To a certain degree, Shawn Marion feels like he’s experiencing some semblance of deja vu.
When the Dallas Mavericks opened the playoffs in 2011, Marion was one of the team’s star forwards who heard many of the so-called experts predicting the Mavs didn’t have a shooter’s chance against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. After all, the Blazers had a stacked roster headed by LaMarcus Aldridge, Gerald Wallace, Brandon Roy, Wesley Matthews, Marcus Camby, Nicola Batum, Andre Miller, Patty Mills and Rudy Fernandez.
The Blazers were so stacked that during the final weeks of the season, some teams were doing everything they could to avoid opening the playoffs against Portland.