Empty the Bench

Dallas 118, Golden State 112: Wow. What a game. The best game of the 2007-08 season thus far, all things considered. You have to give it up for both teams: the Mavericks stormed out of the gates and looked like they were going to build a 30-point lead by the time the first quarter was over. THIS is the team that waltzed through the regular season for 60+ wins, THIS is the team that came this close to winning a title last year. But these Warriors… man… these Warriors!

One after the other, jump shots, lay-ups, three-pointers, all dropping for the Mavs. On the other side, nothing was going right for Baron Davis & Co. Then, suddenly, incredibly, Dirk misses a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer, Jerry Stackhouse is assessed a technical foul, and the Warriors are only down by 7 points after being down by as much as 20. A raucous home crowd has been reduced to puzzled silence, Josh Howard sounded exasperated during his quick interview with Pam Oliver, and a fan falls on his back during a dunk attempt off a trampoline at halftime (very cool of TNT to run the clip). As if the mood wasn’t bordering on somber already, the second half starts starts with the technical foul shot from Stack’s temper tantrum. 6 points. All eight Warriors who played in the first 24 minutes scored at least 3 points, led by Mickael Pietrus and Stephen Jackson’s 10, while Dirk put up 14 and 7.

Could the Mavs finish what they started?

Jason Terry’s brain goes out to lunch, and Jason Terry the man bodyslams Baron Davis after the whistle. Technical foul. At the 7:53 mark, a Jason Richardson three-pointer ties the game. Then, hell freezes over Andris Biedrins sinks both of his free throws to stop a Mavericks run and get the Warriors back within two. If you haven’t seen this guy shoot from the charity stripe, let’s just say it’s not a pretty thing. Matt Barnes, three-pointer! It’s a one-point game with under 5 minutes to go in the third. Desagna Diop steals the ball from Stephen Jackson, foul on the Dallas fast break, commercial break, Mavs up by three with 4:13 left.

Stackhouse nails his first three of the game with just over three remaining in the second half’s first stanza, pushing the Mavs up by six. Matt Barnes answers with one of his own. Desagna Diop gets a tip-in, and though his box score doesn’t compare, he’s made more big plays, on both ends of the court, than Dirk has at this point in the game. Richardson hits another Golden State three-pointer–that’s 10 in the game already–and slices the Mavs’ lead down to three… until Stackhouse answers… until Davis answers right back! Are you kidding me?! Put the end of three quarters score at 90-87 Dallas. The home team has resolve, but the visitors clearly don’t fear their favored opponent. In fact, they play not like they think, but like they know that they’re the better team.

Pretty feed from Richardson to Barnes to start the scoring in the fourth quarter; the Mavs lead is down to one. Are those sporadic boos I’m hearing? From the same fans that made a half-hearted attempt to start “the wave” earlier in the game? Offensive foul Josh Howard, which puts the home team’s most consistent player of the series on the bench with five personals. MATT BARNES! HOLY MOSES! He absolutely posterizes Devin Harris on a fastbreak feed from Beard de Baron, and the Warriors have their first lead of the game. The camera pans to Mark Cuban; Mark Cuban doesn’t look happy. Time out. Mavericks. Uh oh.

“They won’t go away, partner” says TNT’s Reggie Miller after Richardson nails a three, tying the game back up. Free throws, Dallas. Baron Davis, three-pointer, Mickael Pietrus free throw, and Golden State is back up by one point. My god, it’s raining three-pointers in Dallas! Both teams! Austin Croshere! Stephen Jackson! Moe Syzlak! Where’s my beer?!

Josh Howard checks back in with 6 minutes left; it’s 103-102, Warriors, time out. Gut check time for Dirk Nowitzki, as the GS lead swells to four with 4:45 on the clock. Wow–a Jason Richardson three in the corner puts the score at 109-103. That’s his fifth one of the game. The Warriors winning this series is one thing… but in just five games?

Baron and Dirk trade threes… Dirk nails another one to pull Dallas within three with just under 2 minutes left. That’s right–a Dirk sighting in a clutch situation! It’s been awhile, you crazy German you. Devin Harris, huge play, wow… sinks the driving layup, draws the foul, Baron has five fouls. Two Nowitzki free throws put Dallas back on top by one point with 48 seconds left, followed by two missed threes by Golden State and The Beard’s sixth foul. Give the Mavericks a lot of credit: that’s a 15-0 run to end the game (they retained possession after a missed J-Howard free throw with 18.7 left) and keep their season alive. The Warriors still have two more chances to win one game. Thursday night, in Oakland, we just might be treated to an even better game.

Toronto 98, New Jersey 96: By the time this slugfest had reached its conclusion, the Raptors were hobbled by injuries to their top two point guards, a guy named Boki missed his second big shot of the series for NJ, and the hometown fans set a world record for number of “VC Sucks!” chants in a single basketball game. In the end, it was the young Raps who were left standing with their arms in triumph, while the Nets slunk back into the visitor’s locker room after falling just short of an impressive fourth quarter comeback. It takes a lot of guts to reduce a blowout to a nailbiter on the road in the postseason. With the series gap narrowed to 3-2, it would most certainly behoove the Nets to close it out Friday night at home.

With starting point man T.J. Ford sidelined with a “stinger,” second-year Spainard Jose Calderon stepped up his game to the tune of a career-high 25 points to go with 8 feeds and 2 boards. He came down pretty hard on his ankle late in the fourth, however (think Shaun Livingston Lite), which forced little-used, slightly chubby Darrick Martin to play out the last 2 minutes. Good thing for the Raptors this one didn’t go to overtime. Mo Peterson started and turned in a gutty performance before fouling out, finishing with 17 points (including 3 three-pointers) and 5 boards. Andrea Bargnani and Anthony Parker both had 18. The Raptors still have a lot of mountain to climb, and will need at least one of their injured point guards to make a quick recovery if they hope to win in Jersey.

Vince Carter was warmly received by the Toronto faithful once again, with the crowd cheering his every move and politely clapping whenever he hit a basket. He led the Nets comeback effort, scoring 30 points on 10-22 FG (6-10 FT) with 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Much to the chagrin of his fans in the stands, however, it wasn’t enough. Boki Nachbar, a 42% three-point shooter during the regular season, has struggled with the long ball all series, and could have won the game/series with a buzzer-beater at the end. Alas, it clanked off the rim, game over, we’re going back to the East Coast.