As a whole, the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs have been terribly underwhelming. The eastern conference has seen 3 sweeps already in which the mighty central is 12-0 versus the crummy southeast division. This includes the defending champion (sad) Miami Heat who got dominated by the Bulls and set the blueprint for what the St. Louis Cardinals can expect in their "title defense." The Nets-Raptors series has been interesting, with an experienced Nets team showing some serious moxie in taking a 3-2 lead into the swamp tomorrow night. I'd comment further on Vince Quitter's WNBA inspired play in Canada, Jason Kidd's brilliance (I'd take Kidd and Nash over any point guard on the planet) and why Bostjan Nachbar is a poor man's Brent Barry but I will step aside and leave this series to my counterpart Becky.

 Out west, San Antonio and Phoenix have advanced in 5 games while the Houston-Utah series has been mediocre at best with the home team dominating the first 5 games. Overall, the level of excitement in these 7 playoff series is on par with AC Green's sex life during his playing days.

This brings us to Golden State-Dallas and our savior Baron Davis, the only man reliving the days of gangster rap’s prominence with his authentic Suge Knight issue beard. The Baron has been devastating in this series and the catalyst to all of Golden State's high-flying success in the first 5 games. He is putting up 26 points a game and getting to the basket at will attracting the attention of 2 or 3 defenders. While his assists are down in the series, his reckless abandon to the rim has opened up the court for the Warriors supporting cast in creating open 3s and easy put back baskets. It is no accident that Stephen Jackson and Jason Richardson are averaging 20+ points a game while the tattooed wonder Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus have been solid contributors from 3 point land. In addition to his offensive brilliance, The Baron has raised his defensive intensity and, like Stephon Marbury before him, has shocked us with his ability to defend one on one and force turnovers. He is averaging 2 steals a game this series and those steals more often than not have been turned into fast break buckets.

 Getting off The Baron's jock for a minute, Don Nelson and the entire Warriors team deserve a lot of credit. Defensively, the Warriors have been a revelation in the playoffs and their execution on offense has been superb. On defense the Warriors have 38 steals against the usually sure handed Mavs and have actually committed less turnovers on offense than their opponent. This is shocking given the Warriors’ chaotic style and the remarkably fast pace they play on offense in contrast to the Mavs’ more conservative ball control oriented offensive game. I think above all else, the turnover statistic has been the best indicator of Golden State's dominance over Dallas through the first 5 games.

The credit on defense must be given to Nellie. His delayed double teams on Dirk along with Stephen Jackson's in your face defense have totally demoralized the Hasselhoff enthusiast for the majority of the series (sans the final 2 minutes Tuesday night) and the excellent player placement in shading the passing lanes have allowed the undersized Warriors to utilize their speed on D and force countless turnovers. The old grizzly bear really knows the Mavs well and his disheveled mock turtleneck-blazer combinations will soon become the wardrobe of choice for old alcoholics forced to dress professionally in a formal setting. Lord knows, Nellie would rather show up to Oracle tonight in a loose fitting hawaiian shirt with comfortable shorts featuring a waistline-friendly elastic band and sandals.

Speaking of tonight's game, ESPN and their Maverick jocking analysts (no one picked Golden State to win the series) continue to play the "Dirk shifted the momentum of the series with his play in the final 2 minutes" card. Now, let's think about this for a minute. Game 5 had all of the classic makings of a Dallas blowout going in: high seed at home in an elimination game usually leads to a resounding win by the home squad and with Dallas up 21 in the second quarter it really looked like this wasn't going to be the Warriors’ night. Funny thing is Dallas once again imploded and GOLDEN STATE WAS UP 9 WITH 3 MINUTES TO GO IN DALLAS. Sure they ended up losing, but they dominated the final 28 minutes of that game on the road erasing a huge deficit in the process and had The Baron not fouled out, I am pretty sure Dallas would be finished. So my question is - How is this going to do anything but make the Warriors even more confident for game 6 in the absolutely insane Oracle Arena where Dallas has yet to win this year?? They have dominated Dallas at home and away and to imply as ESPN has that now the pressure is on Golden State is a complete joke. How could the pressure be on an 8 seed no one believed in other than Oakland residents and a certain man at Giggin’ On Ya, rather than a 67 win team that is close to being on the receiving end of the biggest upset/embarassment in NBA history? Exactly.

So tonight, loyal Warriors fans, raise up in Oaktown. May the deafening support from the sea of yellow result in a Dirk Nowitzki charter plane leaving for Deutcheland Friday morning and more Baron to enjoy in round 2.