Looking back at the Dallas Mavericks first playoff series win

Moody Madness

The Dallas Mavericks played at Reunion Arena in those days. The problem for game five was World Championship Tennis had the venue booked. It forced the Mavs to move to SMU’s Moody Coliseum. The new home only held about 9,000 fans, but it would have to do for the deciding game.

There were other issues too. The court was set up for college games meaning adjustments had to be made on the fly. Sports Illustrated did a fantastic job of chronically the events here.

The Mavericks refused to be defeated in the final game. Seattle was up seven with just over two minutes to go. The Mavs came back including the final four points from Rolando Blackman to send the game to overtime.

Wild finish

Things got wilder there. The Mavericks built a lead only to see it be shrunk to one-point with just one second remaining. They threw an inbound pass to the Sonic’s Tom Chambers who launched the ball toward the basket. It missed as the clock ran out. The game was over, but not so fast.

Officials decided after a long delay that the clock did not start properly. The second would be replayed, and it was the Sonics ball.

Luckily, they still could not covert, and Dallas had won their first playoff series with a 105-104 victory in overtime. Fans can watch the full game here.

The Mavs celebrated the anniversary of “Moody Madness” with the following tweet on April 26.

It was one of the crazier nights in Dallas Mavericks history. The win was the beginning of five straight years in the postseason too.

Mavs fans should watch the game for themselves. It is certainly worth the time. For more Mavericks content, please check back to The Smoking Cuban regularly.