NBA playoffs: West — No. 2 Dallas Mavericks vs. No. 7 San Antonio Spurs

Last season: Mavericks lost to Denver in the Western Conference semi?finals; Spurs lost to Mavs in first round.

Overview: Last season the Spurs were the No. 3 seed in the West and the sixth-seeded Mavericks pulled a minor upset by beating them in the first round of the playoffs. The Spurs, now a seven seed, will try to return the favor against the second-seeded Mavs.

These two Texas teams know all about each other, so there will be no surprises. This will be the fifth time since 2001 they've met in the postseason.

The Spurs had a disappointing regular season for them but still managed to win 50 games after coming on strong during the second half of the season. Manu Ginobili (16.5 ppg) had to step up his scoring punch while point guard Tony Parker (16.0 ppg, 5.7 apg) was out with injury. Tim Duncan (17.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg) is starting to show his age, but he's still one of the top players in the league. Top off-season acquisition Richard Jefferson (12.3 ppg) didn't quite have the impact the Spurs were hoping for, but he can make up for that with a big postseason.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, have been the more consistent team. They earned their No. 2 seed in the West by winning their final five games of the season while the Jazz, Suns and Nuggets were breathing down their necks.

Dirk Nowitzki (25 ppg, 7.7 rpg) continues to be the go-to guy for the Mavs, but the team didn't stand pat at the trade deadline. Mark Cuban's club added Caron Butler (16.3 ppg) to bolster the offense and 7-footer Brendan Haywood (9.3 rgp, 2.0 bpg) to aid with the interior defense. Jason Terry (16.6 ppg), Jason Kidd (10.3 ppg, 9.1 apg) and Shawn Marion (12.0 ppg) give Dallas several other scoring threats and make the Mavs a conference title contender.

These teams battled all seven games in the 2006 conference semifinals with the Mavericks getting a well-deserved victory. Look for another epic series that could once again go the distance. The Mavs should be favored, but would anyone really be too surprised if the Spurs won?

Player matchup to watch: Nowitzki vs. Duncan. Two of the top power forwards of the era will be pushing and shoving and getting after each other once again.

Regular-season series: Mavericks won 3-1

Prediction: Mavericks in seven.