If the Dallas Mavericks lose tonight their season is over, but despite the pressure which comes with this territory Steve Nash had a clear way of putting things into perspective.

He was asked just how bleak the Mavericks' situation is as they face a 3-1 deficit going into tonight's win-or-you're-done contest.

"There are a lot of kids younger than us who are fighting for their lives on the other side of the world," Nash said. "This isn't such a big deal. I feel pretty blessed being on this side of the world."

The Dallas-Sacramento series was one which was meant to be one of the closest, most exciting series of the opening round, but as Kevin Blackstone of the Dallas Morning News writes it has instead been one of sloppy play, poor shooting and disappointment.

The two teams' play through the first three games have done nothing to warrant talk of playoff success, with the team who moves on not moving much further.

The shooting percentages for each team have been poor, Dallas with 40% and the Kings with 42%, against teams who are not renoun for their defensive prowess.  What would happen if these sides met a defensive powerhouse such as the Detroit Pistons?

In teams full of stars only one per team are performing.  Chris Webber and Dirk Nowitzki have been relatively alone for their respective teams, with the games usually being decided by the team who makes the fewest unforced mistakes.

If the Sacramento Kings want to win they will need to ride the backs of four players, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News writes.  Peja Stojakovic, Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, and Doug Christie must account for 79% of the Kings offense to give them a shot, and while Webber and Bibby did their share of work in Game 3, Sacramento simply didn't get enough from Stojakovic or Christie.

In fact, Stojacovic only took one single field goal attempt in the second half.  Sacramento shot less than 40 percent from the field for the second consecutive game. The best passing team in the league had only 11 assists and 26 turnovers.

"We got what we deserved," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We have to have better ball movement.

"Unless Dallas suddenly became San Antonio, Indiana and Detroit all mixed into one, a lot of it has to do with us. We're going to have to look long and hard and find out why."

"The game got away from everybody, you know what I mean?" Stojakovic said. "We lost control.

"Me personally, I have to step up and play a better game."

Dallas owner Mark Cuban was upset with a foul call on Michael Finley early in the third quarter. No surprise there. But he got to appeal his case to a high authority.

Stu Jackson, the league's vice president of basketball operations, was at American Airlines Center to give the Sixth Man Award to Antawn Jamison. Cuban stood up, pointed at Jackson and began to plead his case. Jackson kept his eyes straight ahead and didn't acknowledge Cuban.

Despite being down 0-2 in their series against the Sacramento Kings the Dallas Mavericks still have positives to draw on, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.

Firstly there is the team's home record, which is the best in the league this year.  Then there is the fact that thus far in the playoffs there has been only one home loss out of 16 attempts, odds which would bring a smile to any gambler.  Both things bode well for a team returning home for the next two games with their tails between their legs.  Win both and the series is tied heading back to California.

"We've been in this position before," said Eduardo Najera. "We know how to get back and win. Nobody's losing at home. So we're going to go back and take care of our home-court advantage."

Losing eight of their last 12 games in the regular season signaled the onset of gloom and doom for the Sacramento Kings.

On Saturday, they were not interested in building an argument for their chances of reversing fortunes and recapturing the passion and the execution that led them to a 49-17 record before the final month of the season.

"I don't want to make that case, because talking does nothing," Chris Webber said at the Kings' practice facility. "We've been here a long time. We've been the team that can sneak up on other teams. We've been the [heavy favorite]. The only emotion left is to just do it.

"We know we're a good team. But what do you have in you?"

The Kings hope to find some positive answers to that question. But in the final week of the regular season, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 17 points, then lost the regular-season finale to lowly Golden State, 97-91.

Those games have been resonating through the locker room leading into the playoffs.

"If we play like we did against Golden State, then we're going to lose this series," coach Rick Adelman said. "If we play the way we're capable, we have a very good chance of winning this series. Somewhere in that locker room is the team that won 55 games. That team has to show up."

There are many who are discounting the Sacramento Kings for their lower-than-expectation play since the return of Chris Webber, highlighted by their loss to Golden State in the last game of the season which cost them a shot at the Houston Rockets.  The loss saw the Kings drop to fourth place in the West, meaning the potentially dangerous Dallas Mavericks would face the Kings and not the Lakers in the first round.

