Mavs Clinch! Mavs Clinch!

Yes, I know. I know that the fact that that's big news is kind of a shame. I know you like looking up, not looking down. But with New Orleans' 105-99 OT win over the Houston Rockets, your Dallas Mavericks WILL be in the playoffs this year. Somewhere.

And hey, come with me on this one. This was, and continues to be, one crazy season. The Philadelphia 76ers looked like the best team in the NBA for a bit, and now some nights the Celtics do. Kobe Bryant is looking like the Lakers second best player. Somebody (Dwight David Howard, *cough*), screwed up their reputation worse than LeBron did AND is apparently named after our 34th president, both impossible things.

Anything could have happened. For a while it did. But the Mavericks now, officially, won the games they had to win, and enough of them, and they will get a chance in the tournament of 16. And let me offer my own personal feelings which are these: seeding doesn't matter. You've got to beat everybody if you want to win. Matchups do, and we'll be in touch about that.

For tonight, let's all let out one big breath of air, and hope the Dallas area has recently brushed its teeth.

(Special thanks, again, to Dwight David Stern, who not only kept the Hornets from getting Pau Gasol or whatever, but now won't let them tank like they probably should, and so has made Eric Gordon play apparently by holding his family hostage. That's two important wins those guys have given us. Who knew.)

Sound off below.