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Around The NBA With Dan Favale

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report joined the Scott Garceau Show with Jeremy Conn to take a look at how the playoffs are shaping up after the first weekend. The Atlanta Hawks managed to win their first match-up with the Brooklyn Nets, Dan gave his thoughts on if the Hawks could make a run in the east. "Some of their players are injured, but they play a brand of basketball that can beat good teams. It's the brand of basketball that beat the Heat last year in the finals. Their most legitimate threat is the Cavaliers, who they don't need to worry about until the Eastern Conference finals. Then it's just a matter of beating the Cav's."

One of the more interesting match-ups in  the Western Conference is a battle between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers. Dan gave his thoughts on who he expects to make it out of the opening round.  "Even though the Clippers are the three seed, they weren't favorited and I have the Spurs winning the series. Nothing I saw in game one changes my mind. Opinions shouldn't be made until game two. The Spurs make statements with their backs against the wall, they adjust. If they come out flat and don't hit their shots, than there's something to worry about."

Jeremy's favorite team, the Dallas Mavericks, have a tough battle against the Houston Rockets. Dan believes the Mav's may be in trouble. "What really matters in terms of the Mavericks is, can they ever get into a groove if Rajon Rondo gets big minutes. We're used to seeing him come up with huge numbers in the playoffs, but he also had some defensive lapses.  They also need to figure out what to do with Dirk on defense because he isn't great there. They'll need to put him on a low scorer, and figure things out defensively."

Follow the show on Twitter @ScottGShow1057.

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