Just in case the Mavericks were contemplating the wild and crazy idea of turning the I-35 Series into a one-way street with all signs pointing north to Dallas, the Spurs and the NBA combined to slap that notion right out of their heads Wednesday night.

Technically speaking, it was a speed trap of the first order.

The Mavs never had a chance in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals at the SBC Center. This one was so predictable, it was almost a clich?.

Call it an insane grassy-knoll theory or simply paranoid provincial journalism, but I'm convinced the last thing the NBA wanted was for the Mavs to be up 2-0 on the Spurs with the series headed back to Dallas on Friday night. Not good. Not good at all.