Were the Mavs making a statement tonight?

You don't make statements against the San Antonio Spurs. They've been through too much. However, tonight's game proves you don't make statements against the Mavericks either. Energized by a wildly enthusiastic home crowd, the Mavs demonstrated that by coming back from an embarrassing loss in San Antonio to put their collective foot on the Spurs collective throat tonight.

I departed American Airlines Center with more than 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter when the Mavs were up by 34 and I could tell that Dirk, Josh and Jason would not be seeing any more playing time. I probably could have left it when the Spurs starters did early in the third quarter.

I really liked the way the Mavs played defense in the first half. I especially liked the way Rick Carlisle used J.J. Barea to funnel Tony Parker toward help defense. As a result Parker had just 12 points.

The Mavs can't afford any letdown after this win, however. One thing that helped them tremendously was the fact that the Spurs had a miserable off-night shooting three-pointers, and you can't expect that to happen again in Game 4. You also can't expect to hold Tim Duncan to just four points in successive games. By the same token, however, if the Mavs had been completely consistent, they easily could have and probably should have scored at least 12 more points than they did in the first half. One thing is for certain, however: The starters for both teams should be well-rested for Saturday's game.

But, all in all, I enjoy it when I can head for the DART train with more than 10 minutes to play in a playoff game, confident the Mavs had the game in the bag.