Mavs vs. Lakers

[day1]

On the DallasMavericks.com message area a fellow posted a thread claiming it
was some sort of record that the Mavs have never finished a season with a
better record than the Lakers. Actually, this is not that uncommon. Here
is what I looked up; if I missed anything please fill me in.

1. Mavs never ahead of Lakers.
2. Timberwolves never ahead of Lakers
3. Grizzlies never ahead of lots of teams.
4. Clippers never ahead of Jazz, Blazers, Sonics, or Pacers.
5. Warriors never ahead of Jazz.
6. 76ers never ahead of Lakers.
7. Wizards/Bullets never ahead of Jazz, Lakers, Blazers, or Sonics.
8. Heat never ahead of Jazz.
9. Hornets never ahead of Jazz.
10. Raptors never ahead of Timberwolves, Jazz, Kings, Lakers, or Blazers.
11. Bucks never ahead of Jazz, Lakers.

The Jazz and Lakers have been consistently good for a long time, and if you
don't have a good season on the rare occasion when they have a down year,
you miss your chance.

Fans of the Clippers and Wizards are long suffering. The Grizzlies and Raptors
are still too new.

My data did not go back to the beginning of the NBA, so I still don't know if
our unlucky streak against the Lakers is longer than the Bucks'. I seem to
remember, though, that if you go back far enough the Bucks and even the Clippers
have had good years.

[DTL]

Just taking the title of the thread and turning into last bits of preseason guesswork:

We should be able to split the regular season against the Lakers this year. And if we're lucky, get to the WCF and take 2 games from Shaq and Co.

All this, assuming Bradley actually plays some this year; Fin and Dirk be more intense on D; Nash and NVE split time as only PG on the court; no major injuries to the Big Five.

[DirkNash1341]

Nash and Van Exel aren't only going to split minutes at PG. And they shoudn't. While I agree the Nelson's need to be selective in their usage of the 2 pg set, 48 minutes aren't enough to split between Steve Nash and Nick Van Exel. Give it up... they will play together at times.