While the Mavs defeating the Golden State Warriors doen't sound like a whole lot to most people, Mavs fans truly understand. The pure hatred between these two teams is overwhelming. Not only is it the Mavericks losing to the Warriors in the first round in last year's playoffs, but the fact that Nellie (Don Nelson) the former Mavericks coach, knows Dirk's every move, as well as knowing Avery Johnson and many other Mavericks' players very well.
The Mavericks fans often get angered by the Warriors' "small ball" style of play, too. It also seems that the Warriors play their best basketball against the Mavericks. Some fans get so frustrated that they yell at their T.V.'s about how immature it is for Golden State fans to do the wave at a basketball game.
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And then there is the obvious reason, which is that they needed that win for the race to the Western Conference Playoffs.
But like I was saying, this game was a HUGE morale booster for the Mavericks. Not only were they 0-10 against winning teams since the Jason Kidd trade going into this game, but beating the Warriors was also big because of the before-mentioned hatred against them.
Dirk playing unexpectedly was also a big morale boost for the players, and probably drained a lot out of the already tired Warriors. While Dirk's stats were below his average, he was a definite factor. His average's this year were 23.5 points per game, 8.7 rebounds per game, and 1 block per game. His stats for the Warriors game were 18 points, 1 block, and 5 rebounds.
I am currently watching the Mavs @ Lakers game, and it looks like the momentum is carrying over. Mavs fans can only hope that the momentum can carry into the tough Western Conference playoffs.
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5 months ago
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5 months ago
Dude! No way you're only 13! Well done.
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