The Worst Of The Best

Even the greatest teams of all time are not completely compromised of Hall of Famers and All-Stars. In fact, if you look back at some of the starting rosters for NBA championship teams there are a few head scratchers among some of the lineups. "That guy was a starter for them?" kind of guys. So who were the worst of these, the worst starters on the best teams in NBA history? Well, no need for suspense, here they are:

James Posey, 2005-2006 Miami Heat
Posey started 63 of the 67 games he played for Miami in their championship season and his impact was...less than stellar. Posey only averaged 7.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and had a PER of 9.8. Say what you will about his three point shooting, but there is no denying that Posey was not holding his weight on the court and that Shaq and D-Wade won the title in spite of Posey rather than with his assistance.

Bruce Bowen, 2002-2003, 2004-2005, and 2006-2007 S.A. Spurs
Before anyone starts yelling, yes, I understand that Bruce Bowen is a cheap dirty overrated elite defender, but how does that excuse the fact the Bowen does nothing else on the court? It might just be me, but I don't see how a man that has career averages of 6.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 1.3 AST, and .9 SPG has such a great reputation. (No, that is not a misprint on the steals number. The mighty Bruce Bowen has indeed averaged less than a steal per game for his career, and in fact has never averaged more than 1.4 in any single season.) In the Spurs three championship years Bowen's PERs were 9.1, 9.5, and 7.1.

Lindsey Hunter, 2001-2002 L.A. Lakers
No, this is not a misprint. Hunter did indeed start well over half of the Lakers' games during the final leg of their three-peat. In his only season with the Lakers Hunter was used primarily for his defensive and three point prowess, but his overall averages of 5.8 PPG, 1.6 AST, 1.5 RPG, and a PER of 9.4 give him a worthy spot on this list.

Bill Cartwright, 1992-1993 Chicago Bulls
Michael Jordan's legacy is cemented by the fact that he was able to win a championship with the 35 year old Cartwright manning the pivot all season. Cartwright boasted a PER of 8.3 for the season, mainly due to his oddly low number of blocks, .2 BPG, and his awful FG% for such a big man, 41%.

Marc Iavaroni, 1982-1983 Philadelphia 76ers
Before Iavaroni was a hot head coaching candidate he was a terrible NBA player. In his rookie season with the 76ers Iavaroni started 77 games and posted averages of 5.1 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1 AST. His PER for the season was a lowly 7.3, but sadly for Iavaroni this season was not an abberation: Iavaroni never had a season with a double-digit PER and for his career had a 7.9 PER.

Chris Ford, 1980-1981 Boston Celtics
When you think of the great Celtics teams of the 80's famous names come to mind. Bird. Parrish. McHale. Ford? Indeed, Chris Ford started 75 games for the Celtics 1981 championship team, chipping in 10.7 PPG and 4.3 AST while playing over 33 MPG. For the season Ford had a PER of 8.8, and saw his minutes cut nearly in half the following season.

Slater Martin and Jack McMahon, 1957-1958 St. Louis Hawks
Oh yeah, it is old school time now. The fact that the Hawks were able to win the NBA championship starting these two guys only solidifies the fact that Bob Petit does not get nearly enough credit as an all-time great player. Martin posted averages of 12 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 3.6 AST while only shooting 34% from the floor. The frightening part is that Martin actually looked like a stud when compared to McMahon. McMahon's numbers: 7.9 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 4.6 AST, and 30% shooting from the floor. Martin and McMahon posted PERs that season of 9.3 and 7.1 respectively.

(Hat tip to Basketball-Reference.com for all of the stats.)

Why The Spurs Are NOT A Dynasty

I'm sure if you watched Game 4 of the NBA Finals...or read a newspaper...or watched ESPN at all today...you were hit over the head with sportswriters and pundints telling you how the Spurs were on the verge of becoming a dynasty. Well, let me tell you the truth about that claim: it is false. Simply, truly, and completely false. There are a number of reasons why, and I am more than happy to share them with you.

