More than pride is at stake
Posted on Tue, Mar. 28, 2006
By DWAIN PRICE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - It may sound farfetched, but when the Mavericks square off against the Detroit Pistons at 6:30 tonight at the Palace of Auburn Hills, this could go a long way in determining homecourt advantage in the NBA Finals.
The Mavs (54-16) have a 119-82 win over the Pistons (55-14) on Nov. 19. If the Mavs win tonight, the tiebreaker helps decide which team will have homecourt advantage should they meet in the Finals.
Although a lot has to happen until that possible June matchup, it certainly isn't lost on the Mavs.
"It's a game that I know everybody has been looking forward to," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "I think it's a great position to be in. We've been pretty consistent all year, and so have they."
Getting out of town with a win won't be easy.
"It'll be a hostile environment," forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "It'll be probably a very physical game under the basket, because the refs are probably going to let us play some."
Breaking down the game, guard Jerry Stackhouse said: "It's an important game. Is it the most important game of the year? I don't think so. But is it one of the important games of the year as far as homecourt advantage goes? Yeah."
All hands (almost) on deck
All of the Mavs practiced Monday afternoon at the Palace of Auburn Hills except guard Devin Harris. However, Avery Johnson said Josh Howard, Adrian Griffin and Harris aren't ready for game action.
"Josh and Grif looked pretty good today," Johnson said. "But I'm not sure if they looked good enough to play in a game."
Forward Keith Van Horn played Saturday against Atlanta after missing 11 games with a sprained left knee and said he felt much better after Monday's workout.
"It's hard going out there playing when you're thinking about the knee," Van Horn said. "It's nice to just go out there and play and not worry about it, and not worry about re-injuring it, so hopefully I'll be at that point soon."
Reporter's decision
If the Mavericks advance to the NBA Finals, German TV reporter Sarah Beckmann has a major decision to make.
Beckmann can either cover the Finals, with Germany's Dirk Nowitzki starting either June 6 or June 8. Or, she can cover the World Cup, which starts June 9 in Munich.
Beckmann, who spent the past two days in Detroit interviewing Nowitzki, said the World Cup is the biggest thing in Europe, and no other sport can compete abroad with soccer.
"It's already crazy up there," Beckmann said. "Everybody loves soccer over there: every child, every granddad. If there's a big event in soccer, everybody goes wild."
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