That's It For The Mavericks, Folks! Please Drive Safely

How quickly we forget the last time the East Bay lost a major chunk of freeway: 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake performed the honors. The Oakland Athletics won the World Series a couple of weeks later, of course. On Sunday it was Cledus Snow, sans Bandit, jack-knifing his rig in a fiery crash and shutting down a section of the McArthur Maze; the top deck of the freeway needed only 20 minutes to melt down and collapse onto the bottom deck. And if that's not a metaphor for what's happening to the Mavericks, could you kindly explain what is?

When was the last time a No. 8 seed beat a No. 1 seed in a seven-game playoff series? Never, we're told. But the Golden State Warriors are on the verge of doing it against the Mavericks, having taken a 3-1 lead with a 103-99 win on Sunday night in Oakland. This isn't over by any means — we seem to recall the Lakers being ahead 3-1 in the playoffs last season before the Suns unleashed hell — but if you're Dallas you have to be feeling a bit nauseous right now. Don Nelson is currently occupying every nook and cranny in Avery Johnson's head, and the former Nelson assistant has few answers for Baron "Bullet Fedora" Davis, or anyone else. To boil it down, the Warriors are just too quick. Other than that, Nelson's master move in Games 3 and 4 was to replace ineffective Al Harrington at center with Mickael Pietrus. What? That equals "check" and "mate?" We'll be watching, because something amazing is happening.

Warriors 103, Mavericks 99 [Golden State Of Mind] Baron Davis' Kick-Ass Bullet Fedora [The Basketball Jones] Warriors/Mavs Open Thread Game One [AOL Fanhouse] The Maze Meltdown [SFGate]

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