1. The Spurs never won consecutive titles: Will Perdue said it best in an interview earlier today:

"(Consistency) carries a little bit more weight," said Perdue, now an NBA analyst for ESPN Radio. "Isn't repeating supposed to be the hardest thing to do for all the necessary factors?

Yes Will, it is. Repeating is what seperates the men from the boys when it comes to dynasty and greatest of all time talk. The Spurs being called a dynasty without ever repeating is like someone running for President without ever holding public office. The two just go hand in hand. That is why the phrase dynastic succession exists. A dynasty, by definition, implies succession, and the Spurs have never accomplished that. Case closed.

2. The Lakers 3-Peat: There is also the pesky little fact of, oh, the Lakers winning three titles in the midst of the Spurs run. Can you name any other run that is termed a dynasty that not only had a three year run without a title, much less a three year run where the same team won in each of those three years. Here is the real deal: The Lakers three peat was closer to a dynasty than the Spurs run, and only Kobe's force out of Shaq prevented two or three more Laker's titles. The three peat alone keeps the Spurs from being a dynasty.

3. 1999 doesn't really count: The first title in this run does not really fit in with the rest for two reasons. First, the season was tainted because of the strike, which made the season only 50 games long and cheapened the entire enterprise. Secondly, other than a very young Duncan, that team has no relation to the current squad that has won 3 titles in 4 years. That team was Duncan and David Robinson. This team is Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili and is an entirely different team that is three years detached from that '99 squad.

4. The regular season: I might, might, be willing to give the Spurs the dynasty nod if it was a situation where they were dominating in the regular season every year and then choking in the playoffs. But do you know how many years the Spurs stood alone atop the regular season standings during this 9 year stretch? Once. Next please.

5. Simple math: Name a single other run designated as a dynasty where the dynasty team won less than half of the championships during the dynasty period. Yup, that's right: it has never happened.

As much as the media wants to make this story, the point of a dynasty is that is both historic and difficult. That is why there has only ever been one team in baseball to have a true dynasty (Three different runs by the Yankees), only four teams to do it in hockey (Toronto 44-51, Montreal 65-79, New York 80-83, and Edmonton 84-90), and arguably one in the NFL (The Steelers 4 in 6 during the '70s). Now here is my one caveat: if the Spurs do repeat next season, all will be forgiven in the dynasty discussion. Winning 4 titles in 6 years, with the essential repeat present in this case, along with the same core of players present, would indeed make the Spurs a dynasty. Even in that scenario however, there is no way that the '99 title should be included in any dynasty discussion. Calling the Spurs current run a dynasty does nothing but fill newspaper copy and cheapen the term.

Enough Is Enough

I have absolutely had it. I am through being quiet about this issue. Seriously, the NBA Playoffs has me all up in a lather.

And no, it is not because of the Finals.

And no, it is not because the West is so much better than the East.

It is because of stupid articles like this, this, and this latest one by Bill Simmons calling for a radical restructuring of the NBA Playoffs.

To borrow from Hollywood, these ideas are just dumb, dumber, and dumberer.

