Dirk's thoughts going into the playoffs

Dirk Nowitzki was the first to hold court with reporters after today’s film session at American Airlines Center. Here are some of the highlights:

On going in as an underdog: “It’s a little different. The whole year was a little different for us than obviously last year. Lot of ups and downs and then we made a big trade and lost a lot of close games afterwards. It was a definitely a different feeling entering the postseason, but the last two weeks we won some big games and gained some confidence. Hopefully it will be a great playoff run. We’ll see what happens here in the next couple of weeks. It’s definitely different. Last year the pressure was on us, and this year we can kind of go out and play and have fun.”

On it not being the typical 2-7 matchup: “Nothing is typical in the West this year. If you look at Phoenix is the sixth seed and has to play San Antonio in the first round. That’s probably one of the best first-round matchups ever, so nothing in the West is ordinary. Every matchup is going to be tough.”

On beating New Orleans last night: “It was big to win yesterday to get the confidence, set some momentum towards the playoffs and not be the eighth seed. I don’t think we wanted to start in LA [against the Lakers]. In the strong West, I think LA is still the favorite.”

On the change in priorities this season: “A couple weeks back, we were still trying to get homecourt advantage, get to that fourth seed, because everything was so tight. When we started losing all those close games and then I got hurt, we settled for just making the playoffs and had to make the big push to make it. Now I think it’s anybody’s game. In the playoffs, everything starts over. Whoever is going to play the basketball now is going to win.”