It's not too late. Play Drive to the Finals Now!

By Rob Peterson

Previous Expert Picks

May 22 - First, as fans, we'd like to thank the Clippers, Mavs, Spurs and Suns for extending their series to seven games. As fans, nothing beats the anticipation of Game 7.

Second, as "experts," we'd like to curse the Clippers, Mavs, Spurs and Suns for extending their series to seven games. As experts playing a single-elimination fantasy game, this wealth of games has made us poor in the fantasy pocketbook.

Today's Expert Pick

Player: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Opponent: San Antonio Spurs Regular Season Averages Pts Reb Ast 26.6 9.0 2.8

EXPERT PICK ARTICLES May 21 -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas May 19 -- Manu Ginobili May 18 -- Elton Brand May 17 -- Tim Duncan May 16 -- Jason Kidd Previous Expert Picks FANTASY BLOG ARCHIVE May 18 -- Advantage: Non-Experts May 17 -- Resident Expert May 16 -- Never Mind May 15 -- Park It May 10 -- Do the Right Thing

With the Suns coming back from a 3-1 series deficit in their First Round series with the Lakers, and now the Spurs on the verge of doing the same with the Mavericks in their Conference Semifinals series, we've used a lot of big names in each series: Duncan, Brand, Ginobili, Parker, Nash, Marion, Cassell, Diaw and Kaman to name, um, well, all of them.

Of tonight's four teams, only one team has remained relatively unscathed because of wisdom (i.e. panic). That team is the Dallas Mavericks. It's been easy to keep the Mavericks on the fantasy pine as they waltzed through the First Round, sweeping Memphis. And it looked like we could defer our Dirks and tithe our Terrys until the Conference Finals at least, especially after they ran to a 3-1 series lead against the Spurs.

And the plan had worked so, so well until ...

Well, you can pretty much put two-and-two together as to where the Mavs-Spurs series turned: at midcourt of the AT&T Center.

Who knows if the Mavs would have defeated the Spurs in Game 6 with Jason Terry in the lineup? All we know, is that it didn't help the Mavs not to have him around after he punched Michael Finley in Game 5.

So, should we assume Terry may want to make up for his rabbit punch in Game 7? Yes we should. Will he be able to come through with a stellar performance that would basically kick his critics in the proverbial pants?

Like before, we don't know.

What we do know, though, is this could be your last chance to choose Dirk Nowitzki, MVP candidate, Mavs captain, Hasselhoff fan.

C'mon, kid, we can get 'em in Game 7. D. Clarke Evans/NBAE/Getty Images

That's right. Dirk admitted that he hummed David Hasselhoff's "Looking for Freedom" to calm his nerves before shooting big free throws.

(This calming effect stands in stark contrast to the excitement provided by the female lifeguards from another Hasselhoff endeavor, Baywatch but I digress...)

Anyway, you can thank Hasselhoff, in part, for Nowitzki's 41.5 Playoffs PRA, the postseason's fourth highest PRA and the highest PRA of any player tonight. While Dirk's lowest postseason PRA, 31, came in Game 2 against these said same Spurs, it would be tough to imagine Nowitzki not turning it up a notch tonight.

One of the great things about picking Nowitzki, as well, is he's been to the free throw line 102 times this postseason. Only LeBron, Vinsanity and Duncan have toed the line more. If the pattern holds, Dirk will get 10 open looks 15 feet from the hoop. He's shooting .892 from there, or nearly nine free points a game. If he gets his customary nine boards, Dirk will get you an 18 PRA on that alone. Add to the 20 points he'll throw in from the field and the nearly three assists and you have your 41 PRA for the night.

Yes, you'll lose him for the rest of the postseason, but for Dirk, his postseason can end tonight in San Antonio.

Passing on Dirk is a risk you cannot take. And we won't either.

Dirk it is.