One of the best games of this playoffs to this point was played at Dallas. Golden State went in their with a 3-1 lead and Dallas had to come out firing in their elimination game at home. Dallas did just that and pretty soon they were leading by 21 points in the first half. The game seemed over. It looked like Dallas did what it had to and the W's have to just wrap it up, go home and try to win the series at home. This is where this Warriors team is different. They have that over-used term in sports - heart. They fight, they never give up and they can shoot their way out of such big leads much like the Suns.
The W's were not always like this early in the season as they were one of the worst road teams in the league. They never showed any heart on the road until January or so. Then they had to go on their run to just get in to the playoffs and thats where something special happened to this team. They played hard every night because they had to. They gelled, they started believing in themselves and they started playing hard on defense. So they played hard and shot well to get back into this game they were trailing by 21 in a very hostile environment. By half time, the lead was already down to 7 and the fans were shocked.
Then came the second half, where the Mavs fans worst fears came true. The resilient Warriors got all the way back and tied it up. And then unbelievably, they actually took the lead. Baron Davis was once again unstoppable and just superb. Matt Barnes, J-Rich and Jacko were not far behind shooting 3's and making things happen for the W's. Suddenly the Mavs were in a battle of wits and this little down-trodden 8-Th seed would just not go away. There was a stretch in the second half where this was a 3-point shooting contest as both teams played at a very high level. They created and made several open 3's back and forth.
Austin Croshere was huge with the 3's and Josh Howard was reliable as always. Nowitzki was having a tough time as usual though he was doing better than the previous 4 games. All of a sudden the Warriors hit a few more shots in the 4-Th and they were leading by 9. That was shocking to anybody who was watching this game. A 8-Th seed on the road engineering a 30 point turnaround as they came back from 21 down to 9 up. The series seemed over with 3 minutes to go.
Then something special happened with the MVP. Just as in game 4, he hoisted a desperate 3 and made it. Then he blocked a potential layup by Barnes. Dirk then hit another 3 and suddenly this was a game again. The Mavs also started trapping and D'ing up Baron and the Warriors didn't know what to do. With the ball out of Boom Dizzle's hands, the Warriors took a couple of bad shots and Devin Harris tied it up with a 3-point drive at the other end. He had 16 and has been unstoppable this game. The Warriors just couldn't score the final 3 minutes and the Mavs took the lead and held on to it for an impressive win behind Nowitzki's clutch free throws.
Suddenly, the MVP looked like a MVP. For a 3 minute stretch, he was unstoppable. Dirk ended with 30-12. This coupled with Avery's strategy to trap Baron finished off the Warriors. Ironically, the Mavs seem to have the momentum now since the W's pretty much choked away a late 9 point lead. The W's could have actually been blown out and everybody would have said they'll just win at home. But now they are saying the W's are under pressure and the Mavs have the edge because the way this game ended. Avery added on to that notion by saying the W's will have 10000 pounds weight hanging on their right arms in game 6. It's interesting how these things work. For the W's Baron had 27 and J-Rich 23.
Sorry, but the New Jersey - Toronto series is just not as interesting as this Mavs-Warriors series. The Raptors won at home today to force game 6. They almost lost a 12 point lead in the fourth, but they held on to win by 2. The Raptors lost T.J.Ford early in the game to an injury and Jose Calderon did a tremendous job of leading his team to that promised land. He led them with 25 points before he turned his own ankle late in the fourth. Luckily it didn't hurt them. Bosh had a bad game again with 11-8, but Jose was the boss today. Carter had 30 and he drove the lane and kicked the ball out to Nachbar for what could have been a game winning 3. But it didn't go in and now we have game 6 back in New Jersey.
Dallas @ Golden State @ Dallas - 112-118
New Jersey @ Toronto - 96-98
Playoff schedule for 05/02/2007
Denver @ San Antonio - Denver should get ready to go fishing here.
LA Lakers @ Phoenix - Phoenix better close this out here to keep pace with San Antonio.
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