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05-12-2002, 11:15 PM
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Guru
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Location: California
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Mavs hope to avoid déjà vu
For second year in row, Mavs face ouster in five games in second round 05/13/2002 By JODIE VALADE / The Dallas Morning News SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Both the single most encouraging and frustrating news for the Mavericks comes in a simple realization as they examine their footing on the precipice of Monday's Game 5 against Sacramento. They've been here before. They've been exactly in this situation before, facing a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference semifinals. They've faced playoff elimination before. They were in precisely this situation last season, in fact, when the Mavericks were down 3-1 to the San Antonio Spurs in the second round. So it comes to this, after a season so full of promise, after a franchise record-setting 57 wins in the regular season and a first-time playoff sweep in the first round ... they now are teetering on the edge of exactly where they finished last year. For all the talk of the young Mavericks learning with every postseason experience, they are left with the basic knowledge that there is now time only for some of their typical all-out effort and some hope for luck. There also is no reason to fret. "There's really no pressure on us," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "We just have to give it our best shot." Because they also know a carefree approach is the most successful one. The Mavericks have been in this situation before, too – one of just a handful of teams to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Last season they battled back from an 0-2 deficit to win their first-round series against Utah. Only six teams have accomplished that feat in a five-game series. Which is why the fact that only six teams have come back from a 1-3 deficit in a best-of-7 series is daunting but not intimidating for the Mavericks. "If we win [Game 5], the complexion of the series goes from bleak to wide open," Mavericks guard Steve Nash said. "I think it's going to be a lot more pivotal than it looks at this point." The "if" is the key word for the Mavericks. Winning at Arco Arena, they know, isn't easy. The Kings have one of the most impressive home-court advantages in the NBA, having lost at home only seven times in the regular season and post-season. The Mavericks have won three of those games amid the deafening, cowbell-ringing crowd, though, and draw confidence from that and their NBA-best 27 road victories this season. "We're coming out swinging," Michael Finley said. "We're going down with a fight. I'm going to the game as if we are going to win, I'm not going to think what's going to happen if we lose." The Kings? They know they can win without Peja Stojakovic, which is just as confidence-boosting. Sacramento won without its All-Star swingman and with a depleted rotation in Game 4 that had Chris Webber and Vlade Divac sitting on the bench with too many fouls near the end of the game. "It's going to be tough [for the Mavericks], I'm not going to lie," Kings guard Bobby Jackson said. "We're on a high right now, and we don't feel like we can be stopped." The Mavericks, meanwhile, felt deflated after their Game 4 overtime loss. Raef LaFrentz, who is experiencing his first playoffs, is realistic about his team's chances in this series. "It has been done," LaFrentz said. "It's hard to do, and we understand that." Said Nelson: "When you face elimination, then it's a must-win game. It's finally a must-win game. The next game is an important game, I gotta tell you." He knows. He's been there before.
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05-12-2002, 11:17 PM
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#2 |
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Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
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The Mavs will win because they don't know they are supposed to lose. The last time they were down (Utah) they won. So to them, it is how to do things. Go Mavs!
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05-12-2002, 11:18 PM
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#3 |
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Golden Member
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 1,414
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That's the attitude Fin Dogg!!!
#4
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Sacramento Kings...The 2002 People's Champion. |
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05-12-2002, 11:53 PM
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#4 |
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Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
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Fin will not accept anything less than a win.
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05-12-2002, 11:54 PM
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Diamond Member
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 4,550
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the biker gang will not accept anything less than a win
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05-13-2002, 08:59 AM
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Platinum Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Between Sun and Moon
Posts: 2,441
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Its do or die time. We need a victory to rally the troops.
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 Mavericks team pic. Guess which one is Stack. 
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05-13-2002, 09:13 AM
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#7 |
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Guru
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Arlington, TX
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<< the biker gang will not accept anything less than a win >> DAMN STRAIGHT! |
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05-13-2002, 03:25 PM
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#8 |
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Member
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 362
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LOL about the biker gang.
I love Fin and Nash's quotations, especially Fin's. Though what Bobby Jackson said scares me a little I don't see how Fin, Nash, Dirk and Van Ex won't step up. I think Van Exel and Finley are going to be playing with a ridiculous amount of passion and fire and Dirk will step up after the embarassment he has endured. Hopefully Nash doesn't make another run at a double-double with points and TO's. |
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05-13-2002, 04:25 PM
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#9 |
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 150
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I believe Mavs is a better team than Kings. That maybe disputable to someone else. But without Peja playing, the Kings SHOULD lose to Mavs. I see:
Mavs win big tonight at game 5. Mavs win a dog fight close game at home in game 6 and blow kings away in game 7. At crunch time, Mr. Webber will also give us a little help.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] |
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05-13-2002, 04:59 PM
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#10 |
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Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Nowhere
Posts: 40,924
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The Webber techs are inevitable.
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