Two games on the slate this weekend, and against two completely different opponents. One we beat handily on their court, one they whipped us like they were our daddy.

Portland and Dallas are both Western Conference teams, but the similarities pretty much end there. The Mavs are right in the middle of the greatest stretch the franchise has ever known; the Blazers are pretty much at their lowest point.

One team we will have to play our best against to even compete, the other we have to guard against taking too lightly. Hopefully, the chips will fall our way and we will have a chance to pull out two wins.

In breaking down the Blazers today with Hawks coach Greg Ballard, he talked about Portland's youth movement. Personally, I think they are a dangerous, dangerous team despite their record and the fact that Zach Randolph may not play. LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Jarrett Jack, and Sergio Rodriguez are all good young players who can beat teams despite their inexperience. If we go in thinking we can just show up and win tonight, we will be in trouble.

Sunday is a different story. As everyone knows, the Mavs have been nearly unbeatable since starting the season 0-4. We hung with them for about a quarter in Dallas last month before they turned out the lights on us. Larry Drew said something interesting today in breaking down the Mavericks, stating that for us to beat Dallas we need to get out and run and, in a sense, outscore them. I always thought of Dallas as an offensive juggernaut like the Suns, so it's interesting to hear that strategy.

I also spoke to Anthony Johnson, who is quite familiar with the Mavs having spent the first half of the season on their roster, about how to beat them.

Basically, we have to play our best game of the season and hope we catch them on an off-night. That's not to say we aren't capable of winning  - witness some of our better wins this season against Phoenix and Detroit - but anything less than 100% effort for all 48 minutes will make it very, very difficult.

Either way, both games should be a lot of fun. Oh, and don't forget - Sunday's game against Dallas is a 1:00 ET start, not 2:00 as it originally said on the schedule. Make a note of it.

See you there!