That was the most entertaining game of the postseason so far. Up and down, momentum changes, great coaching moves, the 67 win team playing for its life at home.For all of the talk about Dirk not having the killer instinct (including lots of talk in the comments of my NBA MVP post!), Dirk was fantastic at the end of this game. Down 112-103, he hit 2 straight bombs, and then closed it all out with free throws at the end. Dallas went on a 15-0 run to end the game, and Dirk had 12 of those 15 points. He also had a key block, and got away with a blatant foul when he hit Richardson on the wrist shooting a 3. So that was nice.
But the fact that the Warriors were even in this game was a bit of a miracle. The Mavs had a 20 point lead in the first half and were looking great. Then all of a sudden the Warriors just picked up their defensive intensity and started hitting shots. A lot of shots. 16/35 from downtown.
The Mavs had 6 guys in double figures and even got a nice boost from Austin Croshere, who contributed 9 points. That was huge for them off the bench.
Game 6 is Thursday night. That really should be a fantastic game... Dallas will again be playing for their lives, and we all know about how good the Golden State crowd has been. The Warriors know that this is their best chance to win the series, and they'll be fired up. That could be an epic battle. I'll say this much... if it's going to top the excitement level from Game 5, it should be pretty special.