Mavs Seek Vengeance for 2006 Collapse

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Four years later, they're finally laughing about it.

Not really, of course. There's nothing funny about choking on the biggest of stages, and Dallas' collapse to Miami in the 2006 NBA Finals certainly left Dirk Nowitzki and Co. clutching their respective necks.

But in those unpleasant times when pondering their shared moment of darkness, the Mavericks who remain from the most painful of postseason exits have long since entered the laugh-so-you-don't-cry mode.

"We joke all the time (about it), but knowing deep down that it really hurt," said Mavericks guard Jason Terry, one of three Dallas players who was there, along with Nowitzki and Erick Dampier, when a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead in Game 3 quickly became the first of four straight losses to Dwyane Wade and the Heat. "It hurt us, and until we get back to where we're supposed to be that's how we're going to think about it."

Beating the Kings on Saturday night was hardly hard evidence that Dallas is in championship form again, but it certainly beat the alternative. They treated an inferior team with the proper potency, with their 126-108 decision at Arco Arena earning them sole possession of the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.



Share It will be a similar situation on Monday, when Dallas visits the lowly Clippers before hosting San Antonio in its regular season finale Wednesday.

And while the seventh-seed Spurs certainly won't be looking to do Dallas any favors either then or in a possible first round match-up, they did just that by downing Denver on Saturday to give the Mavericks a one-game lead on the Nuggets, Utah and Phoenix.

The Mavericks -- who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker on the Nuggets and Suns but not the Jazz -- have now won six of their last eight games and are 21-7 since acquiring two-time All-Star Caron Butler, budding big man Brendan Haywood and defensively-capable DeShawn Stevenson from Washington on Feb. 14. The move has been a success beyond the record, with the Mavericks' makeover bringing added toughness, balance and depth.

And for the non-newcomers, it's a chance at long-awaited redemption too. Theirs was a postseason punishment that didn't stop in 2006, as Golden State's well-chronicled first-round upset of the Mavericks a year later served as belated salt in the wound and spoiler to their 67-win regular season in which Nowitzki won the MVP award.

"I really like the move we made. We're suited for the playoffs. ... We all love to play with each other and we've got to for it."
- Dirk Nowitzki "I really like the move we made," Nowitzki said of the trade after following his 40-point outing at Portland Friday with 39 points against the Kings.

"We're suited for the playoffs. We all know the West is so stacked that it's tough to get out of the first round. You've got to battle. Whatever happens, happens. I think we have a good team. We all love to play with each other and we've got to for it."

And to stay focused.

While league scouts say the Mavs' inability to defend consistently remains the main obstacle to a long playoff run or a possible unseating of the reigning champion Lakers, the length of Dallas' playoff life will have everything to do with Nowitzki and his sheer desire. If his treatment of the off-season schedule is any indication, this is certainly his priority -- not to mention part of his legacy. Nowitzki said he was undecided whether he would play for the German national team in this summer's World Championships in Turkey, with his decision depending partly on how deep into the summer he plays with the Mavericks.

"I play every year like it's my last and try to go as far as I can," said Nowitzki, who is in his 12th season and will turn 32 in June. "Every night I try to show up and help this franchise win games. That's how I look at it. At the end of my career, if I look back and can say, 'Hey, I left it all out there,' maybe it was good enough to win it all, maybe it wasn't. But I know that once I retire I know I'll have left it all out there."

Jason Kidd and Nowitzki are like-minded in that sense, future Hall of Famers whose resumes lack only a championship and who would love nothing more than to right their wrongs of playoffs past. They have been masters of the regular seasons, with Dallas' latest 50-plus win campaign making it 10 straight of that kind in a feat only achieved by four teams all-time.

The 37-year-old Kidd -- who was dealt from New Jersey to Dallas in February 2008 -- is far more motivated to win just one Larry O'Brien trophy after losing twice in the Finals while with the Nets (2001 and 2002).

"We all, in this locker room, have had our opportunities in the Finals and sometimes it doesn't go your way," said Kidd, who already ranked third all-time in triple-doubles behind Oscar Robertson (181) and Magic Johnson (138) before logging his 105th against the Kings (11 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists). "But that doesn't keep you from fighting. That's why we play the game, to be a champion. But if it doesn't happen, you can only say you gave your best effort."

Health and happiness will have a say in the Mavericks' fate. As owner Mark Cuban pointed out, teams like Oklahoma City have benefited greatly from avoiding injuries this season. Dallas isn't so lucky at the moment, as small forward Shawn Marion missed his third straight game with a strained left oblique muscle and said he won't know if he can play Monday until he tests his ailment at today's practice.

When it comes to contentment, centers Erick Dampier and Haywood continue to compromise in a way neither is accustomed to and their respective moods are worth watching. Haywood started his first 15 games after the trade while Dampier was out with a dislocated right finger, but he has come off the bench in six of the last 10 games. He turned his ankle in the second quarter against the Kings and returned after having it taped, but coach Rick Carlisle said afterward that the ankle was not the reason Haywood logged just seven minutes, 37 seconds. That mark was 20 seconds more than his season low and just the third time this season he played less than 10 minutes.

"How I feel doesn't matter," Haywood said when asked about his lack of playing time. "It's about wins and losses. You can go home and complain to your family and friends about how you feel. Right now, I just come in here and try to win whether I play one minute or 31 minutes. That's not my decision."

Yet as all involved are well aware, no one will be complaining if they win it all. The past would be just that, and the laughter would be a far more enjoyable kind.

"I think about (2006) every day; every day," Terry said. "It's so tough to get back. And for whatever reason, we hadn't been able to (get back), but we feel like this is our year. With that in the back of our minds, we've got to go out there every night and lay it on the line because you just never know."