This should be a very interesting series. It’s the brawn of the Utah Jazz against the hectic speed attack of the Golden State Warriors. Here’s a closer look at the matchups in this series:

POINT GUARD: This will be an epic matchup between two outstanding playmakers. Baron Davis played the first round like he was the MVP of the NBA. Against the Mavericks, Davis averaged 25.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.83 steals per game. Davis also shot 54% from the floor and 45.5% from three-point range against the Mavs. The Jazz can’t afford to let Davis play that well if they want to win this series. The Jazz also have an outstanding point guard in Deron Williams who was one of the most improved players in the NBA this season. Williams is more of a pure point guard than Davis is. Williams averaged 16.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.14 steals in the first round against the Houston Rockets. EDGE: EVEN

SHOOTING GUARD: This is an area where the Warriors should have a small edge. Monta Ellis had an off series against the Mavericks but he should retain his starting job against the Jazz. Ellis only shot 39.6% in the first round against the Mavericks and he averaged 8.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Look for him to play much better against the Jazz in this round. Derek Fisher is the starter but he didn’t have a good series against the Rockets. He averaged 9.4 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  EDGE: WARRIORS

SMALL FORWARD: This will be a contrast in styles as Jason Richardson will likely be matched up against Andrei Kirilenko. Richardson is one of Don Nelson’s fastest horses on the basketball court. He was outstanding against the Mavericks in the 1st round as he averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.33 steals per game. He also shot 51.1% from the floor. Andrei Kirilenko had a rough start to the playoffs in round #1 against the Rockets. He averaged 5.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. EDGE: WARRIORS

POWER FORWARD: Carlos Boozer will likely have a size advantage as the Warriors will likely match him up with Stephen Jackson. If that is the case, look for the Jazz to get the ball to Boozer a lot in this series. Boozer was awesome against the Rockets in the first round of the playoffs as he averaged 24.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game. Boozer also hit 50.3% of his shots from the floor. Jackson will try to run the court and make Boozer work on defense. Jackson averaged 22.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game against the Mavericks in Round #1. EDGE: JAZZ

CENTER: Mehmet Okur and Al Harrington are very similar players in style so this should be a fun matchup to watch unfold. Okur had problems in the first round with Yao as he only shot 35.4% from the floor. Okur wound up averaging 11.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. Look for Okur’s numbers to improve as he’s playing against a player a little smaller than him this time around. Al Harrington had an awful first round of the playoffs as he only averaged 4.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting only 25.8% from the floor. Look for him to have a much better series this time around. EDGE: SLIGHT FOR JAZZ

BENCH: The Warriors have only been playing 8 players and I don’t think they’ll change that in this round of the playoffs. G/F Matt Barnes has been outstanding off of the bench for the Warriors in the playoffs. He averaged 10.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game against the Mavericks. He also hit 40% of his 3-pointers in round #1. Center Andris Biedrins played in all 6 games in round #1 (4 starts) and he played pretty well. He averaged 6.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.0 block per game against the Mavs and he hit 71.4% from the floor. Mickeal Pietrus only shot 30.6% in round #1 but he still averaged 7.0 points and 5.3 rebounds. Pietrus is known for his defense and he made some really big plays against the Mavericks in first round. Look for more of the same against the Jazz.

Matt Harpring has been outstanding in the playoffs so far for the Jazz. He averaged 10.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in the first round agains the Rockets. Harpring’s all-out hustle often inspires his teammates on the court and that will come in handy against the Warriors. Gordan Giricek was the gunner off of the bench against the Rockets as he hit 8 of 12 shots (66.7%) from three-point range. He only played in 17.9 minutes per game but he averaged 7.1 points and 1.9 rebounds. Rookie Paul Millsap will likely play a bigger part in this series as he only averaged 12.3 minutes per game in round #1 against the Rockets. Millsap still averaged 5.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in his limited action. C/F Jarron Collins played in every game against the Rockets but he didn’t do much as he only averaged 1.0 point and 1.9 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game. Rookie Ronnie Brewer only got to play in one game in the first round, but the Jazz will likely need him against the Warriors. EDGE: WARRIORS

PREDICTION: The Jazz are a great rebounding team and they have home-court advantage. I think that’s why they will beat the Warriors in an outstanding 7 game series.

The Golden State Warriors have become only the third #8 seed to beat a #1 seed in 23 seasons since the NBA switched over to a 16-team format. This was also the first time since 1991 that the Warriors have won a playoff series. It was kind of fun watching Mark Cuban answer questions with tears all welled up in his eyes, because he knows all he’s going to hear is how the coach that he kicked out of town ended his season! You just know that Don Nelson will look like Jack Nicholson in the movie Batman because he won’t be able to get that smile off of his face for a long, long time.

The Warriors applied an ass-kicking to the Dallas Mavericks as they sent them home to start their summer vacation! The Oracle was rocking last night and the crowd inspired the Warriors to play the best game they ever have. Snoop Dogg and Woody Harrleson were sitting courtside rooting the Warriors on! The Warriors outscored the Mavericks 36-15 in the third quarter and that pretty much sealed the victory! The Warriors also outrebounded the Mavericks 53-38 and that helped them big time! The Warriors also ganged up on Dirk Nowitzki as they held him to 2 of 13 shooting from the floor (8 points)! The Warriors held the Mavericks to 37.6% shooting from the floor for the game! Jason Richardson led the way for the Warriors with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. He also hit 7 of 8 shots from three-point range! Baron Davis was outstanding again with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Matt Barnes was really active with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Jason Richardson was also really busy with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Andris Biedrins gave a good effort in the paint for the Mavs with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. The Warriors have won this series 4-2 and they now await the winner of the Rockets-Jazz series.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270503009

It appeared as if the Warriors had this game in the bag late, but the Mavericks dominated the last couple of minutes to keep their season alive. Baron Davis dominated the Mavericks again last night with 27 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists. Jason Richardson also was very good with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Stephen Jackson was very active with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Matt Barnes was like the Energizer Bunny off of the bench with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Mickael Pietrus was also super off of the bench with 11 points and 10 rebounds in only 26 minutes. The Warriors are now up 3-2 in this series as it returns to the Oracle for Game #6.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270501006

What a fantastic basketball game. The Warriors played great down the stretch in this ballgame and they had to because the Mavericks left all they had on the basketball court. The Warriors were outrebounded 49-34 in this game but they won because of the heart they played with. Baron Davis was awesome again with 33 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals as he abused Devin Harris and Jason Terry all night long. Jason Richardson also had a good game with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Stephen Jackson (19 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists) and Mickael Pietrus (16 points, 5 rebounds) both played big parts in the win also. Pietrus intercepted a pass late in the game that secured the win last night. The Warriors are now up 3-1 in this series.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270429009