[nowhereman]

Role reversal
Dirk, top-seeded Mavs in comfort zone as underdogs

Nothing in this terrific series should surprise anyone any longer. I'm on record as picking the Mavericks to ultimately survive their original 3-1 deficit, but the Warriors are more than capable of running them off the floor Thursday in Oakland. Davis has been the biggest star of the playoffs and he's more than capable of empowering a 20-point blowout to clinch the series.

My hunch, however, is that the Mavs have the Warriors right where they want them.

Dallas is still adapting to its burdensome role as favorites to win the championship and, in combination with the additional stress applied by former coach Don Nelson, the Mavs haven't looked anything like the team that ran away with the best record.

But with 3:07 left, having divested themselves of home court advantage, a 21-point lead in this game and any pretense that Nowitzki would dominate the series -- with all of that clutter out of the way, the Mavs became the underdog again.

And what do you know, there was Nowitzki pulling up for the threes that he seemed almost afraid to attempt earlier in the game. To the rest of the world these were high-pressure shots, because he and his team couldn't afford for him to misfire. But he looked far more comfortable now than he had a quarter earlier, when he was focused on working within the Dallas system that had won 67 games during the regular season and blah blah blah.

When Nowitzki plays within the system to the extent that he has for most of this series, the Mavs lose their biggest weapon and the system grows impotent. Dallas didn't become the favorite because of Avery Johnson's X's and O's anymore than San Antonio has won championships because of Gregg Popovich; both of those systems are mere frames to the exceptional performances of Nowitzki and Tim Duncan, respectively. The Mavs have needed desperately to forget all about their status and what 67 wins says about them, and instead just go for it and trust Johnson to rein them in should they run amok.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...ors/index.html


one win at a time guys. one at a time.
GO MAVS!!!