Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said on Tuesday that his team's rivalry with the Spurs is as rabid as ever.
"No, I mean I hate the Spurs. I have a hard time being civil to [Spurs owner] Peter Holt at the board of governors meetings and he has a hard time being civil to me even though we both like each other. It's what it represents," Cuban said.
"We can both be 0-80 and if those last two games are Spurs-Mavs, it's going to be like a playoff game because we dislike each other that much."
Dallas and San Antonio have faced off in the postseason in three of the last five years.
The Mavericks won last year's series 4-1 and they lead the current series 1-0 heading into Wednesday's Game 2.
"Both teams play basketball the right way, both really have a lot of respect for the other side," Cuban said. "The beauty of the first game and every game we play them is every possession counts. There's not like, 'OK, we'll put in the second unit.'
"Well, I take that back -- unless Pop says he's going for the best record and then rests everybody. But beyond that, every possession just feels like it's a punch in a heavyweight title fight. This doesn't feel like the first round of the playoffs, I guess is what I'm saying."