It's only happened twice in NBA history where the eight seed was able to upset the one seed in a playoff series. The Golden State Warriors performed the feat in impressive fashion in game six, blowing out the Dallas Mavericks 111-85. More to the point, the Warriors are the first team to perform such a feat in the best-of-seven games format. The first seeded Seattle Supersonics were defeated by the Denver Nuggets in 1994 and the first seeded Miami Heat were defeated by the New York Knicks in 1999, but in both scenerios, they played a best-of-five games format.
The Warriors had not made the playoffs before this year since 1994, and they came ready to play. Baron Davis led Golden State in scoring for the series with 25 points per game, including 20 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in the final game. Conversely, star forward Dirk Nowitzki was a non-factor for the Mavericks for the first and final games of the series. While his season average was 24.6 points per game, he scored just 8 points in game one and 12 points in game six, going 4-12 from the field in the last game.
The Mavericks, who won a league-leading and franchise best 67 games this season, will have to go home earlier than expected and reevalute things this offseason. With the Miami Heat already losing in its first round series against the Chicago Bulls, this marks the first time since 1957 that both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference championships from the previous season did not make it past the first round.
Not only does the Warriors' triumph make history, but it comes with an added bonus for coach Don Nelson, who defeated his former team. The second winningest coach in NBA history coached Dallas from 1997 - 2004, helping to lead them from a 16-win team in 1997 to a 60-win team in 2002. The irony is only a side story to the Mavs' frustration.
The consensus is that the MVP award will be given to either Dirk Nowitzki or Steve Nash. If Nowitzki wins the award, he will surely face criticism in lieu of his poor playoff performance. However, the award is based on regular season performance and not on what a player does in the playoffs. Suite101's John Templon elaborates on Dirk Nowitzki's struggles in this series.
The Warriors, meanwhile, await the winner of the Utah Jazz - Houston Rockets series. Game seven of that series is scheduled for May 5th.