First, lets examine the reason why these three intelligent men (I am honestly not being sarcastic, I generally enjoy both Hollinger and Simmons, although I am not familiar with Fitzgerald.) would propose changing the playoff format. You don't have to be a genius to see that the best basketball teams come from the Western Conference. Just look at the standings, where 5 of the top 6 NBA teams (by record) were in the West. The assumption made by these men though, is that the East is damned to mediocrity for the foreseeable future, especially since both Kevin Durant and Greg Oden are headed out West. Is this a fair assumption on their parts, or is it merely an extremely reactionary stance given the particular discrepancy in records that has been seen this season? I'll go with the latter, and let me explain why. The three above authors generally chose to ignore the fact that if Detroit had won Game 7 of the 2005 NBA Finals that we would have experienced three consecutive Eastern Conference NBA champions. Think about that. We are one game from an Eastern Conference three-peat, and all of a sudden because of one uncompetitive Finals matchup everyone is labeling the Eastern Conference as a lost cause and calling for the destruction of the current playoff system? Please. Also, lets examine the records a little further in the past, like last season where the East boasted the team with the best regular season record (Detroit) and both the East and the West boasted three teams with 50 or more wins. The season before that the West did indeed dominate the regular season in a similar fashion to this year, having six 50 win teams to the East's two. There is however, an important detail that weakens Simmons' argument. In that season, 2004-2005, two of the Western Conference teams with 50 plus wins were Sacramento and Seattle, and in the East Chicago, Cleveland, and Orlando all failed to make the playoffs. So how can these three men argue that there is no chance for change in the NBA hierarchy when those five teams have fluctuated so greatly in the span of only two seasons?

One of the other prevailing arguments is that the West is set to maintain its current level of dominance due to its extreme advantage in terms of stars. It is true that the West does have a large number of elite players, including Dirk, Kobe, Duncan, Nash, Yao, and KG along with the incoming additions of Oden and Durant. It is foolish however, to ignore the talent pool in the East. Don't the Cavs happen to have the best wing player in the league in LeBron James? Didn't Dwayne Wade lead his team to a title last season? Did you see the clutch performances put up by Gilbert Arenas throughout this season? Aren't Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard two of the three best young power forwards in the NBA? (Amare being the third) And if I am not mistaken, aren't their rumors abounding that KG, Kobe, and Shawn Marion among others could all be headed East this offseason? Point being, the alleged cap in talent between the two conferences is nothing more than a media hyped mirage, one that certainly was not being discussed too heavily when the Pistons and Heat were winning championships in recent years.

Now onto what these three men are actually proposing to do. Their general consensus is that the playoffs should move to a 16 team bracket, with the first round matchups featuring East vs West matchups, or in Simmons scenario being seeded solely by record except for the top team in each conference being assured a top two seed. These authors believe that such a system would prevent matchups such as the Spurs and Suns this season, where arguably the top two teams in the league face off before the Finals. The fundamental problem with these arguments is that, well, they miss the point.

Here is a major news flash: the purpose of the NBA Finals is not to give you the most entertaining matchup, it is to crown a champion, who often times does not happen to be the team with the best regular season record.

Often times yes, two really good teams will face off before the NBA Finals. It happens. Does it somehow wreck the sport? No. Did the world end last season because Dallas and San Antonio faced off in the second round? No. Is the NBA going to close up shop because San Antonio and Phoenix played in the second round this year? No. Are the Spurs not a worthy NBA champion because they never faced the Mavs in this year's playoffs? Also no. As long as the top teams are in the playoffs somewhere, things will work themselves out. If you are to extend the logic of restructuring the NBA playoffs a little further, why not just have the two teams with the best record in the regular season face off in a championship and just scrap the rest of the playoffs?

The point of the NBA playoffs, or the World Series, or the Stanley Cup, or the Super Bowl, is not to match up the two best teams in the sport from a given year. The Finals along with those other championships matchup the champions from the two respective conferences (or leagues) in that sport. Why? Well, here is the reason why: in all of those sports the conferences play an unbalanced schedule, meaning that the W-L records that result are not 100% representative of which conference is better. Take last year in the NBA for instance. There were two 60 win teams in the West, yet a 52 win Miami team won the championship. Take a look at college football this past season. All season long everyone believed that the Big 10 and their two undefeated juggernauts were the best conference in all the land. And what happened? Michigan got the crap beat out of them by a two loss USC team and Ohio State was dismantled by a one loss Florida team.

The NBA playoffs do not need to change. All sports leagues experience periods of ebb and flow, and the current NBA is no different. Should the playoffs have been changed in the 90's to make things tougher on the Bulls? Should the AFC not been allowed to play in the Super Bowl in the 90's when they had lost 13 in a row? No, these suggestions sound pretty silly, as are the suggestions that the NBA should scrap the current playoff format.

