The anti-home-court advantage prevails

In other news, Dirk & Co. won their first game of the series tonight at Houston. Finley came alive with 20 points. More than anyone else, I think the fortune of the Mavs are tied to Finley. If he does well, he takes the pressure of Dirk. If he throws up bricks, then they don't have a legitimate scorer to ease the pressure off Dirk. Stackhouse isn't consistent enough to be considered a truly legitimate scorer who will keep the opposing teams honest.

I'm hopeful, but not optimistic that they can pull it out. Game 4 will be crucial. (Statin' the obvious, but that's my duty!)

Nutty shot by Carter in the MIA-NJ game at the end of the first OT. But, the Nets really didn't deserve to win that game. Actually, neither did the Heat. Yet, in the end, someone had to win it.

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Game 23: The bats went dead again!

Young is starting to show some consistency. That is encouraging.

However, the bats aren't at this point: one night, they explode for eight runs; the next night for one run. That's not sufficient. And, they are just wasting quality starts by their pitching staff!

Almanzar is still rusty and he's getting hammered off the mound. Hopefully, he'll pull it together. (The personal things he's been going through off the field are admittedly horrific.) Yet, he turned a close 2-1 game into a 4-1 game that even 'Everyday Eddie' couldn't blow. Ouch.

Buck needs to realign the way he is using the bullpen. It's not working.

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Game 22: The bats came alive!

Rogers got some run support early and cruised to the victory.

Blalock is showing some patience with three walks. Nix is hitting well since being demoted and promoted back to the bigs.

Cordero gave up the only two runs in garbage time in the ninth.

In other news, Frankie Francisco is going to have Tommy John surgery. The bullpen is in desperate need of help.

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