2007 NBA Southwest Division Preview

2007 Southwest Division preview from the Maddux Sports experts. In addition to the free seasonal outlooks we provide, Maddux offers NBA predictions against the NBA pointspread throughout the hoops season.

Could the NBA champs come out of the Southwest Conference again this season? The answer is “yes.” There are a whole lot of teams that can score and some can even play “D.” The San Antonio Spurs won it all last season and for the third time in five years.

The top teams include the Mavs—a club that can reel off 16 wins straight and boasts of the having the NBA’s MVP, Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki is probably the best all around point producer in the league with an ability to hit from the inside, downtown and the charity stripe.

Over the past five seasons, the San Antonio Spurs have been the division’s most consistent performers in the post-season. Tim Duncan has been a team-fixture for 10 years and each of those years the Spurs have been in the league’s top five for field-goal-percentage defense and scoring defense. They also have the best winning percentage of any team that’s gone to the NBA finals-- .727.

The Houston Rockets possess some fine weapons in Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Over the past four years when the club scores 100 points of more, they have a winning percentage of 92.5% and last year they beat every team they played at least once. Houston’s 52 wins helped them to their best finish in a decade.

The New Orleans Hornets have experienced uncertainty and difficulty over the last two years. Still, they had the best-combined two-year record of any team that did not make the playoffs. This season is the first since 2004- 2005 that the Hornets will play all of their home games in Louisiana. Coming home and a healthy team may help them make the tournament.

Finally, the Memphis Grizzlies continued a tradition by winning only eight road games in 2006- 2007. For eight of their 12-year existence, they’ve won eight or fewer road contests. Forward Pau Gasol returns healthy and with some added help in the frontcourt. Hopefully this team can find some defense because scoring alone will not do it.

Look for the NBA West to include the same top-three finishers with some up-tick from the also-rans. Might four playoff teams come from this division? Unlikely, but that could happen.

2007 NBA Southwest Division Predictions

Projected Order of Finish: Click on team name for individual in-depth team outlook.

1) San Antonio Spurs
2) Dallas Mavericks
3) Houston Rockets
4) New Orleans Hornets
5) Memphis Grizzlies