NOT UP IN HERE!

BOOM. Go back home San Antonio. Go wash up in the ugly river water. Go get your skirts cleaned.

OK, enough of the fandom outbursts I couldn't control but...

Wow.

Who saw that coming? I already buried the Mavericks the other day. So what do the Mavericks do? They do the COMPLETE opposite of what they did in Game 4: Moved the ball, pushed the ball and most importantly, made shots. Funny how that works?

Not a lot to say in this post, I'll try to post follow up thoughts, but here are some quick notes.

*Erik Dampier got his first DNP-CD of the playoffs. All the radio/blogger/newspaper talk was aimed at how miserable Damp has been in this series. While I argued he hasn't been great, he still was doing something of getting in Duncan's way at times. Look like my argument is shot. Brendan Haywood got the minutes, got the numbers (8 points, 8 boards, 4 blocks) and proved to be the factor. I don't know what it is about centers but they have some inferiority complex issues. Haywood starts and all of a sudden he's a better pick and roll defender? Beats me. All I know was this was the most active game Haywood has played in this series. Whether it was the pick and roll, or rotating out on shooters in the lane. He was everywhere.

*THE BUTLER DID IT! Oh wait, I'm not the first person to use that line? Shucks. Well he did do it. 35 points on 12-24 shooting, 11 boards, 8-9 from the free throw line and how about NO turnovers. For the first time Butler looked like he actually knew what he wanted to do with the ball. We didn't see as many 'dribble between the legs twice step back and shoot a contested jumper' plays. When Butler got the ball he either: A.) drove it B.) shot it. C.) drove and pulled up. It was all in the flow and for the first time he didn't stall the offense. It also allowed Dirk (15 points, 7-14 shooting, 9 boards) to just hang out and have space to hit open looks and not have to carry the load.

*Finally Jason Kidd looks like Jason Kidd. We didn't see a timid and aggressive Kidd. We saw Kidd doing the things that makes him so great on this team. He was moving the ball, PUSHING the ball (23 fastbreak points) and setting guys up in great positions. His stat line isn't wow-y (10 points, 7 boards, 7 assists, 3-5 shooting, 1 turnover) but you could tell he was making in impact on the flow of the game, which is his number one job on this team. When the offense runs well (the 44% shooting is a little misleading) we can praise Kidd. That's how it works. Mavs score 100 points, they beat the Spurs, we praise Kidd. When they don't? Start the Devin Harris talks. That's just how it is.

*That all being said, the Spurs definitely looked like they had Game 6 at home to fall back on. They looked like they were ready for a practice and that's how they played. Credit the Mavs for forcing the issue but the Spurs made countless errors they typically avoid (careless passes, 1-on-1 offense, lack of authority on the boards). So Mavs fans can't jump up and down thinking they have this series, the Spurs mailed this one in to a degree. But that's also a worry. You can't mail games in once you're in the playoffs. You have to put teams down when you can. San Antonio's lack or urgency in this game could very well bite them in the butt. We'll see.

I said the other day that I wouldn't blame you if you didn't still believe. Well I guess I wouldn't blame you for believing now.

I love how sports does that.

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