4th Quarter, Part II

All times EST.

12:51 - Jo-Ho is forced to jack up a contested three with a second left of the shot-clock. What happened to offensive consistency? Oh yeah, his name is Gerald Green, who has 13 points in 10 minutes.

12:55 - Dallas is going small for the last four minutes. Is this because they're trying something different, or because their centers have been in foul trouble all night. Whatever it is, it's working.

12:56 - As much as I love Dirk, he always seems to turn it over on a huge possession. This one leads to a Billups three.

12:57 - Dallas should have the ball, but the refs say the ball didn't go behind the glass. Now Denver gets the ball, up by one. If history is any indicator, they will now hit a dagger three, and the game is done for Dallas.

12:58 - Kidd steals from 'Melo, but Bass throws it away, now time for the dagger. Kidd fouls 'Melo, now he has five.

1:00 - Dallas lineup: Kidd, Terry, Green, Bass, Dirk. Three guards, two forwards. Interesting choice. Let's see how it plays out.

1:02 - Dallas down by one, with the ball, what do you think happens? If you guessed up Terry jacking up a contested three with the shot clock expiring, and Dirk fouling 'Melo on the rebound, you'd be right. You'd think they would convert at least ONE clutch possession.

1:03 - Dallas down by three, they had the ball with a minute to go, settle for an iso and a fade away jumper.

1:04 - Kidd makes the and-one on the fast break! He misses the foul shot. Of course. Nuggets lead by one, 19.9 seconds left, timeout.

1:06 - My heart just skipped a beat, J.J. Barea is walking on the floor. Please tell me he's just foul fodder since Kidd has five.

1:07 - J.J. fouls Billups, only the best free-throw shooter on the team, number two in the NBA last season. He misses the first. If only we can avoid an awful offensive possession...

1:08 - Dallas down 102-104, 17.5 seconds remaining. They haven't done squat on key possession, except jack up awful treys. Can they put something together. They also have two more timeouts. This is where no center could hurt them on a miss.

1:09 - Another choke job. Bass loses the ball, 'Melo heads to the line and makes both.

1:11 - 1.1 seconds left, Terry sinks a three. The first clutch play they've had, and it's not all that clutch.

1:14- .4 seconds left, 'Melo to the line, where he is perfect 12-12. He makes it 14-14. Timeout Dallas.

1:16 - And that's your ballgame. Kidd inbounds to Green, who can't get it off in time. If Dallas pulls off one or two more possessions, the game is theirs. Oh, well.

That's gonna do it for all of us here at Dirk Is My Homeboy, thanks for stopping by.