A LOOK AT TWO EMERGING NBA POWERS : Mavericks and Hawks Figure to Challenge Lakers and Celtics

All right, you Dallas Mavericks and you Atlanta Hawks, just take a number. The Lakers and Celtics will be with you shortly.

This season’s choice playoff match-ups are as certain as death, taxes and Dominique, right? Surely, they’re a lock. Yes, you can fret on it, which is what the Mavericks are hoping the Lakers are doing right now.

“We’re going to see them,” Dallas guard Rolando Blackman said of the Lakers. “We know it, they know it and I think they’re a little concerned about it.”

So this is the Dallas strategy for the Lakers. Scare them. Is it working?

“We don’t fear anyone,” Magic Johnson said. “That’s not in our makeup.”

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, while most of the rest of the pro hoops world seems to be engaged in Celtic bashing, the Hawks are doing all they can to say only nice things about the Boston players. Sort of, anyway.

Hey, those Celtics are pretty good. (For an old team, of course.) They’ve got a great chance to go on and win the championship again. (Unless they have to stop on the way to pick up their Social Security checks.)

“We do think that time is beginning to have an effect on them,” said Hawk General Manager Stan Kasten. “They’re not the team they were a year ago. That’s evident and you can’t ignore it. However, this is still this year.”

It certainly is that, and once again the Lakers and Celtics are the teams to beat. But then, that was also true last year, when Houston went right out and beat the defending champion Lakers. But this season, the Rockets have more problems than can be restricted to a basketball court and are receiving few votes as the team most likely to paddle the Lakers.

Now, it’s the Mavericks’ turn to try to knock them off and follow the signposts to the championship round. Dallas must go north at Southfork and proceed along the well-worn path that’s already been whacked out of the underbrush. The Hawks are following a similar trail back East.

In each of the last seven years, since Larry Bird and Johnson were rookies, either the Lakers, the Celtics or both have played for the NBA title. They have played one another twice.

Philadelphia and Houston are the only other teams that have even appeared in the finals since then, and the 76ers are the only team other than the Lakers and Celtics to have won an NBA title, which they did in 1983.

Still, every playoff season throws seemingly strong challengers at the Lakers and Celtics. For Boston, it’s usually Philadelphia, with Milwaukee thrown in occasionally. The Lakers haven’t had a consistent antagonist, although Houston probably comes closest. In 1982 and 1983 it was San Antonio, in 1984 it was Phoenix and in 1985 it was Denver. They all failed. Last season it was the Rockets, who again eliminated the Lakers, just as they had in 1981.

What makes this season’s playoffs different is that those teams are either out of the playoffs or, seem to have little or no chance to prevent rapid advancement to the final series by either the Lakers or Celtics.

Dallas and Atlanta apparently have those chances, though.

For the first time in the seven-year history of the Mavericks, they are being talked up as having the best shot at beating the Lakers.

In the East, the Hawks, who haven’t been in a championship series since 1961 when they were still playing in St. Louis, are getting the same respect as the Mavericks.

Whether Dallas and Atlanta deserve such praise can best be determined if they play the Lakers and Celtics in their conference finals. If they get that far, and should one or both of them score an upset, the shift in the NBA’s balance of power will have happened sooner than anyone expected.

“They’re up there,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said of the Mavericks. “I think they’re to a point where their maturity has caught up to their talent. There’s one problem though. They want us too badly. Like Atlanta wants the Celtics, Dallas wants us. But somewhere along the line, you have to play somebody else first, so you’ve got to watch out.”

Dallas got the Lakers’ attention a year ago in the playoffs. The Lakers won the semifinal series, 4-2, by winning the final two games after Dallas had surprised them by tying the series at 2-2 with consecutive wins at Reunion Arena. Then, in the next series, Houston knocked out the Lakers in five games, winning the last four.

Dallas forward Mark Aguirre maintains that the Mavericks softened up the Lakers for the Rockets.

Laker General Manager Jerry West disagreed. “I don’t think Dallas took anything out of us,” he said. “That series could have been four games.”

In any event, Aguirre said that the Lakers seemed to be having a lot more trouble than they might have figured on.

