SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Instead of battling for a trip to the Western Conference Finals, a case can be made that the Mavericks and Sacramento Kings are playing for the International League title.

The Mavericks have an NBA-record five international players on their roster: Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, Canada's Steve Nash, Mexico's Eduardo Najera, China's Wang Zhizhi and France's Tariq Abdul-Wahad (on the inactive list). Peja Stojakovic and Vlade Divac (both Yugoslavia) and Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey) are the Kings' representatives from Europe.

Thus, when the Mavericks face the Kings at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Arco Arena in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals, much will be made about the diversity of this group of NBA millionaires.

"It's going to be a very diverse series," said Nash, fresh off Wednesday's appearance on `The Late Show With David Letterman.' "There's a lot of guys coming from lots of different countries and backgrounds.