2021-2022 AROUND the NBA: GSW Champs [ARCHIVED]

[omahen]

I wonder if there will be some jockeying for position among 4, 5 and 6 to try to get a specific matchup.  I could see a team wanting the sixth slot to avoid Phoenix in the second round.  You'd have to be kind of cocky to think this way, but is a Memphis or Golden State matchup in the first round really that much more difficult than Denver?

At the opposite end of the spectrum, if you go all out to get 4th and home court against Utah, there is no guarantee you'll get the Jazz.  They could drop to sixth at the last minute and there we are playing Jokic in the first round.  A healthy Phoenix scares me because they have more guys than our style of D can guard.  Denver and Jokic scares me too as Powell has to have help rather than provide help as he often does against other centers.  I don't see a dramatic difference between Utah, GS and Memphis.  You have to beat someone good no matter who you play in the first round.

I think Dallas really is not in a position to calculate who they want to play against. These things often backfire - look how it almost backfired against Clippers last season. Your team is a bit relaxed as in "we got the opponent we wanted and it will be easy peasy". The opponent on the other hand is fired up as "we will show them how wrong they were to chose us". 

Personally I am way more affraid of Utah then Denver (unless Murray and MPJ come back in top form). Sure Jokic will be a problem against our centers, but I doubt they have any reserves left for playoffs. Even Jokic couldn't lift his game in previous years. He was actually a net negative in the playoffs in last two years. As good as he is he can be attacked on defense and the supporting cast without Murray and MPJ is really weak. I wonder how much toll the incredible effort he has to give in the regular season takes. 

Utah on the other hand has a very good team imho. Utah  offense is great so the key is if you can exploit their defense that leans on Goberts help defense. I am affraid if Mavs role players will be good enough to take Gobert out of the paint. Utah doesn't have as good regular season as last year, which I think is mostly due to more injuries. But they likely have their last chance to make a splash. Tensions are building up and another playoff collapse could mean the end of this team.