“When they were playing us, I don’t think they expected what we were giving them,” Aguirre said. “We took a lot out of them, not only physically, but emotionally draining, too.

“Because of what happened last year, we know we can beat the Lakers. We know it’s not a hopeless situation. But we have to prove it, too. They’ve had a great year . . . and they’re the best team in the West--right now.”

Right now?

“Our team is catching up,” Aguirre said. “There’s not such a big gap between us anymore. It’s going to happen eventually. Maybe this year. If it does, what it’s going to come down to is beating them in the middle.”

The middle is where centers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Donaldson work and it is interesting that this is the area Aguirre used as an example of where the Mavericks may have an edge. Aguirre doubts that, at 40, Abdul-Jabbar can handle Donaldson.

“If Kareem was Kareem of seven years ago, there would be a lot of headaches for us,” Aguirre said. “But he’s not the same player. He’s doing just enough of what they think it takes to win a championship. If he was the same as he was when I came into the league in 1981--he was the most incredible, dominating player I’d ever seen--but Kareem’s not getting any younger, and James basically just got here and for the first time has the opportunity to play with a good team.”

Donaldson wasn’t quite as eager as Aguirre to identify himself as the key to a Dallas-Laker series. He had a good reason.

“I get a more up-close-and-personal look at Kareem than Mark does,” Donaldson said.

“You will never know how much Kareem means to them until he leaves. I’m convinced Kareem plays a much, much bigger role than some think, just because of his presence. He’s not a great rebounder, not a great shot-blocker, but he does a lot for their confidence.”

Meanwhile, Laker guard Byron Scott said it’s probably not such a good idea to take the name of Kareem in vain. “You should never underestimate Kareem,” Scott said. “Kareem and Donaldson, that battle won’t be no comparison.”

But it’s also true that after years of experimenting at center and having the results blow up in their faces, the Mavericks jumped up a level when they got Donaldson from the Clippers last season.

With Aguirre and shooting guard Rolando Blackman already in place, where they were joined by point guard Derek Harper and big forward Sam Perkins, Donaldson was the final ingredient that has enabled Coach Dick Motta’s crew to win more games this season than any other Dallas team in history.

Donaldson is clear proof that center is a position where the Mavericks have come a long way. Scott Lloyd, Wayne Cooper, Pat Cummings, Mark West, Kurt Nimphius and, of course, Wallace Bryant all worked there without distinction.

Bryant probably made his biggest impression one day during practice. He startled his teammates when he ran from the court holding his hands over his ears, convinced that air was escaping from his head, which he feared would go flat.

When Bryant showed up the next day, his teammates gave him a gift. A bicycle pump.

These days, the only thing inflated about the Mavericks is their record. This year’s team is Dallas’ first Midwest Division winner, which Blackman credits not only to talent, but also to an improved outlook.

“There’s a different mental approach,” he said. “We’re not being cocky or anything, it’s just that we’ve changed. But the main thing about us is getting good players. So we’d like to see how we’d do against the Lakers. They’d have to be favored, but we believe we can go out there and win. On paper, it would have to be an upset. To everyone else it would be a surprise. Not to us.

“This is the first year we’ve been thinking about being in that type of company as the Lakers and Celtics and so forth,” Blackman said. “But to be put in there, you have to get to the final and even win. Or at least do some real damage and be put there and be lifted up as a good team.

“Atlanta, Dallas, we’ve just never experienced all this, but it’s going to be tough for people to keep us out. It’s not like we’re begging for anything.”

For years, the Hawks were paupers. They couldn’t seem to buy a win. Not only were they marginal, they were not very interesting. Then Hubie Brown checked out as coach, his protege, Mike Fratello, checked in and suddenly the Hawks became completely different. It was a total overhaul. Not only did they start winning consistently, they did it with an entirely new running style. Guess what team the Hawks tried to be like?

“We wanted to emulate the Lakers’ style,” Kasten said. “We had a three-year plan. We would build a team that would contend for the division championship, we would go with athletes in an up-tempo style and our most important goal was to win, but win in an entertaining fashion.”

Few players are as entertaining as Dominique Wilkins, but the Hawks did not reach their level this season with him alone. Kevin Willis at power forward and Tree Rollins at center are both more than 7 feet tall and difficult under the basket, the Celtics’ strong area.

