Better So Far

Game-blogging:

8:48 PM ET: Have to love the first minute and a half: Terry and Harris both have a steal, and Howard and Nowitzki have both knocked someone to the ground––without a foul call.

9:52 PM ET: Well, Devin Harris wants to win, anyway.

9:58 PM ET: Dick Stockton again has no idea what’s going on. He just got the teams mixed up, and earlier he said the Warriors “could take the lead here” when they were already up.

10:01 PM ET: I wonder if the Mavericks will guard Stephen Jackson some possession this game…

10:06 PM ET: The refs are really letting them play. I’d predict we’ll have a flagrant foul by the 6 minute mark of the second quarter.

10:12 PM ET: The Mavericks have no idea what they’re doing on defense. Everytime the Warriors come down the court, there’s someone on the perrimeter unguarded.

10:21 PM ET: Josh Howard needs to drop it about this foul call. You’re not going to lose the game because of one turnover; you’re going to lose because you're losing focus.

10:23 PM ET: I think the 7th player of the game just got knocked to the floor.

10:24 PM ET: The Mavericks are taking everything to the rim, which is a good thing. They’re also leaving Dirk on the bench, which is an interesting move. Frankly, these Mavericks are good enough to beat Golden State without Dirk, so if the way the Warriors guard him is going to disrupt the whole game, who know?

10:28 PM ET: Going back to Howard disputing the foul call: the biggest problem for Dallas right now is that the Warriors have no respect for them, and it lets them just abuse Dallas physically. Complaining about foul calls is not going to earn that respect back.

10:30 PM ET: Howard and Dirk have both missed a free throw already. What, do they think this is the regular season? Do they think they’re playing Memphis again?

10:31 PM ET: Dirk with a block. (Stockton attributed it to Diop.)

10:32 PM ET: The Mavericks have this play where one of their offensive players has the ball on the wing, and they pass it to DeSagana Diop at the top of the key, almost as if he could do something with it there. It always just stalls the offense and lets the Warriors get their defense reset. I wonder why Avery has them do that so often?

10:33 PM ET: Dallas just took a 5-point lead. I’ll try to remember this feeling so that I won’t fell like I wasted my time watching if the Mavericks lose.

10:38 PM ET: Make that 9 guys who have been knocked to the floor.

10:40 PM ET: Mavericks up 4. I have no idea how they’re winning right now.

10:48 PM ET: I honestly think Dick Stockton is starting to lose his mind.