Mike Brown Is Not A Good Coach

If you had a friend that was drunk you would probably try to convince him not to drive, right?

And if your friend was about to smash a Ferrari, you would probably try a little harder to stop him than if he were trying to drive a Yugo, right?

Well, Mike Brown is about to smash the LeBron Ferrari into a wall. Honestly, if you have been watching the Cavs this postseason it is obvious that Brown has no imagination on offense. Running a pick and roll every play or hoping that Pavlovic or James makes a huge drive at some point is not an offense. Granted, Brown has greatly improved the Cavs defense since he arrived last season. Kudos to him for that. He does not however, have the chops to be the coach of a championship team. Granted, the Spurs vastly outman the Cavs in all ways except for small forward, but the fighting chance the Cavs may have had against them solely based on LeBron's sublime talent goes out the window as soon as you realize that Brown is the man calling the shots. He is a great defensive coach, and that is exactly what he should be: a defensive assistant coach somewhere, helping a contender stiffen their D.

Brown has indeed seen Cleveland improve under his guidance. The season before he became head coach the Cavs were 42-40. In both of Brown's seasons the Cavs have been 50-32. The problem though, is that I don't think that Brown can really take that much credit for the improvement. Consider that Paul Silas improved the Cavs by 18 wins in LeBron's first season, and was on pace to win 44 games in the season he was fired, which would have been a 9 game improvement over the previous year. Point being, Silas already had the train moving in the right direction, and Mike Brown has merely jumped on and since brought the momentum to a screeching halt. It also helps that Brown and the Cavs have been the beneficiary of LeBron's natural progression as a star player, as well as the addition of Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Daniel Gibson, and Donyell Marshall to replace the likes of Lucious Harris, Robert Traylor, Jeff McInnis, and Jiri Welsch. Let's think about that for a second. You take what was essentially a 44 win team that was starting Jeff McInnis and Ira Newble, let LeBron marinate for two more years, and swap nearly half of your ten man rotation for better players, and you are only 6 games better? Seriously, just look at the top ten Cavs in 2004-2005 as compared to this season, in order of minutes per game:

2004-2005:
LeBron James
Jeff McInnis
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Drew Gooden
Ira Newble
Eric Snow
Robert Traylor
Anderson Varejao
Lucious Harris
Aleksandar Pavlovic

2006-2007:
LeBron James
Larry Hughes
Drew Gooden
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Anderson Varejao
Eric Snow
Aleksandar Pavlovic
Damon Jones
Donyell Marshall
Daniel Gibson

You are telling me that Mike Brown should be applauded for taking that vastly improved roster, plus a more mature LeBron, Gooden, and Varejao, to a meager six game improvement over two seasons? And don't give me that crap about improved playoff performance this season: the Cavs beat a JV Wizards team, a downright bad Nets team, and a tired Pistons team (on the strength of one of the greatest performances of all time) on their way to the finals. Lets put it this way: if the Bulls had been the 2 seed instead of the Cavs (which they could have been if they had not choked on the last night of the regular season) the Bulls would likely be the Eastern Conference team in the finals, and the Cavs would have probably been shown the door by the Heat in the first round. So is this team really that much better since Mike Brown came? Nope.



Now, Mike Brown did have a way to fix things, to make the Spurs series more competitive. He could have made the gutsy call and inserted Daniel Gibson into the starting lineup. It was almost sad seeing Larry Hughes against the Spurs last night, having Tony Parker and Manu blow past him with ease. Say what you will about how admirable Hughes' actions are, playing through pain and all, but the truth is that he is a liability on the court right now and if Brown keeps insisting upon leaving him on the floor then Tony Parker is going to keep abusing him on his way to 25 PPG and a Finals MVP award. It's that simple. Brown could stop this of course, or at least try to, if he put Gibson in and rode him for 35 minutes a night. In watching the game last night, yes, Gibson did get beat a few times by Tony and Manu, but not nearly as often nor as easily as Hughes. Gibson also had four steals and countless hustle plays on the defensive end, and oh yeah, there is that little factor of him being the Cavs leading scorer the past two games, and having only 6 turnovers in the past six games.

