FanPost

Most painful playoff loss

Basically, I hate to reopen old wounds, but seems to me that the Mavs have suffered year after year of bad postseason defeats. Apart from those losses in that Finals collapse, anybody willing to share their opinions on the most painful Dallas playoffs defeats. I'll give reasons for the options on the polls:

 

-2002: Won a split in Sacramento, then lost two heartbreakers in the AAC to go down 3-1. Go back to Sactown and get toasted.

-2003: Total and utter collapse. That magical Game 5 win away from home, come back to Dallas, build a double-digit lead, then blow that lead in the final quarter as Steve Kerr and Stephen Jackson drop three-point bomb after three-point bomb. They just couldn't miss.

-2004: Two last-gasp defensive plays pulled out of the ass by Peja Stojakovic: you know, the guy who's one of the best defenders in the league. Bundled out early, last games for Jamison (meh), Walker (meh), and Nash as a Maverick.

-2005: Nash comes back to Dallas, drops a three bomb on Terry to tie the game up, then we go on to lose in the extra period.

-2006: I don't know whether the Game 3 collapse was worse than the one in the 2003 WCF. Probably so, since it was later in the game and it would've put us a game away with four chances to clinch. Instead, the momentum turned, and that bad call on Josh and Wade's free-throws win Game 5. We go back to Dallas down 3-2, shoot bricks and lose narrowly (again).

-2007: #1 loses to #8. Horribly outcoached and outplayed.

-2008: A piss-poor effort in Game 4 to defend our homecourt where we missed a lot of shots and didn't attempt to go to the line. Kept things interesting in Game 5, but ultimately end up losing.

 

There we go. That's quite a list. I love this team, but my heart's been broken so, so many times. Make your picks, people.

Reader submitted. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of our editorial staff.