That's right! All of our combined wishing and ranting resulted in a solid win for the Mavericks, who took what looked like an expiration date and pushed it back a few nights. Yes, I know it's selfish to take credit as a fan not actually participating in the game, but it's nice to think that we somehow influenced this seemingly abrupt change of heart. Instead of rolling over and exposing their bellies, the Mavericks lowered their shoulders and bulldozed through the Spurs for a convincing win at home, living to fight another day for us, the loyal fans.
All sorts of things that had been missing made a reappearance in last night's game, the most obvious of which was an angry Caron Butler. He had a career night (35 points, a career playoff high, and 3 of 8 beyond the arc) and was surrounded by a team who seemed just as determined to win as he was. In addition, Carlisle (who obviously has been reading the blogs) made the decision to bench Erick Dampier and start Brendan Haywood in his place. Eddie Najera showed some defensive cojones, taking another flagrant (this time just a 1) and gnashing his teeth at the bristling Spurs. Heck, even Rodrigue Beaubois got a few minutes, and Bench Captain Matt Carroll joined his assistant DeShawn Stevenson for some garbage time.
What are some of the things you saw and liked? And some things you still need to see changed? Game 6 is not going to be easy for these boys, especially playing in such a hostile environment. Do you think they can dig deep and bring the series back to Dallas?