Sunday was not only a day for the biggest football game of the year; it also featured some NBA contests which may have been sneak previews of playoff showdowns down the road. Although the season is far from over, any chump on the street could pick a few teams that will surely succeed in the playoffs, and most of them hail from the Western Conference. In fact, five of the NBA's top six teams - the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota T-Wolves, and San Antonio Spurs - reside in the Western Conference. And since few other teams can beat them, they spend their time beating up on each other.
Among the Sunday games that showcased these Western powers at battle with each other: the Lakers vs. Mavericks and the Kings vs. Timberwolves. Those four teams own the four best records in the Conference and actually would be the semifinal match-ups if the playoffs started last Sunday and the high seeds won in the first round.
The Lakers entered their game against the Mavericks as winners of three straight games. The Mavericks were no slouches themselves, as they had won eight of their last nine contests. This game was a battle from the beginning, with the game tied at 30 after the first quarter and the Lakers up only five points at the half. However, all the Mavericks could do was hang around, lacking the front court muscle to do any serious damage. Although the Mavs did have balanced scoring - five players in double digits - they simply did not have enough. The Lakers beat the Mavericks 101-94 to reclaim the second best record in the conference.
The Lakers have never proved to be a deep team, but they've never needed to be deep, either. Throughout the contest, LA stayed with its one-two punch of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant - the duo contributed 55 of the team's 101 points. Point guard Derek Fisher had a fairly monstrous game of his own with 19 points off the bench.
The Mavs' big three all had exceptional games: Steve Nash had 20, Dirk Nowitzki finished with 19, and Michael Finley chipped in with 11 points. Dallas also enjoyed a great performance from Juwan Howard, who went 9-14 shooting from the field for 19 points.
But a huge letdown - and a possible reason the Mavericks were not in the game towards the end - was the performance of back-up point guard Tim Hardaway. He shot 1-7 from the field, including 1-5 from three-point range. Finishing with only three points was a far cry from his usual nine points a game average. Hardaway was not the only poor three-point shooter, though, as the Mavs only shot 14.3 percent on the day. For a team that usually shoots near 37 percent from beyond the arc, there is no wonder why they fell victim to the Lakers for the 40th time in the past 43 showdowns.
The Sacramento Kings were the hottest team in NBA, winners of four straight and eight of their past ten as they headed into Minnesota. The Timberwolves, on the other hand, hoped to knock the surging Kings off of their throne and get back into winning ways. The T-Wolves had managed to stay among the conference elite even though they had lost five of their previous nine games.
After an erratic game featuring seven lead changes, the Kings proved they are still the best team in the West by defeating the T-Wolves, 112-107. After the first quarter, the Kings never looked back as they outscored Minnesota 62-43 over the next two quarters, amassing a lead as high as 15 points.
There was no love lost in this match-up - there were four technical fouls issued over the course of the game. One could call this a battle of forwards, as three of the four starting forwards in Sunday's game are also members of the Western Conference All-Star team.
Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett contributed 32 points and 12 rebounds, but was overshadowed by Kings forward Chris Webber who scored one point less, but had two more rebounds and more importantly, his team picked up a victory.
Another intriguing match-up was between T-Wolves forward Joe Smith, the only non-All-Star among the four starting forwards, and Kings forward Peja Stojakovic, an All-Star. Smith had 22 points and Stojakovic only 21. The x-factor was definitely the play of King point guard Mike Bibby, the son of former NBA star and current USC basketball coach, Henry Bibby. Bibby lit up Terrell Brandon of the Timberwolves for 24 points on 9-15 shooting. His stifling defense limited Brandon to eight points on only 4-12 shooting.
Throughout the first half of the season, the West has demonstrated nightly that it is truly the best. The only time Western teams are forced to get down and dirty is when they go to war against each other - and Sunday's action did not vary from what has been a consistent theme in the NBA this season.
