SI and the Mavs

In its NBA preview edition, Sports Illustrated is picking the Lakers to cool the Heat in the NBA finals this season and the Mvaericks to finish fourth in the Western Conference behind the Lakers, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. Why the Spurs over the Mavs? It seems SI likes San Antonio's import, 6-11 center and Spanish League MVP Tiago Splitter, and believes the Spurs have more depth behind their aging trio of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan than we do behind Jasons Terry and Kidd. We'll see.