So... Tonight's Game Means A Lot

It's a shame Dirk Nowitzki isn't playing tonight because you never want to play a rival that isn't at full strength. Or do you?

Tonight's Mavs-Spurs game could effectively hand the Spurs the Southwest Division crown and at the very least a top 2 seed in the West (Never, ever rule out a Lakers 12 game winning streak no matter how bad they look). If the Spurs win tonight they'll be seven games up on Dallas.  According to John Hollinger's playoff odds, the Spurs have a 96 percent chance of winning the division.  With Dirk and Caron Butler's injuries, tonight would all but seal the deal.  And after a less then great ten days, I hope they win big for all of the nation to see.

So come playoff time I really hope the Spurs see the Mavs and I really hope Dirk is healthy, but for tonight, I'm perfectly fine with him no the bench in a suit, bumping some Hasslehoff on his iPod.