"So that means we're facing the Mavericks again in the first round?" Stephen Jackson's eyes lit up.
The playoff bracket was out.
In the first round of the Western Conference, the Kings would face the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Lakers would face the Mavericks.
The Spurs would face the Timberwolves.
The Rockets would face the Grizzlies.
The Lakers feared any team in the league with an elite power forward—the Spurs, Timberwolves, Kings, even power forwards on teams like the Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers could tear apart the Lakers' defense.
Any power forward seemed to rise to another level whenever he faced the Lakers.
It was an old problem left over from the OK era. The Lakers always liked to use stretch fours—players with the build of small forwards—at power forward.
Offensively, this could greatly open up the floor.
But defensively, their size disadvantage always allowed the league's star power forwards to thrive.
There was only one star power forward the Lakers did not fear—Germany's war machine, Dirk Nowitzki.
Stephen Jackson, the Martial Saint, had earned the nickname "white shooter terminator" as a rookie. He had made his name by destroying Kukoc.
After the Martial Saint moved into the starting lineup, his size left him at a severe disadvantage against some of the league's traditional power forwards. But against face-up, shooting-oriented big men like Nowitzki, he was still extremely experienced.
Stephen Jackson had completely locked down Germany's war machine in last season's playoffs! Relentless fronting and brutal physicality!
Last season, Nowitzki had not yet developed the ability to post up and force difficult shots. Much of his offense still came from catch-and-shoot opportunities and drives.
And those were precisely the types of offense the Martial Saint defended best.
After shutting down the Mavericks' strongest offensive weapon, the Lakers easily dispatched