U-G-L-Y

Even when we’re good, we’re still bad. That’s the thought that stayed with me as the Mavs defeated the Warriors on Wednesday night. Yes, we won, and a W is still a W, but some are much uglier than others, and this was definitely not a pretty win. The first half was fantastic, and we led by as many as 18 points, but again, the Mavericks got too comfortable and started playing not to lose rather than continuing to play to win, allowing the Warriors to climb back into the game and head into the final twelve minutes down by only six points.

One thing that I found quite disturbing was a play with 2:49 left in the third quarter, when Dirk was fouled and came down awkwardly, jamming his thumb against the foot of a Warrior. As he was led to the bench so trainer Casey Smith could examine the thumb, you could see Dirk wincing in pain. Once Casey tried to move the thumb, Dirk screamed so loudly I could actually hear it on the broadcast. Dirk has historically been known as a very tough player, one who can handle large amounts of pain and find a way to play through serious injuries, but watching and hearing him hurt like that was scary and very uncomfortable.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Golden State’s Monta Ellis, who ended the night with a career high 46 points, including one ridiculously crazy behind-the-backboard circus shot, already had five personal fouls. To me, if I’m coaching the Mavericks, the second Ellis steps back on the court, I’m running anyone and everyone at him in an attempt to go ahead and foul him out of the game, where he can no longer be a factor.

I also found it interesting that Coach Carlisle chose to start Eduardo Najera at center in this game. I was happily surprised, as I am a huge Najera fan, and he had a fairly decent game, but I was a bit curious as to why Carlisle would start Eddie, who has only been with the team a few weeks, over someone more athletic and a little more familiar with the Mavericks’ system, such as James Singleton or Drew Gooden.

Although they managed to eke out a win over the Golden State Warriors, the Mavericks looked less than spectacular on Wednesday night. Again they took an early lead, only to lose the majority of it by the end of the game. Had it not been for a few stellar plays by my man, Jason Kidd, who I still believe to be the most underappreciated player to ever don a Mavericks uniform, this game would have ended in a different fashion, and the Mavs would find themselves in a four game losing slump. For one night, they managed to move back into the win column, but who knows what will happen on Friday when the Mavs take on the 11 win Minnesota Timberwolves…