The Hawks, though, can go four deep in the backcourt, something the Celtics cannot do. Randy Wittman and Glenn Rivers, backed up by Mike McGee and Spud Webb, are as good a group of guards as there is in the league.

Except for Cleveland, which did not make the playoffs, the Hawks are the youngest team in the league. Atlanta not only won the Central Division title this season, but also won more games than any other Hawk team in Atlanta history.

In what has to be the biggest shocker in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks have dogged the Celtics in the race for best record in the conference, which will be worth the home-court advantage if they do meet in the playoffs.

Opponents notice three things about Atlanta. The Hawks are young, quick, and run so fast they can make you sick.

Speaking of sick, hurt or just plain broken down, that’s how many people are picturing the Celtics right now. The ligaments Kevin McHale sprained in his ankle have kept him out of the lineup recently, and Robert Parish was also out for a while, nursing a tennis elbow.

Some point to overwork, but that is also what they said last season about Boston when the Celtics won another title. The Celtics have four players averaging more than 37 minutes a game this season. No other team has more than two.

Then there is Bill Walton, last season’s lifesaver, who has missed nearly all season with foot problems. But Walton may be on the way back. He played his first game in nearly a month this week. Add Dennis Johnson’s shoulder, Bird’s back and Scott Wedman’s season-long absence after two heel operations and it’s not difficult to see why many are picking the Hawks and not the Celtics.

That is not a universally shared opinion, however.

Bird, when asked recently about the impending demise of the Celtics, didn’t sound too concerned.

“Everyone’s doing all this talking, but I don’t see anyone who wants to play us in the first round,” he said.

Bird also said that although the Celtics are not on a roll, are not even playing especially well and are not displaying their normal confidence, all of that could change in an instant, so he issued a warning.

“Atlanta’s young, but you know, I still feel no matter what the situation we’re in, we’re going to be able to beat teams like Atlanta and Milwaukee,” he said.

New Jersey Coach Dave Wohl also expressed caution to those who think the Celtics are in deep trouble.

“It’s too early for the funeral,” Wohl said. “They have a lot of playoff-tested veterans who know what they have to do and know what it takes. This is a veteran team, but I think it’s difficult for them. They’re tired. They’re playing a lot of minutes and that tends to dull you and make you emotionally stale. I don’t think you should write them off, but they may be losing their psychological edge.”

Maybe so, but West is not so sure that the Celtics are losing anything. “Everybody is writing the Celtics off in the East, but I think they’re going to win,” he said. “I don’t care what anybody says.”

Kasten was even more direct. “Everybody who is writing off the Celtics is nuts,” he said.

What does all this mean? With everybody doing all that writing, the Celtics will probably wind up playing the championship series in a post office.

“They’ve got some guys hurt, but they’re probably still the strongest team in basketball, with all due respect to the Lakers,” Kasten said. “They’re as close as you get in sports to a dynasty. For us, let’s win something first. In the finals, we expect it to be Boston. We expect it to be the Lakers. We’ve got long-term goals, and we are not going to abandon them.

“But, two years from now, things may change,” he said. “We think we’re going to be improved and Dallas might be the next team to dominate. Who knows?”

That’s just the point. Nobody knows, not about these playoffs or the next several. The Hawks and Mavericks may very well prove to be the second coming of, well, the Celtics and Lakers. But first they have to get there. Then they have to win.

Magic spoke on behalf of the Lakers and the Celtics, the reigning NBA hierarchy. “You know Dallas, they want us so badly, I really think they’ll make sure they do (advance to the conference final),” he said. “It’s always a danger to think too far ahead, but they have such a quality team, one of the top five in the league, that shouldn’t be a problem for them. We also know what our team is capable of. So I guess we’ll just see what we can do.”

Blackman said that the Mavericks still have a ways to go to catch up to the Lakers. He could have said the same thing about the Hawks and the Celtics.

“The only thing that separates us is that we still haven’t done it yet,” he said. “Get to the conference finals, win it, get to the finals. It’s a factor, our largest hurdle and a high one, too. But you know one thing about teams like us and the Hawks?”

What?

“We definitely have some cracking whips here,” he said.