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On The Brink

Authored by Jonathan Wall - April 28, 2005 - 7:31 pm

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When the Dallas Mavericks take the Toyota Center court versus the Houston Rockets they won't be playing for the chance to take an advantage in their best of seven playoff series – this time the Mavericks will be playing for their playoff lives.

Frustration is at an all-time high and Dallas needs to get their emotions and games in check tonight if they want any chance of forcing Houston into a pressure situation.

There are four things the Mavericks must do tonight if they expect to win the game:

Dirk Nowitzki must take over: It's been too long since Dirk looked like "Playoff Dirk" of 2003. Remember the one who scored 46 against the Blazers and single-handedly one the game for the Mavericks? Well that Dirk has to show up tonight. He was the star all season long, now he has to want the ball and take it to the hole like he did in the regular season.

Contain Yao Ming: This may sound easy, but if you Yao gets loose like the last game, he will end up taking the Rockets on his back for a Maverick sweep. Nobody on the Dallas lineup can shut him down; therefore, switching off and fronting him with multiple defenders should do the trick. Stop Yao and you will win half the battle.

Bench Presence: I haven't seen a bench stud step-up for Dallas since Nick Van Exel in 2003. That is some what sad since Dallas has one of the deepest benches in the league and has such stars as Jerry Stackhouse and Marquise Daniels sitting around and doing nothing. The only way the Mavericks win this series and advances past that round is if they get a guy to step off the bench and give an MVP-like performance.

Play with heart: May sound easy, but the Maverick team I've seen so far through two games has been nothing short of a team without a pulse. The Pistons of last season won with heart, the Bulls of years past? Heart. It's simple to think you're good and just assume that your play during the regular season is good enough for the playoffs; however, if the Mavericks keep thinking like this, they are going to be looking up from the ground wondering what the heck happened three days from now.

The Mavericks playoff push starts tonight. Here's hoping that this team starts playing with heart and sends this game back to Dallas.