OAKLAND, Calif. Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson shot the ragtag Warriors right into the second round, capping perhaps the NBA's biggest playoff upset with yet one more memorable performance on their home floor.
Davis willed the Warriors on one good leg, shaking off a strained hamstring to score 20 points, Jackson made a franchise playoff-record seven 3-pointers, and Golden State became the first No. 8 seed to capture a best-of-seven playoff series with a 111-86 victory over the NBA-best Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 on Thursday night.
Whoa, Nellie, what a shocker!
Coach Don Nelson's emotional bunch of castoffs beat his old team by holding likely league MVP Dirk Nowitzki to eight points and two field goals, after he saved the Mavs with 30 points in their six-point Game 5 win Tuesday. The Warriors, making their first playoff appearance in 13 years, will open the second round Monday night at either Houston or Utah.
Jackson who avoided a suspension for Game 6 after two ejections in the series hit four 3-pointers during a decisive 24-3 third-quarter run and finished with a playoff career-high 33 points, while Davis also added 10 rebounds and six assists. He sat down with 2:19 to play, throwing his arms in the air to the fans who chanted "MVP!" When the final buzzer sounded, the Warriors hugged as confetti streamed onto the court.
Andris Biedrins had 12 points and 12 rebounds, not to mention a handful of key hustle plays, Matt Barnes took advantage of his first start of the series with 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, and Jason Richardson added 15 points and five rebounds.
Josh Howard scored 20 points and Jerry Stackhouse had 14 of his 20 points in the first quarter for the 67-win Mavericks, who along with volatile owner Mark Cuban had high hopes of going deep in the postseason after their remarkable regular-season showing.
The Warriors became only the third eighth seed to upset the No. 1 and the first since the opening round went from best-of-five to the current format. The Denver Nuggets (1994) and the New York Knicks (1999) are the only other teams to win a series.
After years of failure and their share of unsuccessful personnel moves, Golden State is suddenly as big in the Bay Area as Barry Bonds' home run chase across the bay.
The Warriors lured Nelson out of retirement to turn around a franchise that hadn't been to the postseason since he took them there in 1994 during his first stint as coach, dropping former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery in late August after two losing seasons.
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