So if Gibson is so hot on both ends of the court, why won't Brown play him? The answer is simple: Brown his covering his own butt on this one. Everyone expects the Spurs to win this series in four or five games. So Brown is more concerned about not being second-guessed for playing a 2nd round rookie than actually winning, for fear that if that rookie falters Brown will be crucified for leaving a high priced player like Hughes on the bench. That is what this all comes down to, and that is truly why the Cavs have no chance. No chance in this series, and no chance to improve beyond a 50 win, slightly above average team as long as Brown is coaching the team.

Just remember: Jordan never made "the leap" until Doug Collins left and Phil Jackson came to town.

I Wonder What He'll Do If They Lose At Home

This has to be my favorite YouTube clip of the week. Rasheed completely nails some guy in the face with his jersey after the Pistons' Game 4 loss. You have to love the guy who tries to catch the jersey before it hits the other guy in the face: now that is a team player.

Beno Udrih Talkin Smack...About Chickens?

I'm not sure which part is more amusing: Beno Udrih's weird comments about chickens in Argentina, or Manu's face after Beno disses the homeland.

LeBron Does The Powerade Commercial...For Real

Remember that Powerade commercial a couple years back where they made it look like LeBron was draining 90 foot jumpers? Well...



And here is the Powerade commercial if you don't remember.

Which Way to the Finals?

Throughout the post-season, LeBron and Company have done enough to put away the Wizards and Nets, but now it's time for them to step up. Last season, the overconfident Detroit Pistons, led by the ever obnoxious Rasheed Wallace, allowed the Cavs to snatch a game away from them in a series that many media outlets declared should have been a sweep. Then Rasheed worked his magic, opening his loud mouth to declare that the Cavs wouldn't win any more games in the series. Obviously this is really stupid...remember how Greg Oden threw down on Joey Dorsey, after Dorsey talked trash? So the Cavs won another game...oh yea they won one more, too. In games 6 and 7 there was Detroit, on the brink of elimination, when the Cavs collapsed, bringing more woe to Cleveland...as if we need any more of it.

If I was rational, I would say the Cavs are going to lose this series, too. But I'm a Cleveland sports fan, and obviously not rational.

So without further ado, I present THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS' KEYS TO REACHING THE NBA FINALS!

Get physical!: After watching the Cavs fail to retaliate against Mikki Moore's hard foul against Sacha Pavlovic in the Nets-Cavs series, I came to realize just how "buddy-buddy" the NBA can be. I don't care if you're friends with an opponent, LeBron. This is the playoffs...retaliate...foul them hard. Same goes for the rest of the Cavs. EVERYONE must play physical, from Daniel Gibson to Damon Jones. Yesterday, the Pistons announced they had a big, bad hurting awaiting LeBron whenever he tries to drive to the basket. Fine...Zydrunas should hear that and elbow Rasheed Wallace in the head (kind of like what Wallace did to Ilgauskus last year, which required the Cavs center to have multiple stitches).

Find a killer instinct: If the Cavs go up in the series, they MUST put the nail the coffin. After watching Game Six of the Nets series, it seems they learned their lesson from last year, as the Cavs drained three after three to put the Nets away by sixteen. However, the Cavs cannot just live and die by the three. Too often some of the Cavs *cough* Larry Hughes *cough* have a tendency to clang jumper after jumper off of the rim, when they're obviously cold. In the past two games, Hughes was a revolting 4-23 from the field and 2-5 from the line, while averaging 3.5 assists. The whole idea of playing Hughes at point was to cut down on his trigger-happy tendencies...Mike Brown has to pound this into Larry's head again. So instead of continually shooting wild jumpers the Cavs must......

