DALLAS — Welcome to the Appetizer First Round, where the whales of the NBA are spending this time snacking on lesser teams and doing their best to rest up and stay healthy for the next round, when the games take on a greater sense of desperation.
Those who call themselves NBA title contenders are looking the part here in the early going, leaving little room for suspense as they sprinted to commanding leads in their first two games. These blowouts may not make for compelling television, but the half-dozen heavyweights could care less, and even though they won't admit it, it gives them license to look beyond the minions currently standing in their way.
That's how the Oklahoma City Thunder should view the Mavericks, who rank among the weakest playoff teams in terms of personnel, but OKC swallowed a grapefruit in Game 2 and arrived in Dallas all square Thursday. That means this series, which had "broom" written all over it, will drag OKC at least to a fifth game. What an inconvenience.
Just look at why the first round is lacking sparks: Memphis is suiting up any healthy body it can find, even if that search takes the Grizzlies to the local YMCA, and therefore they don't stand much of a chance against the Spurs. The depressing Rockets are ready to be disassembled, that's how out of sync and discombobulated they are. The overachieving Blazers are trying (and failing) to move forward with a pair of guards who've lost their jumper.
And you know what? The Mavericks are probably the lesser of the four, at least on paper anyway. Thunder coach Billy Donovan tried to be PC with a Dallas team that took lumps in two games and stole its only win by saying: "We know coming in here it's going to be a hard fought physical game."
If the remaining games in this series are "hard fought" as he predicts, then that says the Thunder might not be ready to win an NBA title.
Durant scored 16 of his points in the game's first 13 minutes and forcefully put his Game 2 misery behind him. He admitted the last two days felt more like two weeks.
"Now I know how fighters feel when they lose the fight and they know the rematch is coming, but a year later."
Still, he explained why he doesn't plunge into deep depression over a rare poor outing: "When I go out there and play well, I don't throw a party for myself. I approach the game the same way, no matter what."
Game 3 had a few skirmishes involving Raymond Felton, Adams, Andre Roberson and J.J. Barea. At least the pre-game dance routine featuring Westbrook and Cameron Payne went on without a hitch or a photobomb byCharlie Villanueva. Sensing the obvious talent difference between them and the Thunder, and perhaps feeling that this series is getting out of hand, the Mavericks did what desperate teams often do and turned physical. At this point, the only way the Thunder can come undone is by losing their cool.
Noting that Dallas used "a lot of gamesmanship," Donovan said: "I thought our guys did a good job of keeping their composure."
There's a game on Saturday in Dallas and, unfortunately for the Thunder, another in OKC. It would be in the Thunder's best interest to keep their foot on the pedal and their fingers around the throats and press their way to a quick and efficient resolution of the first round. That's what great teams do -- they don't mess around with lesser teams and waste precious energy. In this case, a series win would put OKC in a cage match against the Spurs late next week.
"We do a good job of coming in and do what we do," said Westbrook.
Well, yes. For the most part. With one noticeable exception in this series. As much as the Thunder would like to clean out the Mavericks, and are poised to do so, they can't use a broom.
Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here or follow him onTwitter.
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