They were together in one team for several years but in last year’s playoffs, Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas) and Steve Nash (Phoenix) were not teammates.  Nash won his match against his friend in the 2nd round of playoffs in 2005.  Now they are going to face each other again this time for the Finals in the Western Conference.

The two share similar experiences lately:  they had to go the full route with their 2nd round opponents before making it to the Conference Finals.  Nowitzki and his Dallas Mavericks felt the jitters of losing a 3-1 advantage and were pushed to the limit by the finals veteran San Antonio Spurs.  In the decisive game 7, however, Nowitzki did what he does best and barely came through with a close overtime victory.  Now, it’s a new experience for the Dallas star as he starts to go for one more hurdle in bringing his team to a historic appearance in the NBA Finals.

But he has to pass by the excellent playmaking of his former buddy, regular season MVP Steve Nash.  Like Nowitzki, Nash and his Phoenix Suns needed to go past the 7-game limit to dispose of wildcard qualifier, the Los Angeles Clippers.  In fact, they had to extricate themselves from the improved Lakers for seven games, too.  His being an MVP for two successive years is showing in the playoffs and the question is:  Can he hold on and bring Phoenix back to its glory days against his friend at Dallas?

I see an exciting series for the Mavericks and the Suns.