The Warriors: Meltdown to a Reality Check
That huge farting noise you heard last night wasn't Mark Cuban sitting on a whoopee cushion, it was the sound of the air going out of the Warriors playoff fantasy balloon.
In a game that featured sloppy ballhandling, poor shooting, and bad behavior by our beloved hometown cagers, the Dallas Mavericks regained their basketball footing and reclaimed the psychological advantage in their opening-round playoff series with the Warriors.
The Dubs started the game riding a huge wave of emotion following their impressive 97-85 victory in game 1 of the series, but played sloppy ball in the first half and stumbled badly in the second half en route to a demoralizing, if not embarrassing 112-99 loss last night in game 2. Not only did the Warriors play poorly, committing 24 turnovers (to only 9 assists) and shooting an anemic 20 percent from the three-point line, but they completely blew their emotional cool, losing both Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson to ejections before it was all said and done.
A loss in game 2 was not unexpected. The Warriors, the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs, are basically playing with house money in their first playoff appearance in 13 years. The Mavericks are the top seed in the West and finished the season with the best record in basketball. On paper, the Warriors should just be happy to still be playing basketball this season.
Stephen Jackson displays his much-practiced perp walk as teammate Matt Barnes leads him into the locker room after Jackson was ejected from the game. Hey, at least he stayed out of the stands this time. Photo from espn.com.
But this isn't any ordinary first round series. These two teams have significant history and a growing legacy of bad blood. Warriors coach Don Nelson essentially built the current Mavericks squad before handing the reigns to current coach Avery Johnson and coming to the Warriors by way of a short-lived Hawai'ian retirement. As part of this awkward transition, Nelson and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban find themselves legal adversaries in a dispute over how much money the Mavs still owe their former coach. Money is always a potent irritant.
Then there's the fact that despite being a 60+-win team for the last two years, the Mavericks just can't seem to beat the lowly Warriors. Before last night, the Warriors had beaten the Mavs in seven of their last eight meetings, including all four games this year. That's got to bug the crap out of a team like the Mavericks, who put up 67 wins this year while crushing everybody in their path -- except for the Warriors. After Sunday's game 1 loss in Dallas, you could almost hear Avery Johnson looking skyward and shouting "Khaaaaaaaaaannnnn" in frustration.
That Dallas frustration manifested itself in the final regular season meeting between the two teams on April 17. In that game, things got chippy between Davis and Dallas defensive stopper Greg Buckner, and the two players had to be separated. Turns out that was just the warm-up act for game 2.
In game 1, the Warriors played a fast and frenetic style that was right on the edge of being out of control. They played one-on-one ball instead of working through set plays, they took very low-percentage long-range jump shots with nobody underneath to rebound, they consistently tried to make ill-advised jump passes, and they wasted many, many possessions with turnovers. Yet, the Warriors won the game because they had more energy and more confidence than the Mavericks -- and they had Baron Davis.
Game 2 started off in similar fashion. The Warriors once again came out as the aggressors, and had the Mavs on their heels through much of the first quarter. But the mistakes they had overcome in game 1 started to accumulate during the second quarter. At halftime, the Mavericks had a slim two-point lead, but more importantly, they had begun to believe in themselves again.
The Warriors started the second half with a surge, taking a four-point lead early in the period, but the Mavericks went on a 13-2 run to take a 69-60 lead, and that's when the Warriors lost control. It started with a pick set on Greg Buckner. As Buckner tried to slide through the pick to stay with Davis, the two made contact and each threw a "get off me bitch" hand slap at each other. Buckner was assessed a personal foul but Baron wouldn't let it rest. Angered at what he felt were bogus fouls called on him earlier in the game, Baron was itching for confrontation and used the Buckner foul as a platform to bark out his frustration. After several seconds of yapping, the two players had to be separated. Baron, Jackson, and Maverick DeSagana Diop were all given technical fouls. It was the beginning of the end for Baron.
After a couple of more fouls called against him, including an obvious fifth foul against a driving Jerry Stackhouse, BDiddy went off with 0.2 seconds remaining in the third. Standing in front of the Warriors bench after the call -- and only a couple of feet away from the referee that made the call, Baron clapped sarcastically and made a derisive face at ref James Capers. It was as if he had decided to pull a Norman Dale and purposely get himself ejected from the game. Though Capers did not see Baron's antics, from across the court, fellow ref Bennett Salvatore was incensed and tossed the Warriors' leader from the game.
The ejection was totally warranted. Baron completely lost his mind and allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment. Especially given the Tim Duncan imbroglio last week, Baron should have known that his actions would not be tolerated. As he was leaving the game, Baron could be heard disingenuously asking "What? You can't clap in this league anymore?"
The game had already been sliding the Mavericks way at the time of the Davis' ejection, but his behavior seemed to give Dallas fresh life, as if reminding them that they are the defending Western Conference champions, they have the best record in the Association this year, they are the better team. Isn't there some kind of folksie maxim that cautions, "let sleeping dogs lie"?
In the fourth quarter, the Mavs newly awakened inner junkyard dog was all over the Warriors, stretching the lead into double digits and leaving no doubt that the Warriors' mysterious hold on them was no longer. As the game wound down, it was clear the Mavs were going to win, but it got worse for the Warriors. With 4:34 to play, the ticking time bomb in Stephen Jackson's head also went off. Jackson, incensed at a foul call, lost his mother-freakin' mind and got himself ejected. As Jackson stalked from the court, his continued his tantrum by yelling several choice expletives to the refs. Nice form Jax. Not only was his behavior embarrassing for the Warriors and their fans, but his language and comments were so out of control that it's possible the league may suspend him for future games in this series.
Editor's note -- This just in: minutes ago on KNBR's "The Razor and Mister T" show, coach Don Nelson confirmed that he had fined both Davis and Jackson and expected they would also receive fines from the Association. He also confirmed that the NBA will not be suspending Jackson.
In getting themselves ejected, Davis and Jackson did more than help the Mavericks win game 2 of the series. They reminded the Mavericks that the Warriors don't have the experience, class, or temperament to succeed in the playoffs this year, especially not against a veteran, battle-tested, successful playoff team like the Mavericks. The Warriors had the Mavs on the ropes, physically, emotionally, and psychologically, but no longer. All that changed as soon as Davis started mouthing off to Buckner in that initial third-quarter scrum.
Prior to last night, the Warriors carried some kind of impermeable aura with them into games against Dallas, an aura that the Mavericks struggled to comprehend and overcome. But when Davis lost his mind in third quarter last night, it was as if an invisible hand had pulled back the velvet curtain of invincibility to reveal that the Warriors' dominant wizardry was nothing more than a false front of attitude and anomaly.
The series is not over by a long shot. By taking game 1, the Warriors grabbed a split of the two games in Dallas and now hold home-court advantage in the series -- a nice spot to be in for a team that went 30-11 at the O-rena this year. Victory is still possible, but a lot less so than before Davis and Jackson reminded the Mavericks that they are the better team.
Game 3 tips off Friday night in the O-rena at 7:30. It's the Warriors first home playoff game since May 4, 1994 and should be a wild, wild time. The game will be televised on ESPN; the radio broadcast will air on KNBR 1050.
Let's just hope that Baron and Jax can remember that you have to be in it to win it -- that is, if they're not too busy with their counseling careers.