Small Consolation

Tonight in Dallas, the only guy on the Mavericks' roster who didn't more or less embarrass himself at the end of Game Three ensured that there would be a Game Five. Dirk Nowitzki poured in 44 points, 19 in the fourth, including the go-ahead tough make with 65 seconds left. The series moves back to Denver with the Mavs still more or less drawing dead, down 3-1, but at some point, some NBA team is going to have to blow a 3-0 lead, and this Nuggets team does have some Quitter DNA in it, at least prior to the Chauncey Billups transfusion.

Having said that.... it's not going to be these Nuggets, who led most of the game, and have led most of the series. They also have a legitimate crunch time assassin in Carmelo Anthony, who dueled Nowitzki with a career-high 41 points his own damn self.

And in the part of the game that the rest of the non-Association world cares about, yes, there was ugliness -- seven technical fouls, multiple flagrants, a dumb elbow from Anthony and even concerns that civilians will be messed with, all thanks to the bad loser act from Mark Cuban after the Mavs got jobbed at the close of Game 3. Denver will be highly motivated to avoid another trip to Texas, and Nugget Fan will be more than inspired to bring his A Game of Ugly for the incoming Mavs. At least Cuban won't be there, thanks to a highly convenient prior commitment in Vegas. Classic move on his part to light the fuse and walk away.

Still, in a series that seems good on the surface, but kind of nasty underneath -- who, exactly, am I supposed to root for here? Cuban? Furious George Karl? The collection of Nuggets reprobates? -- it's good to see Nowitzki have a decent day. What with him being involved with a grifter, no one would have blamed him for taking his owner's lead in crying over the Game Three ref job. I still think the Nuggets are winning this series, probably going away, but at least Nowitzki will be able to leave the year with some semblance of pride.