Little Mavericks play big

A few words must be said out our little Dallas Mavericks following their 113-91 thrashing of the Spurs last night.

Before we get to accolades, let's tap the brakes a bit. Its one game, and the Spurs are not going to roll over and play dead from here on. We're going to wake up after Game 4 and find this thing tied 2 games apiece, and a Game 7 is a distinct possibility here. Even if the Mavs manage to dispose of San Antonio, which I predict to happen btw, Phoenix looms in the Conf Finals, and that will be no picnic either.

With all that said, there are lots of things to be happy about from last night:

1. Devin Harris showed a tremendous amount. Good God, that guy is fast. With him and Jason Terry in the backcourt, the Mavs couldn't help but run. As has been pointed out everywhere, the tempo was right where it needs to be for the Mavs to beat the Spurs. Games in the 80s favor the Spurs and their superior defense and half-court game. If the Mavs can push it into the 90s or 100s, the Spurs just don't have enough offense to keep up.

2. Josh Howard put together a complete game. He's another HUGE talent, but has been known to fade down the stretch (see Game 1 for examples). Not last night. He started aggressive and stayed that way throughout. When he's as on as he was last night, the automatic double-team of Dirk suddenly seems like not such a great idea. He's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can do it, now he needs to do it consistently.

3. How great is it to have Jerry Stackhouse coming off the bench? He's a starter on 90% of the teams in the league, but has accepted his role here. I absolutely love that guy.

4. Avery Johnson seems unable to do anything wrong. He took the rap for just about everything in Game 1, and what a HUGE departure that is from the previous regime around here, where no one was responsible for anything. He made some bold moves in Game 2, most notably dropping Devin Harris into the starting five in place of Adrian Griffin, and everything worked.

I need to say something about this move in particular. Dave Tippett of Your Dallas Stars made a similar move in Game 2 of the dreadful series against Colorado, and was roundly criticized for it. In large part, this was the result of the basic rule of sports - moves that work are genius, moves that fail are brain-dead. But it was more than that. Tippett's move reeked of desperation. His team got killed in Game 1 and looked terrible doing it. Johnson's team was in Game 1 until the very last possession. Maybe more importantly, Johnson never came across as desperate. He appeared in control and talked like he had a plan from the final horn in Game 1 up until tip-off in Game 2.

The series now moves to Dallas, and there's every reason to believe the Spurs will shake off last night's game immediately. I expect a split in the two games in Dallas. But I really believe the Mavs will take this series. The prediction here is Mavs in six.