Mavs make history by losing to 7 seed
SAN ANTONIO -- The Mavs made more ignominious playoff history.
They became the first team to lose a first-round series as a No. 2 seed. And that came only three years after the Mavs became the first No. 1 seed to fail to advance.
This six-game exit isn't nearly as embarrassing as the 67-win Mavs woeful series against the Golden State Warriors in 2007. It could be a stretch to even call this an upset, considering the Spurs' four-championship pedigree.
"This could have been the Western Conference finals," Brendan Haywood said. "The teams are that good. This isn't like a monumental upset or anything. You all are talking like this is the NCAA tournament and the 15 seed just beat the 2."
This actually wasn't the first time the Mavs lost to a 7 seed. The Sonics upset them in a best-of-five series in 1987.
But a 7 hadn't advanced since 1998.
"Going into the playoffs as a 2 seed is all we could have wanted," Dirk Nowitzki said. "We just happened to see a tough 7 seed that got rolling at the right time, got healthy and started to play well."
The Spurs certainly aren't a routine 7 seed. But the stat geeks tried to warn us that the Mavs were subpar by 2 seed standards.
Tim MacMahon
ESPNDallas.com- Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
- Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
- Worked at Dallas Morning News for six years
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Jeff Caplan
Jeff Caplan joined ESPNDallas.com in December 2009. Jeff covers the Mavericks, Rangers and colleges. He has a wealth of experience in the area, covering multiple beats in his 11-plus years with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
Marc Stein
Marc Stein began writing for ESPN.com in 2000 and signed on full-time in 2002 as Senior NBA Writer. He also makes regular appearances on "SportsCenter," "NBA Shootaround," "NBA Fastbreak," "NBA Coast To Coast," ESPNEWS, ESPN "First Take" and ESPN Radio.
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Jeff Wade joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2009. He is one half of "The Ben & Skin Show," heard weekdays from 9a-12p on 103.3 FM ESPN, and also works as sideline analyst for the TV broadcast of all Maverick home games.
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TEAM LEADERS
| POINTS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Dirk Nowitzki
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| Rebounds | S. Marion | 7.4 | ||||||||||
| Assists | J. Kidd | 5.5 | ||||||||||
| Steals | J. Kidd | 1.7 | ||||||||||
| Blocks | B. Wright | 1.3 | ||||||||||
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