Sports Commentary

Welcome to Baseline to Baseline, AOL Sports' sweeping roundup of the NBA's hot-button issues. In this edition of B2B, find out what shot the Mavs have at the postseason without Dirk Nowitzki.

Even with a healthy Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks would've had to play well to make the postseason in the West. Trailing the sixth-place Spurs by three games, Dallas is currently a half-game ahead of Golden State for the seventh spot in the conference, while ninth-place Denver lurks just a game-and-a-half behind the Warriors.

But now that the team's franchise player is out indefinitely due to a moderate high ankle sprain and mild knee sprain, what shot do the Mavs have at making the playoffs?

Well, while any title talk should definitely be put on hold in Big D, it says here that the playoffs are still a definite possibility for the Mavs. Sounds crazy? Here are three reasons why Dallas might still have the upper hand over the Nuggets for the eighth seed in the West:

1. The Mavs might actually be more focused in the short term, as teams often become galvanized when a star player is lost to injury. For instance, the Rockets reeled off 10 straight wins once they were written off after Yao Ming broke his foot. Similarly, the Wizards won six in a row when Gilbert Arenas was lost to a serious knee injury earlier this season. With just 12 games left in the regular season, don't be surprised if Dallas suddenly starts playing with increased passion and focus now that expectations have been lowered and they have a chance to adopt an "us against the world" mentality.

2. Jason Kidd might be an all-world point guard, but in his 12-plus seasons in the NBA, he's never had to play with a dominant big man like Nowitzki before. Now that Dirk's out, Kidd inherits an offense that's much more familiar to him, as he'll be feeding wing players like Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse and Jason Terry. Even though Nowitzki isn't your typical 7-footer, he still relies on post-up moves and turnaround jumpers to thrive. Kidd's more comfortable feeding athletic, slashing players than he is standing around and watching a big man go to work in the lane.

3. While Dallas' remaining schedule is difficult, the road isn't any easier for Denver, as both teams close the season with seven of their final 12 games against the West's top nine teams. The Mavs might have one more road game left than the Nuggets, but they also have a two-game cushion in the standings.

In fact, the key for both teams comes on Thursday night, when they meet in Denver. Whomever wins this game also wins the season tiebreaker, meaning that if the Mavs can win Thursday in Denver (assuming Denver tops the Grizzlies on Monday and Dallas tops the Clippers on Tuesday), the Mavs would then actually have a four-game cushion over the Nuggets with 10 games left to play.

Warriors Will Be Tested Too

While the focus has shifted to whether Dallas can hold off Denver and make the playoffs in the West, Golden State has a very difficult remaining schedule as well.

On Monday night the seventh-place Warriors open a brutal six-game stretch that pits them against the Lakers, Blazers, at Nuggets, Mavs, at Spurs and at Mavs. After that, they get a brief respite against the Grizzlies, but then they go up against the Hornets, Kings, Nuggets, Clippers, Suns and Sonics.

While the Warriors' last 13 games are tough, the fact that they have two games left against both the Nuggets and the Mavs means that they control their destiny more than either of the other two teams.

Plus, considering how well steady the Warriors have looked all season (they could potentially be challenging for the top spot in the West if Stephen Jackson hadn't missed Golden State's first seven games), they shouldn't have any trouble grabbing at least the eight seed.

Randy Kim is the Senior NBA Editor for AOL Sports. Before joining AOL, he covered the league for seven years at NBA.com and FOXSports.com. Kim considers his career highlight to be a standing/sit-down interview with Bullets legend Gheorghe Muresan. Send him comments and questions at RandallKim07@aol.com.