Mavs Game 5

Hey sports fans, Lincoln here. I'm so pumped after the Mavs fought off the Warriors in Game 5. I know we haven't covered the NBA playoffs as indepthly as we would have liked, or at all for that matter, because of the NFL Draft. But now we will shift our focus and be very roundballcentric, new word?

I will have more on this series with JJ very soon but here are a few quick impressions.

- Dirk finally played like the MVP. 30 points, 12 boards (4 offensive) but more than that it was the first time all series that he fought through double teams and took over the game. I honestly thought that the season was over after Baron "Jijad" Davis hit that crazy off balance three with 3:22 left in the fourth; but then Dirk nails a three, gets back on the defensive end and gets a huge block on Matt Barnes' attempted layup (which ESPN refuses to show on their replay of the game even though it was maybe the biggest play of the game) then back down on the offensive end he looks for his shot...its not there so he passes but then demands the ball right back and sinks another clutch three to bring the Mavs within a bucket, 2:05 left. He played GREAT, and saved his best for when they needed it the most.

- I really hate Golden State. I didn't always possess this rancor for the Warriors, but this series, man... I really hate Golden State. All their players, their all trash. I can't believe the Mavs might actually lose to them. Matt Barnes is a Euro-trash piece of shit, and yes I know he's from California. The guy has absolutely no basketball skill, all he does is try to start fights. He shots pretty well from downtown, but he kicks his legs out on his shot like an 8 year old girl who doesn't have the upper body strength to get the ball to the rim. I'm surprised he doesn't jump on his free throw attempts. All he does on offense is hang out on the perimeter waiting, if they actually pass him the ball and ask him to do anything with it he acts like it's made of lava. Steven Jackson is just a streetballer thug. It's not surprising that he's been thrown out of two games this series. These guys have no idea how to win or lose gracefully.

- Reason #2 why this Golden State team will never win a championship (#1 is that Don Nelson is their coach) -- Baron Davis. B-Diddy perfectly exemplified what's wrong with him as a player with 0:21 left in this game. Jason Richardson misses a three from the right baseline, Josh Howard grabs the defensive board with Dallas up 1 and Davis slaps for the ball, gets mostly arm and gets called for his 6th foul. It's an obvious-absolutely-have-to-foul situation, you're down a point with under 24 seconds left. But Baron flips out when he's called for the foul and starts arguing with the ref. He wasn't thinking about, or even seemingly aware of, the situation in the game he was just thinking about himself and what everyone else is doing to him. He wasn't thinking about his team, he was thinking about him being on the floor being able to rack up stats. He wasn't thinking about winning the game. He's weak.

- 15-0 run to end the game, and 31-15 to start it.

- Golden State hit 16 threes and still lost.

- I know I'm not covering any new ground here but in the Mavs play with the same intensity that they did tonight they will win the series. Assuming they also get back on transition D and get to the rim offensively.

- I might be covering new ground here, but after the game NBA Security looked into a skirmish that Warriors forward Jason Richardson had with a fan in the AAC. The Mavs, Channel 21 and TNT forwarded all pertinent video evidence to NBA Security. I wasn't there and nothing was shown on the local TV broadcast so I didn't see what happened, but Richardson could be in MAJOR trouble. Unless the fan(s)? punched him or his family first Richardson will be suspended. Very interesting story to watch as it develops...just remember you heard it here first!