq showed the other night he's not dead yet. This could be his last appearance on center stage and I think he will make the most of it. The only way the Mavs are going to stop him is get him in foul trouble.

Shaq may not be dead yet, but he is definitely not the player he used to be (except his woeful free throw shooting) while winning titles with the Lakers. Regardless, I am glad he is in the finals while Kobe is scheduling tee times.

>If the Mavs win I will definitely turn off the TV before Mark Cuban grabs the trophy. He's like George Steinbrenner without the charm.