The Mavericks went 3-1 vs. Sacramento this season and enter the playoffs with eight wins in their last 10 games. The Kings, meanwhile, lost four of their last five.

Don't, however, suggest that the Mavs have the edge, or got a break not drawing the Lakers in the first round.

"There's no advantage playing the Kings as opposed to the Lakers," Dallas coach Don Nelson told the Dallas Morning News. "They've been nip and tuck the whole time. One's as good as the other. Be careful what you wish for. You may get your wish."

Still, it remains to be seen how bad of a funk the Kings may be in after their shocking loss to the Warriors, who owned a 57-46 rebounding advantage and held Sacramento to less than 40 percent shooting.

"I am totally shocked," Kings coach Rick Adelman told the Sacramento Bee. "For us to come out not ready to play, I told the team I was dumbfounded... . Maybe we didn't care if we finished No. 2 or No. 4."

Acknowledging the uncertainty about injured sparkplug sixth man Bobby Jackson, the Kings filled out their playoff roster Thursday by activating swingman Gerald Wallace from the disabled list and discarding veteran center/power forward Tony Massenburg.
Kings president Geoff Petrie said Thursday the abdominal strain that has hampered Jackson the past eight weeks could force the guard to miss the first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks.

"I honestly don't know if Bobby Jackson is going to play," Petrie said. "It's more and more unlikely that he will."

The reason Massenberg was left off the playoff roster was a lack of minutes available, according to coach Rick Adelman.

"I didn't really see a chance of him getting (into the game)," Adelman said, noting that he plans to use Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Brad Miller and Darius Songaila at center and power forward. "I asked everybody on the coaching staff and in basketball operations, and it was pretty unanimous. I think Tony really has been unhappy with his role... If we played Houston, would we have done something different? I don't know."

"I think we need everybody on-board positive at this point."

Petrie didn't expect Massenburg, who reportedly packed boxes before he left the practice facility, to be with the team during the playoffs.

"I appreciate his efforts, and we'll try to do the best we can without him," Petrie said of the physical Massenburg, who averaged 4.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 13.4 minutes in 59 games this season."

The regular season wasn't a bust. You win 52 times in the NBA, and there are a lot of teams that wish they would have been in your sneakers.

But the great thing about the Mavericks is that, even though they didn't shank the regular season, neither did they rip it down the middle of the fairway. So they still get a mulligan, also known as the playoffs.

"The playoffs," Steve Nash said, "are about redemption for us."

That was the theme Thursday as preparations began for playing the Sacramento Kings in the first round. Game 1 of the best-of-7 series is Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at ARCO Arena.

"It's going to be a tough series, and it should be a fun one to watch," Michael Finley said. "We would have liked a higher seed, but that's neither here nor there. So we move on and use the playoffs as a new season. For us, to get over the hump against Sacramento would [help] put a sub-par regular season behind us."

Coach Don Nelson scoffed at suggestions that the regular season was a disappointment because the team did not make good on its potential.

"I don't think they underachieved," he said of his players. "I think everybody tried as hard as they could. We weren't as good as we had hoped."

In games that could determine home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs, every possession, every substitution and every momentum-swinging basket is scrutinized.

The Timberwolves found themselves in that position Thursday night against Sacramento, the team with the best record in the Western Conference. Win the game, and the Wolves could continue their quest for home court throughout the conference playoffs. Lose, and they could find themselves with the third, possibly fourth, seed when the playoffs begin April 17.

Wolves coach Flip Saunders made the right calls, the right substitutions and the right timeouts to keep the Kings from going on a big run during Minnesota's 94-86 victory at Arco Arena. The Wolves outscored the Kings 33-17 in the final quarter.

"This was the biggest game of the year for us," Wolves guard Sam Cassell said. "It's that time of year where we have to buckle down. We have to be focused."

The victory moved the Wolves (55-24) a half-game ahead of the Kings (54-24) for the best record in the West.

"All this did was put us in position to take care of ourselves," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said.