The Rockets, Kings and Nuggets were battling it out for the 5th, 6th and 7th seeds out West, but the prize was right in the middle, where the 6th seed meant a matchup with the Seattle Sonics, who look prime for a first round upset.
Your winners of the 6th place trophy: The Sacramento Kings, by virtue of back-to-back losses.
The sizzling Nuggets get #7 and a matchup with the Spurs while the red-hot Rockets come away with #5 and face a team even hotter, the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks, with a loaded and highly-paid roster under new head coach Avery Johnson, have won 7 in a row and 15 of their last 17 games.
But with all their talent, it will be Dirk Nowitzki that makes this a very tough matchup for the Rockets. Houston's Achilles Heel is the depleted four spot, so Nowitzki could explode. In three games against the Rockets this season, Dirk is averaging 34.3 points on 49.2% shooting (55.6% from long range), 11 boards and 2.3 blocks.
On the flip side, the Mavs will have their hands full trying to contain Tracy McGrady. In four games against Dallas, T-Mac is averaging 31.3 points on 51.6% shooting, 7 assists and 6.5 boards.
It is extremely difficult to get an accurate gauge on how these two teams will fare against one another. The Rockets fell to the Mavs twice in early December, but that was just before Houston turned their season around and before acquiring Jon Barry, David Wesley and Mike James. Houston crushed Dallas by 21 in early March, but the Mavs had several injuries, most importantly Nowitzki.
The Rockets' 124-114 win in Dallas in January is the most accurate game to go by, but the bad news for Rocket fans is Juwan Howard (out for the playoffs) was 14-19 in that game for 29 points. So again, getting a good read from the regular season head-to-head meetings is not easy.
Historically, the Rockets have faced the Mavs just once in the postseason, falling 3-1 in the first round in 1988 [see Rockets history vs. Mavs].
