Clever Don Nelson.

First the fire alarm, then the smoke and mirrors.

He unleashed his favorite stuff ? a 6-foot-7 and-under team ? and pushed the Spurs just as he did a dozen years ago.

Then, in 1991, he upset the Spurs.

This time?

Nelson ran into the kind of versatile players who can match any style he wants.

For those looking ahead: This will work in New Jersey, too.

Nelson might have evened the series if he'd had Dirk Nowitzki. Years from now, when they look back at this series, everyone will see Nowitzki's absence as the difference.

But the Spurs' staff said afterward they wished he'd played. They said this privately, too, because it sounds nutty: The Mavericks were actually better for one night without Nowitzki.