DRIVE!!! DRIVE INSIDE, DRIVE INSIDE, DRIVE INSIDE!: Everytime I see someone throwing up a ton of low-percentage shots, I want to vomit. Bang it inside to Z or Drew Gooden. Even Anderson Varejao could throw in the occasional basket if they get it to him inside. Of course, this would require the Cavs to actually get physical...and they had better be against the Pistons. Mike Brown could also use LeBron and Hughes to make slashing cuts to the basket. Who knows, maybe it'd even cut down on Hughes jacking up random jumpers. Drives could be ugly, but at least they don't produce rim-clanging nausea.

Defend the pick and roll!: In the Nets two wins, they ran the pick and roll with impunity. It was disgusting...over and over and over. The main culprit: Drew Gooden. He let Mikki Moore (on his 7th different NBA team in 9 years) blow by him again and again. Gooden better learn how to play better defense for the Pistons, or else it's going to be a long series.

Crash the Boards: The Cavs did a terrific job out-rebounding the less physical Nets in the first couple games of the series, but then went soft. They can't afford to go soft against the nasty Pistons. Once again, the big men HAVE TO get physical, crashing the boards and fighting for every loose ball.

Point guard?: Uhh...what's that? The Cavs need to find a permanent solution in the offseason at point guard. Eric Snow can be a great defender, but is simply not an offensive threat. The Larry Hughes "band-aid" isn't really working, as he still attempts to operate as more of a shooting guard. Mike Brown could take a risk, and attempt to play Daniel Gibson at PG for longer spurts in the game, as he performed well in Game 6 against the Nets.

If the Cavaliers can play up to their potential, and play with intensity, they have a decent shot at winning what could be a long and brutal series.

It's Not Over Yet...You're in Trouble, Dallas!

9:54: After minutes of useless fist-banging, TNT finally changes over to the Mavs-Warriors game...anyways 10:49 left 1st quarter, tied 4-4. Don Nelson looks kinda constipated after a Nowitzki deep 2...mmm foreshadowing of Mavs dominance?

10:04: The Mavs appear to have woken up, taking a 16-8 lead with 8:14 left. The Mavs are shooting 88% from the field. Avery Johnson must have gotten under Dirk's skin, because Nowitzki is consistently beating Golden State's double team inside.

10:11: The Mavs are still shooting 83.3% from the field. Uhh...they're going to cool off, right? Right now the Mavs are just outplaying the Warriors in every statistical category, not to mention team intensity. Maverick-killer Baron Davis, let alone anyone else on the Warriors offense, can't seem to get it going. They're driving to the hoop, but continue to throw up crappy lay-ups and runners.

10:14: This is rather disgusting. 4:45 left and the Warriors get completely stripped under their own basket, which results in a Dallas fast break. 31-15 Mavs.

10:25: End of 1st quarter. Golden State has played a bit smarter, except for that last possession where they lost the ball out of bounds on a bad pass. They've been aggressive, but have protected the ball the entire series. They must continue to do so in order to beat what appears to be a revitalized Dallas team. Furthermore, the Warriors really need to watch leaving Devin Harris or Jason Terry alone on the wings. Harris got wide-open looks at threes on two consecutive possessions.

10:33: The Warriors can't hold onto the ball...I don't think I can really say anymore about that. Oh yea, they've also missed 10 field goal attempts in a row.

10:42: Two more turnovers in a row for Golden State...seriously, someone get them some glue.

10:45: Ummm...another bad pass out of bounds with 5:46 to go. Dallas keeps clogging the lane, causing Golden State to put up bad look shots....and apparently the Warriors can't pass the ball off to save their lives.

10:49: Another turnover with 5:37 left...you have to be kidding. The Warriors inside defense right now is just disgustingly porous.

