The suns rises for the Mavs

To quote the late, great Harvey Dent, "The night is always darkest just before dawn."

On Sunday night, I was going through the darkest part of the night.

My beloved Mavericks were getting manhandled by the New York Knicks. It wasn't just that Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhan were having career games.

It was that nothing was going right for the Mavs. They were missing layups and getting in foul trouble.

Get an offensive rebound? They would turn it over on a pass to halfcourt.

Get a defensive stop? They would follow it by an offensive foul or a brick.

Bring the lead to within four points? The Knicks would bury a three, or get the and-one.

They couldn't get a key stop or a key shot, two things that are essential in close games.

With 2:30 to go in the fourth quarter, I was considering becoming a Portland fan. I couldn't go through 74 more games of this, not to mention the rest of my life.

It was like I was married to the Dallas Mavericks, and the 2006 Finals collapse was like the death of our child.

We had moved on, but we would always be reminded of how close we came. And no matter how deluded I was, the magic could never be recaptured.

The Blazers on the other hand, were a chance for a fresh start. They were young, they gave me thrilling, buzzer beating endings. Brandon Roy's complete skill set seduced me the way a curvy college-aged chick would seduce any man going through a mid-life crisis.

The fact that I am 25, and thinking about mid-life crises should show you how distraught I was.

The amount of times I came oh so close to clicking the red X on the top right hand corner of my computer monitor, forever closing my NBA League pass window, would fill you with shame.

But you know what stopped me? The Red Sox-Devil Rays game five. I didn't want to miss anything.

That's why you watch sports, on the off chance that something that defies logic, defies reason, hell, defies the very laws of physics that govern the physical world in which we occupy, happens.

So that's why, with 2:26 left in the game (or so I thought), when Jamal Crawford assisted Richardson for a jumper to put the Knicks up by seven, I held little hope.

And redemption started not with a bang, but with a whimper. Josh Howard hit a runner and was fouled, making the three-point play.

Then Dirk nailed a 12-footer after a David Lee miss. Then Dallas gets an offensive rebound and Terry ties the game.

The rest, as they say, is history. Dirk turned it on during OT, nailing several jumpers, foul shots and a dagger three-ball.

And suddenly, the sun was rising.

The five-game win streak was over. Dallas finally pulled out out in the clutch. They got the stops, they hit the shots.

Does it mean that the season is saved? Not necessarily. But you've got to start somewhere.

Melodrama aside, let's take a look at some of the positives and negatives from what can only be termed a disappointing start.

The Good

There doesn't seem to be a specific flaw in the Mavericks. Their defense hasn't been as bad as advertised, people like Ben Gordon and Zach Randolph are just hitting their contested shots.

They are finding ways to lose, rather than finding ways to win.

Like a wall that has sprung a leak, every time one gets plugged, another one starts to leak.

But sooner or later, the wall is stronger than before, because most of it has been repaired. Either that, or is just collapses, but for the sake of my sanity and my fandom, let's throw that option out.

Jason Kidd is having a pretty good year. He's hitting open threes, he's running a good halfcourt offense, and he's doing good on the break.

They are also moving the ball pretty well, sometimes their shots aren't falling. Those shots will fall eventually.

I've also been impressed with James Singleton over the last few games. He brings breath of fresh air off the bench, and he's pretty good on the boards.

The Bad

Rick Carlisle is showing signs of Avery.

The beginning of the end for Avery was when he decided to abandon the lineup that won Dallas 67 games in 2007, to matchup with a Warriors team that got into the playoffs on the last day of the season.

Carlisle did the same thing against the Knicks last night. Dampier played four minutes, and Diop didn't play at all.

Why? The Knicks didn't look particularly run-and-gun to me. The Mavs were running pretty good with those two playing normal minutes, and having a Dampier in the game should give the Mavs a big advantage on the boards.

Then we get to the last play of regulation. What did Carlisle call? Oh, I don't know, maybe the Avery special? An iso to Jason Terry that ended with him taking a low-percentage elbow jumper.

With the jump shooters on the Mavs team, as well as the people who can penetrate, why settle for a jumper. Why not give it to Jo-Ho and see if he can get to the line? Or Dirk? Or swing the ball around and give Kidd an open three?

So could this be the start of something beautiful for the Mavs? Probably not, but you never know...