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April 03, 2008

By Tyson Wirth

It was more than just a slogan in the Dallas Mavericks’ 111-86 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

Dirk Nowitzki surprised commentators by starting just 10 days after suffering a high-ankle sprain. Dallas lapped Road-Runner Golden State in fast break points, putting up 27… through the first 24 minutes. And in arguably the season’s biggest game for both squads, the Jason-Kidd led Mavericks finally, mercifully, beat a winning team.

Golden State dropped to a full game behind Denver for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, while Dallas moved one game ahead of Denver. Dallas hadn’t had a win against an above .500 team since pre-Valentine’s Day, but jumped all over Golden State behind 31 points from Jason Terry, 28 points from Josh Howard, and a season-high 17 assists from Kidd.

Golden State, meanwhile, lost two in a row for the first time since Jan. 4. Monta Ellis notched 27 points, but captain Stephen Jackson scored a season-low two points, and is now 3-for-21 in the team’s last two contests. The Warriors, the NBA’s top-scoring unit, managed just 10 assists to the Mavericks’ 35, collected 38 rebounds to the Mavericks’ 56, and shot 38.4% to the Mavericks’ 47.9%.

Perhaps the night’s most amazing moment? Thirty-six-year-old “Pops” Eddie Jones throwing down an alley-oop from Howard in the third quarter. The play was just one of many the Warriors would rather forget from Wednesday, their second-straight sub-100 point performance after a streak of 37-straight contests with at least 100 points.

Perhaps the worst news for the Warriors? The fact there’s so little time to get back into form; each of the Mavericks, Nuggets, and Warriors have just seven games left to secure the West’s final two playoff seeds.

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