King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Warriors oust Mavericks: Upset for the ages or belly-flop for the ages? Yes. Plus: Kentucky Derby.

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May 4, 2007 | It's being called the greatest upset in the history of the NBA playoffs, and maybe it is, though I don't know who saw the Minneapolis Lakers over the St. Louis Hawks coming in '59.

Wherever it ranks, it was magnificent, the Golden State Warriors becoming only the third 8-seed in the 24-year history of NBA 8-seeds to beat a No. 1 by running the Dallas Mavericks out of the gym, down the street and into the bay. Game 6 Thursday night was a 111-86 massacre that was about twice as lopsided as that 25-point margin would indicate. Baron Davis, on a bad leg, was fantastic. Stephen Jackson was something better than that.

But have you ever seen a championship contender spit the bit the way the Mavericks did Thursday? The only things you can compare it to are Buster Douglas against Evander Holyfield and the United States against Grand Fenwick.

It would be boring and obvious to hammer on Dirk Nowitzki any more than he has already been hammered on in this space, especially given the beating he's going to be taking for the next few months after his latest pathetic playoff showing. Suffice it to say this column stands by its long-held belief that no team will ever win a championship with Dirk Nowitzki as its focal point.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was asked after the game if his faith in Nowitzki as a leader had been shaken: "Not even a little bit," he said. "Anyone who says otherwise is a moron. And you can quote me on that."

And you can quote me on this: I'm a moron. If not believing in Dirk Nowitzki as a leader is moronic, then I'm the president of the moron club. Make me a moron flag and I'll wave it. I've got Thursday night as evidence. And you have?

I'm going to reproduce my notes from the beginning of Thursday night's game. These are unedited:

mavs come out shooting jumpers. Not falling. hello. The basket. Go there. W's hitting jumpers, incl. 3's, also going to the basket. Nowitzki misses at 12-3. Go. To. The. Basket. Forget it. Game over. Warriors win. 8:17 first quarter."

I'm not bragging that I knew the Mavs had no chance after 3:43 of basketball had been played. I'm a moron, remember? It was obvious. After five games, three of them losses, Nowitzki and Mavericks coach Avery Johnson had learned nothing.

Next page: Either Don Nelson's old routine is suddenly genius, or the Mavs went belly up. Plus: Kentucky Derby