Another Dreadful Game. Is This Golden State All Over Again?

Well, before last night’s game, I really thought to myself that Dallas would find a way to win it. I thought it would probably be close (3-5 point difference) but the Mavs would shake off that bad second half of the first game and come back strong last night. I was sooooooooooooooo wrong. As opposed to just the second half being bad (as was the case in game 1), the entire game was horrendous for Dallas. Heck, having a bad game would have been improvement but what they rolled out there last night reminded me so much of the series to Golden State last year that my faith that Dallas will win the series is now shaken. I’m not knee jerking to the point of thinking the Mavs are done and will get swept but that’s getting closer.

I’ve said before that Dirk is not the problem with this team and that hasn’t changed. Another thing that hasn’t changed is that Dirk is getting little help from his team. The Hornets starters outscored the Mavs starters 103-59. The starters for Dallas went 3 of 7 from the 3 point arc where as New Orleans’ starters went 8 of 14 (most from Peja who Dallas didn’t really bother to guard all night). Dallas’ defense was non-existent as New Orleans shot 60% for the game and had COUNTLESS uncontested dunks, lay ups and open jump shots, just like the Golden State series last year. And if those stats weren’t bad enough, Dallas committed more than double the amount of turnovers (15) than New Orleans committed (6). Put all that into a pot, mix it together and you come up with a 127-103 loss…and a very ugly loss at that.

My only hope for the Mavs is that coming home will reinvigorate and refocus the team because it was apparent from the last 6 quarters that they were not focused at all. The Mavs do play well at home so I hope that after 4 games the series will be tied up at 2-2 and then the Mavs can pull a rabbit from their hat and steal game 5 in New Orleans. If it comes down to a game 7 in The Big Easy, I don’t think Dallas will emerge victorious. Dallas needs to grow and pair and prove that they belong in the playoffs. Right now, it doesn’t look like they belong, nor want to.

Speaking of New Orleans, other than the food there (which is really good by the way), I REALLY dislike that town. First off, the vast majority of those in New Orleans are LSWho? fans, which are by definition classless…strike 1. Second, I saw how classless the Saints fans were when they came to Dallas to play the Cowboys 2 years ago…strike 2. And after witnessing the last couple of Hornets games, and the classless fan they have, I’m totally out on New Orleans. I’m sorry that they went through all the mess with Katrina and my heart goes out to them for that. But as far as being sports fans, I’m out on them I wish nothing but failure on any team (professional or otherwise) from there, period. Harsh I know, and maybe I’m still bitter about how the Mavs are performing in this series. Maybe I’ll change my tune about New Orleans somewhere down the road but somehow I doubt it.