DID GOLDEN STATE SHOOT ITS LOAD?

They had it. They motherfucking *had it*. So now they have two more chances, including one in front of the most raucous crowd the NBA's seen in years, but when do you see a major underdog have it *right in their hands*, blow it, and then still triumph in the end? It seems like when the favorite steals a game, they always end up taking the series.

Still, if Dallas is now favored to win the series (and I'm sure they are), I might bet Golden State. I certainly didn't see anything today physically that makes me think Dallas has figured out how to consistently beat these guys.

Not that I have anything against Dallas, mind you, I'd absolutely love to see a Dallas-Phoenix conference finals, but how can you not root for Golden State? Talk about some wildly entertaining basketball. Brilliant offense--the dumbasses who keep acting like this is a run-and-chuck type of offense don't know what the hell they're talking about; Golden State hasn't taken 50 bad shots in this entire series and they've basically put on a clinic in ball movement.

And they've played surprisingly solid defense (up until tonight). Sure they've given up points, but only because they give Dallas so many possessions. Their man defense has been pretty damn stifling, Dallas is taking way more contested shots than GS is.

And the thing that gets me is that GS can hold its own on the boards. Other teams have tried this same philosophy, go small and kill the other team with your quickness while daring them to beat you with their size--especially when they're not used to doing that (how many times has Dallas posted up Nowitzki on his 6'7 defenders, like, 4?) But those teams always blow it when the opponent completely controls the boards on both ends. Dallas is a big team, but it seems like GS is pretty even in rebounding for the series. They're small, but this might be the most athletic 8 man rotation in NBA history. And tough as goddamn nails. Barnes and Pietrus are warriors out there, everything Dirk's not--up until the last 5 minutes of this game where Dirk came up large and saved himself from being the biggest goat in the NBA playoffs since Charles fucking Smith.

Baron is just a freak. He's having an all-timer series. It makes you wonder what his career would have been like if he'd never gotten hurt; fuck, we'd probably be talking about him being neck and neck with Nash, honest to god. He never would have been the shooter Nash is, but he'd have been like a better ballhandling/passing Wade, a guy who's unstoppable going to the basket and a crazy-good finisher--*and* who can shoot well enough to make you play him honest. Plus he's a brilliant ball-defender, probably the best in the league. He's wreaking havoc all over the court--I can't believe his energy level, not many players can go that hard for that many minutes a night consistently. And his teammates have been only slightly less frenetic.

I cannot wait for game six. I think the same thing everyone else does, game six is the series; if Golden State blows it with that humongous home court advantage, it's over. If it comes to it, game 7 will be like a 20 point blowout, mark it down. But I think game six is 50/50, a true tossup. I'll tell ya this, Dallas isn't going to win with Dirk taking a snooze for 43 minutes. WTF was going on with him? Yes, you're double teamed. Just like Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Kobe, Vince, T-Mac, Lebron, Wade, BARON DAVIS in this series, and every other great player. Figure it out. When all you can really do is score, you better figure out a way to put the ball in the hole, double team or no.

And you know what? Half the time when he was passing within a millisecond of getting the ball, the double hadn't even come yet! Shoot the goddamn ball! You're 7 feet, your defender is 6'6...so....what's the problem? Hoist it up, baby. Fuck, for all Kobe's faults, I'll take a guy who doesn't run away and hide when his team needs him. I've seen Lebron and Vince and other sleepwalkers do that in regular season games, but I've damn well never seen a player as great as Dirk do that in the playoffs. Up until those last 5 minutes, he had taken TWO SHOTS in the second half. When he finally shoots, he puts up two 3-point daggers. Makes no sense. Are you a superstar, or aren't you? Game six will tell us a lot.

I'd like to give a prediction, but I just have no goddamn idea what's going to happen. None. You figure one of these games GS is just going to go ice cold, but not when 90% of the shots they take are either wide open jumpers or strong takes to the basket. One factor that could really kill them is officiating. They've thrived on pretty much let'em play type of games (defensively, that is; there have been a ton of bizarre offensive fouls called in this and every other playoff series this year, which has resulted in more flops than a Brazil-Italy soccer game.) But if the game gets called tight, GS will have to either relax its all-out pressure defense or suffer through some major foul trouble with a thin rotation. Hopefully the crowd can influence the game and keep it at the same standard that's been in play the rest of the series.

But I just keep getting the nagging feeling that Dallas will continue to have no answer for Golden State's freakish athleticism. I mean, seriously, has there *ever* been a more athletic group in the NBA than Davis-Ellis-Richardson-Jackson-Barnes-Pietrus-Harrington-Biedrins? Especially those first six, they're all 6'4-6'8, all quick as hell, all can jump out of the gym--*and* they're all pretty damn skilled on top of it. What a fun team to watch.

I guess I'll call Dallas with a miracle win--again, I don't know if this makes logical sense, but we've all seen it a million times where the underdog shoots its load and can't recover--but I'll be rooting like hell for Golden State, now tied with Phoenix as my second favorite team in the NBA. A conference finals between GS and Phoenix would just be game after game of orgiastic basketball joy. But let's not think ahead, Warriors, we got some work to do Friday.