Sixth Man Battle: Jet vs. J.R.

Kidd vs. Billups.  Nowitzki vs. Martin.  Howard vs. Anthony. The upcoming western conference semifinals between the Mavs and Nuggets will feature incredible matchups.  Two savvy veteran point guards, two athletic small forwards, and a former MVP taking on a physical power forward.  Even the matchup of Dampier and Nene should be interesting to watch.  Dampier is coming off a solid first round series averaging 8.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, and Nene has traditionally caused problems for the Mavs.  With all these entertaining match-ups, none may be more important than the one that won't start until over half way through the first quarter.  Ever since signing with Dallas, Jason Terry has been the "energy guy" who brought the fans to their feet.  Since coming off the bench, the JET has been the spark that the Mavs rely on.  This year, Terry averaged 19 points a game and was an obvious choice for sixth man of the year.  His outside shot speads the floor clearing the paint so players like Barea can drive and kick out to open shooters.  But the Nuggets have their sixth man specialist too.  J.R. Smith is athletic, energetic, and can shoot the lights out once catching fire (see game 5 of DEN vs. NO).  He averaged 15.2 ppg. in the regular season and is averaged 16 ppg. in the first round against New Orleans.  Only Carmelo Anthony (120) and Chauncey Billups (113) scored more total points than J.R. Smith in round 1 (Smith scored 80).   Jason Terry was also third in total points for round 1 scoring 67 and, trailing only Nowitzki (96) and Howard (94).  The similarities are there.  When the JET gets hot and spreads his wings, look out.  When J.R. Smith catches fire, he can shoot from half court and it has a good chance of going in.  Nowitzki, Anthony, Billups, and Howard are going to score.  The difference could come from which teams dynamic sixth man brings more energy.  Jet vs. J.R.  The series could be that simple.

*Another interesting match up is Brandon Bass vs. Chris Anderson.  Both players are energetic and aggressive on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor.  They are relentless around the rim as the word "lay-up" is not in their vocabulary.  Their stats are similar like Terry's and Smith's for the first round.

Bass- 8 points per game, 3.8 rebounds. .08 blocks

Anderson- 7.6 points per game, 5 rebounds, 1.8 blocks

The battle between these two players should be exciting and important as the Mavs and Nuggets fight for loose balls and rebounds during close games.