San Antonio, 3.5 games back

[sturm und drang]

I know we all want to belittle NBA scribes like Charley Rosen as know-nothing Mav haters, but I'm afraid his below synopsis is true. What's the opinion-- can we hold off the hard-charging Spurs, who have won 16 of their last 17? I don't know... juxtaposing the way they've been playing of late with the way we've been playing of late, my guess is that they overtake us and win the Midwest.

If that happens, we drop down to #3. And-- barring a miraculous Jazz turn-around-- we'll play the Lakers in the first round.

Thoughts? I would love for someone to convince me that we can hold off SA. That said, I'd really like some group participation on the Spurs voodoo curse for tonight's game against the 'Wolves.

From ESPN.com's Charley Rosen:

After losing to the Kings last Christmas, the Lakers fell to 11-19, and even the possibility of qualifying for the playoffs seemed like a pipe dream.

"We've lost our aura of invincibility," Kobe Bryant moaned. "Nobody's afraid of us anymore." Since then, the Lakers have gone 24-7, and are back in the hunt for a four-peat.

Most recently, Shaq has regained much of the mobility he'd lost to his preseason surgery, and Kobe has been playing with patience and discipline. But has the Lakers' recent volte-face been sufficient to restore their aura and once more strike fear in the hearts of the pretenders to their crown? Let's take a look at their chief rivals:

Dallas Mavericks
Even though the Mavs have the NBA's best record, bet your bottom dollar that the thought of playing the Lakers early in the postseason has them quaking in their hand-tooled Neiman-Marcus boots. With all of their quickness, their skills and their defensive gimmicks, the Mavs are simply too soft in the middle to overcome the Lakers.

The Mavs' still lead the Midwest Division by four games (edit: 3.5 as of 3/12) over San Antonio, with only about 20 games left in the regular season. Should the Spurs gallop past them, Dallas would fall to the No. 3 seed -- and if the Lakers can hold off Utah, the Mavs would face off against the defending champs in the very first round of the playoffs. If this scenario comes to pass, the Mavs will be hog-tied and branded as losers by the end of April.

Dallas can't beat the LAL with a stick, and both teams know this to be true.