11:00: Wow...Golden State woke up...aaaand Dirk just got T'd up walking off the court. After being down 21, the Warriors have closed the gap to seven. How, you might ask? Controlling the ball for one, and by imposing a double-team on Nowitzki earlier in each Mavs possession.
Dallas is being forced to take more time each possession, resulting in bad shots and more turnovers. Oh, GS going 5 for 6 from downtown in the last 5 minutes helps, too. If the Warriors can control the ball in the second half, the Mavs are cooked.

11:20: Stephen Jackson hits free throw off Technical to start the 2nd half. After a minute of play, the Mavs are only up by 4...yikes (well, for them. Gotta love the underdog). Baron Davis is looking like the Mavs killer again.

11:26: WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?! JASON TERRY LOSES HIS MIND AND PILE DRIVES BARON DAVIS!!!! Apparently Terry can't stand a player who just goes to retrieve the ball from out of bounds. Technical called on Jason Terry...and he's going to get suspended in the post season for a second year in a row. Muahaha the Warriors have closed the game from 21 points to a single point in 8 minutes of game time.

11:30: 3-ball from Richardson ties it at 67 all! Golden State is playing some intense defense to keep the ball away from Nowitzki, and generate turnover opportunities.

11:36: Question of the night: Why are the Warriors letting DeSagana Diop kill them? He's a giant oaf who can suddenly make athletic lay-ups, and steal the ball!?

11:46: DeSagana scored AGAIN!?

11:50: Less than a minute left in the 3rd and the Warriors are still on fire from 3-point range, shooting 50%. YAY 4th QUARTER!!! AND IT'S ACTUALLY A GAME! To think that I was going to stop writing when the Warriors went down by 21...

11:56: Golden State WANTS this game. Is it just me or are they tipping nearly every Dallas pass!? Taking charges, going after loose balls, and forcing the Mavs to jack up threes just to keep the shot clock alive.

11:59: And Matt Barnes gives Golden State the lead! After another steal by the way...this defense is craaaaaazy. Barnes and Davis are shooting a combined 60% from the field, while as a team the Warriors are now 52% from 3 point land.

12:06: Congratulations, Baron Davis, you just completed a 4-point play on Harris' 4th foul (Pietrus assist numero 9).

12:07: ANOTHER GOLDEN STATE 3?! How can you shoot over 50% after taking 28 threes?

12:15: Avery Johnson had better watch out for foul trouble. Nowitzki and Harris have 4 fouls. Howard has 5. DeSagana Diop hit a free throw?! *ten seconds later* Oh..ok. He airballed the second one. The world is back in equilibrium.

12:18: Great ball movement by GS as they go around the horn for...another three!

12:22: The Warriors have GOT to slow it down and run a half-court offense. AHH MADNESS!

12:26: Well, that was a pretty damned questionable and 1. Not to mention that it was Baron Davis' 5th foul.

12:30: Baron Davis fouls out when the ref assumes that he's trying to intentionally foul...except that Davis knew he had 5 fouls. That makes absolutely no sense on the part of the ref.

12:36: Dallas wins, yada, yada. However, I doubt Dallas has the ability to come out of Oakland alive, especially after blowing a 21-point lead at home.


One should have expected nothing less of Dallas in the first quarter and a half. They came out and played exactly like the dominant team they were in the regular season. The Mavs consistently capitalized on Golden State's mistakes and poor play, namely their 10 missed field goals in a row. But what about the last part of the 2nd quarter? Dallas completely fell apart, seeing their 21 point lead evaporate, as the Warriors played with increased intensity. After tightening their inside defense, Golden State caught fire on the offensive end, nailing 5 threes in the last five minutes to whittle the Mavericks lead to seven. The Warriors continued to control the pace of the game until the closing minutes of the game, at which point they simply ran out of gas, allowing the Mavs to go on a 15-0. In all fairness to Dirk Nowitzki, he finally showed up in a big way at the end of the game (scoring 12 points). Whether Nowitzki's late-game dominance is going to stick around remains to be seen in Oakland on Thursday night.