Play it again, Sam

Mavs, Kings won't have much time to ponder classic

It was an NBA playoff classic.

Now, they get to do it again.

Dallas won’t have much time to celebrate its wild come-from-behind double-OT Game 3 win at Sacramento on Saturday night.

The Mavs won’t be able to dwell on the heroics of Nick Van Exel, Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki -- and yes, Walt Williams. They won’t be able to gloat over their improbable 2-1 series lead.

Thanks to the NBA schedule-makers, Dallas and Sacramento will be back at it again Sunday night in Game 4.

42 3-point attempts by Dallas in Game 3 against Sacramento, an NBA playoff record. "He's always got something to say. And I just got tired of it tonight." -- Boston forward Antoine Walker, after his scuffle with a fan behind the Celtics' bench toward the end of Game 3 against New Jersey. Did Rick Adelman's reluctance to go small cost the Kings Game 3?

Who knows how the two teams will respond to such a quick turnaround? All we can say for certain is the Mavs can expect an angry and fired-up Kings team.

After all, Sacramento has to be kicking itself up and down for letting Game 3 get away. The Kings had a late lead in regulation, only to let Van Exel and Williams steal it with a barrage of shots.

Then, in OT, with Raef LaFrentz fouled out and Nowitzki saddled with five fouls, the Kings failed to take advantage of the Mavs down low. Kings center Vlade Divac made a couple baskets, but came up empty several other times.

Clearly, Sacramento could have used Chris Webber down the stretch. Normally, the Kings would have gone to Webber in that situation and he probably would have been able to cash in more effectively. With both he and Divac in the lineup, Dallas would have had almost no chance of getting a stop.

But the bottom line is the Kings played terrible defense all night. Van Exel and Nash were able to break down their defender at will. When they weren’t hitting shots, they were setting up their teammates for good looks.

Case in point: Williams’ game-winning 3-pointer in the second OT. It came off a pick-and-roll in which Divac failed to rotate out on Williams. The Mavs had run the same play several times down the stretch, and each time Williams was left wide open. Sacramento never was able to get a handle on Dallas’ Big Four-plus-One.

The good news for the Kings is that until the end they managed to do all right without Webber. Keon Clark and Hedo Turkoglu combined on the power forward duties, while Peja Stojakovic picked up the scoring slack.

The Kings not only moved the ball and shot it well, but they all chipped in on the boards.

It’s not much consolation, but it’s all the Kings have to go on right now. With very little time to rest, the Kings must somehow regroup and find a way to slow down Van Exel and Nash. If they fall behind 3-1 in the series, their NBA title hopes will be all but gone.

	AP Stud: Nick Van Exel, G, Mavs Van Exel hit one big shot to tie the game and another to help win it in Dallas' exhilarating double-overtime win over Sacramento. His playoff career-high 40 points included six 3-pointers.		AP Dud: Ben Wallace, C, Pistons Detroit got demolished on the glass 48-30 in Game 3, and notable by his absence was the league's leading rebounder. Wallace grabbed just six boards -- the first time in 20 playoff games he didn't get double figures.

The Pistons have done a good job containing Allen Iverson, but that doesn’t mean the Sixers guard hasn’t been effective. Philly got several easy put-backs in Game 3 because Detroit’s defense was so focused on Iverson. Antoine Walker deserves to be disciplined if it’s determined he did indeed shove a fan near the bench in Friday’s Game 3. However, the NBA is asking for trouble by allowing spectators to sit so close to the bench. Kobe Bryant took on the task of defending Spurs guard Emanuel Ginobili much of Game 3, and he held him to eight points and no assists. It will be interesting to see how much energy it takes out of Bryant in Sunday’s Game 4.

Marty Burns covers pro basketball for SI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.

 

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