Everybody loves the Dallas Mavericks

Hard to handle

I hope the Denver Nuggets do not face the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

Mainly because Mark Cuban may not let Denver coach George Karl into the locker room.

Karl stated that he'd rather face the Mavericks instead of the fourth-seed Oklahoma Thunder.

I could've sworn that a representative from another team said the same thing, although I can't find that story. UPDATE: Matt Barnes said that Golden State set the blueprint on how to beat the Mavs. Either way, the consensus, as I think Karl's reasoning is generally held throughout the league, is that the Dallas Mavericks are beatable in the playoffs.

At this rate, no one will be allowed in the arena.

For the record, the Mavs are 5-10 against their four potential opponents. HOwever, those opponents are 69-88 combined on the road.

Here are the Mavericks' potential playoff match-ups:

Denver Nuggets
Season Series: 3-1, Nuggets
Unlikely to face the Mavericks as they have a healthy lead over Portland in the west. Mavs are probably better off. The Nuggets have gotten hot sans Carmelo Anthony and they are near impossible to beat at home.

Portland Trailblazers
Season Series: 2-2, Trailblazers
Maybe the scariest of the four. Mainly because they have a definite weapon against Dirk Nowitzki in LaMarcus Aldridge, who will provide further match-up issues if Tyson Chandler has to guard him, thus leaving Marcus Camby under the basket grabbing rebounds. I don't know who's keeping up with Gerald Wallace. The Blazers have overcome a loss of personnel and gotten better over the course of the season. Frankly, it's a terror match-up.

New Orleans Hornets
Season Series: 2-1, Hornets (with one to go)
They scare me for two reasons: In their last game, the Hornets pushed Dallas around the entire game, including the Italian Marco Belinelli shoving the German Dirk Nowitzki into the seats. Two, Chris Paul. Defensively, the Mavs have no answer.

Memphis Grizzlies
Season Series: 3-1, Grizzlies
The Grizz are a group of 20-somethings, who don't know any better. A scary combination. The Grizz are a mere 10 games over .500, but should not be taken lightly. I certainly don't think the Mavericks do (as they're 1-3 against them this year). The Grizz have beaten some salty teams. They get even scoring from a number of spots.

Who Do The Mavericks Want To Play?
If I'm Rick Carlisle, I go to the media and say the Mavericks would rather face Memphis or New Orleans. I think you take a chance against a non-deep New Orleans team and force Chris Paul to score 80. Against Memphis, you force the young team to play your game, take advantage of their inexperience and force them to win four of seven.