Warriors-Mavericks: Only Dallas Looks Like a Playoff Team

g at sea and contemplating drowning. Golden State can live with Jackson being a black hole on offense with abhorrent shot selection, but Jackson’s defense on Howard was pathetic.

In fact, the only hints of toughness Jackson played with the entire game, were when he scowled at a referee who made a no-call on a drive, and when Jackson threw Jason Terry to the floor on a one-on-one break. When a team (or ref) doesn’t give in to Jackson’s bullying tactics, he becomes just another loser.

Al Harrington played a mistake filled game littered with silly fouls and missed layups. Harrington was pinballed around by Dirk and Dampier and was completely neutralized by Dallas’ energy. Harrington is another guy only plays well when things are going his way.

Matt Barnes’ (1-5 FG 2 PTS) confidence and playing time have evaporated.

The Warriors routinely ran nothing but isolations or rudimentary screen/rolls. While Davis and Ellis were able to have some successes, Golden State never ran any plays to get anybody else involved, except a single screen-the screener cut for Andres Biedrins which resulted in a foul. In fact, aside from Davis and Ellis, Golden State shot 13-50 from the floor.

The Warriors selfishness and lack of creativity resulted in their tallying only 10 assists. Their softness resulted in their losing the rebounding battle 56-38. Their utter disregard for defense resulted in 44 fast break points for Dallas combined to 16 for Golden State.

In short, the Warriors lost to Dallas for the same reasons that they beat Dallas in the playoffs last season and for the same reasons why they got shellacked in San Antonio by 24 the night before. When another team buckles down and plays championship-caliber basketball, Golden State can’t find it in their hearts to pull through.

With Dallas, Denver, and Golden State all with the same record fighting for the seventh and eight spots in the playoffs, Dallas won their first playoff game and Golden State lost theirs.

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