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Warriors complete shocking upset over Mavericks

May 4, 2007 - 8:20 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Golden State Warriors waited 13 years to get into the postseason. They needed only six games to shock the world.

Stephen Jackson scored 33 points, including a career-high seven 3-pointers, and a hobbling Baron Davis collected 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Warriors completed one of the most shocking upsets in NBA history with a 111-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.

In its first postseason appearance since 1993-94, Golden State became the first eighth-seeded team to oust a No. 1 in a best-of-seven series. Denver topped Seattle in 1994 and New York eliminated Miami in 1999 in the old best-of-five format.

"This is the toughest situation I have been involved in in my 19 seasons in the NBA, and one of the most disappointing," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "You have to take your hats off to the Warriors. (Warriors coach Don Nelson) and his staff, they really had their guys ready to play.

"You really need to take your hats off to Baron Davis. How special was he in this playoff? You need to give credit to (Golden State general manager) Chris Mullin for getting Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, because they added a lot of toughness to this program."

Matt Barnes had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Golden State, which made MVP candidate Dirk Nowitzki look nearly invisible. The 7-0 German looked spooked by the franchise-record crowd at Oracle Arena, scoring just eight points on a miserable 2-of-13 effort from the field - missing all six of his 3-pointers.

"It's so disappointing," Nowitzki said. "I feel sorry for the whole organization, the players and staff. I feel bad for our fans at home. We said all season that anything less than a championship would be a disappointment, and we put a lot of pressure on us. We just faced a team that came in hot."

The Warriors had plenty of offense thanks to Jackson, who had been ejected twice in the series, including at the end of Game Five. But the mercurial forward came back on Thursday to shoot 10-of-19 from the field, including a remarkable 7-of-8 from the arc.

"I wanted to be aggressive, and Baron came out and told me he wasn't feeling that well and he wanted me to carry him," Jackson said. "I wanted to stay focused and not worry about calls. It's a blessing to play with Baron.

"Me and Baron have been friends for years, so when he told me tonight he didn't have it, I knew I had to bring my focus and stay in the game. He told me that in the middle of the second quarter. I love challenges like this."

Despite being the unquestioned star of the playoffs to this point, Davis gave all the credit to Jackson.

"(Jackson) had to carry me," Davis said. "He is the leader of this team, and if you ask anyone on this team, he is the heart and soul of this team. He is a big-game performer and he knew just how important this game was. He is the only one on our team to have won a championship, so we had to feed off of him."

Feeding off a frenzied crowd, Golden State buried Dallas as the fans stood throughout - clad in matching yellow tee-shirts with 'We Believe' on the front.

"There is nothing better than to have the whole arena behind you," Davis said. "Whether there were Dallas fans there or not, you couldn't hear them because we have the loudest fans in the NBA. Our confidence was there the whole series."

But the Warriors certainly had a reason not to believe early.

Davis tweaked his hamstring early in the game. But after receiving treatment, he came back to shoot 7-of-17 from the field, igniting his squad in a remarkable third quarter.

"I was a little nervous about my return, but I got some great therapy from our trainers," Davis said. "I was able to come back and just give what I could. I wasn't as explosive as I was earlier in the series, but I knew I could go out there and play a good floor game."

After leading by just two points at halftime, Golden State outscored Dallas, 36-15, in the third period, using a 30-9 run to take control. Barnes capped the run with an emphatic dunk over Nowitzki to make it 80-57 with 2:36 left in the quarter.

"(The Warriors) got on a huge run and hit all of their shots," Johnson said. "We got jump-shot happy and didn't penetrate as much as we would have liked. We couldn't get any stops. They hurt us on the pick-and-rolls and they just did a good job of executing on offense and defense."

The Warriors had not won a playoff series since 1991, when Nelson guided that squad to a 3-1 series victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Golden State picked an improbable time for its next postseason triumph, trumping a dominant squad in Dallas.

After starting the season with four straight losses, the Mavericks went on to win a franchise-record 67 games en route to the league's best record - tied for sixth-best in NBA history - and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Dallas also reeled off three impressive winning streaks of 12 games or more, including a 17-game run from January 27-March 11. But it was a totally different story in the postseason.

"We won 67 games, and now it means nothing," Nowitzki said.

Jerry Stackhouse and Josh Howard scored 20 points apiece for the Mavericks, who have gone 2-8 in the postseason since grabbing a 2-0 lead in last season's NBA Finals.

"Great regular season but a disappointing finish in the playoffs," Dallas guard Jason Terry said. "We all take fault in our mistakes, but you need to give credit where credit is due. That's a hot team, Golden State, the best in basketball after the All-Star break.

"For us, we have to stay optimistic and we have to work hard, but this definitely hurts right now. The ball just wouldn't fall for us in the third quarter. They hit everything they touched. That's just the way the series went for them, you have to give them credit."