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DALLAS, Texas: The Golden State Warriors shocked the
top-seeded Dallas Mavericks 97-85 Sunday in the opener of their
National Basketball Association Western Conference first-round
playoff series.
It wasn’t the only surprise of
the night in Texas, as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Spurs in San
Antonio 95-89, while elsewhere in the West the Phoenix Suns beat the
Los Angeles Lakers 95-87.
In Dallas, Baron Davis had 33
points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists as the Warriors beat the
Mavericks, who had posted the best record in the NBA in the regular
season.
In the East, Cleveland Cavaliers
defeated the undermanned Washington Wizards, 97-82, to take a 1-0
lead in their own best-of-seven series.
Stephen Jackson scored 12 of his
23 points in the first quarter and Jason Richardson added 13 for
Golden State, which despite its lowly No. 8 seeding was the only
club in the league to sweep Dallas in the regular season.
The Warriors have now won seven
of their last eight meetings against the Mavericks overall.
“We’re a good team,” Davis
said. “We’ve just got to keep it up. We’re hungry. We’ve got
nothing to lose.”
In a surprise move, Mavericks
coach Avery Johnson inserted Devean George into the starting lineup
in place of center Erick Dampier to try and match up with Golden
State’s quicker starting unit.
The decision backfired, however,
as the Warriors held the Mavericks to just 29 percent shooting from
the field for a 38-38 tie at halftime.
Davis took over in the third
quarter, netting 19 points — including 3-of-3 from 3-point range
— as the Warriors carried a 72-66 advantage into the decisive
quarter.
Dallas closed within 80-78, but
would get no closer as Davis’ jumper sparked an impressive
game-ending 17-7 run, highlighted by Davis’ drive and kick to
Jackson for a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock.
Josh Howard recorded 21 points
and 13 rebounds and Devin Harris scored 19 for the Mavericks, who
shot 35 percent overall.
Dallas superstar Dirk Nowitzki, a
leading Most Valuable Player candidate, scored just 14 points on
4-of-16 shooting.
“Fortunately for us, it’s not
a one-game series,” Johnson said. “We’re a team that normally
responds really well after losses, and we’re going to have to do
that now.”
Warriors coach Don Nelson was
pleased, but stressed that there was still a lot of work to be done.
“It’s just one game, and it
looks like it’ll be a long series,” he added.
Likewise, Denver’s Allen
Iverson was under no illusions as to what the Nuggets could expect
in the rest of their series with the Spurs.
“We know what kind of series
this is,” Iverson said. “We know what kind of team they are.
They’re a great team, a well-coached team that has a lot of pride.
They’re not going to just give up. They want to win a championship
just like we want to win one.”
Iverson and Carmelo Anthony
combined for 61 points as the Nuggets used a decisive fourth-quarter
run to seal the win.
Nene had 13 points and 12
rebounds for the Nuggets, who carried their impressive play in the
season’s final month into the postseason.
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