See You Sunday Afternoon: Mavs Force Game 7 in Hectic Series

If "blood pressure monitor" shows up a few times in my Google search history, it's because I may require one before the end of this insane Mavs-Spurs series in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Here's how the series has gone, leading up to the deciding Game 7 on Sunday: Spurs by 5, Mavs by 21, Mavs by 1, Spurs by 4, Spurs by 6, Mavs by 2. Sure, the Mavs won Game 2 by a lot, but that game wasn't on mainstream TV. The rest of these games have all been televised. And they've all been heart-pounding.

The 8 seed Mavs are not supposed to be playing with the 1 seed Spurs. San Antonio had lost only five games since the All-Star break. Dallas, still led by a former NBA champion in Dirk Nowitzki, is relishing the role of underdog. And it's a beautiful thing to see.

Game 6 on Friday night, a 113-111 Dallas win, was the latest crazy game in a storied rivalry. It was fun to keep up with my brother Dave, who was live at American Airlines Center for the triumphant victory:

Photo courtesy of David Sorrentino

San Antonio has knocked Dallas out of the playoffs three times (2010, 2003, 2001), while Dallas has knocked San Antonio out twice (2009, 2006). This year marks six playoff meetings in the last 12 years.

What a game on Friday. My heart was beating hard a good 10 minutes after the final horn. Dirk of 2014 is not Dirk of the mid 2000s (or even Dirk of 2011), but his length and ability to excel on the perimeter has enabled him to remain a top-tier player. His shots are more contested now that he's lost a step, but he's one of the great shooters and best players of all-time. His 22 points were huge on Friday.

Of course, it was close. Pretty much all game. Dallas needed a 37-point fourth quarter to pull it off, outscoring San Antonio by 7 in that frame. Tony Parker went on a mini-rampage in the fourth that had me eyeing the balcony railing from my seat on the couch. It was torture.

But the Mavs, behind impact performances from Monta Ellis (29 points) and former Spur DeJuan Blair (10 points, 14 boards, 5 steals), found a way to stay alive.

Under normal circumstances, we'd be playing with house money. An 8 seed downing a 1? As fans, we should be more loose. Winning it all in 2011, though, has changed our mentality. That's not to say we're expecting a title in Dallas this year. It is saying, however, that we expect to give the Spurs hell, as inner-state rivals. We expect to at least hang with these guys.

San Antonio, though ... good heaven. Earlier this week, I tweeted that they remind me of a juggernaut version of the Oakland A's. Fundamentally perfect, no flash and repeatedly give my teams trouble all day, every day. They are so precise in their schemes and the way they share the basketball. And they've been doing it for the better part of 15 years under a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach in Gregg Popovich, a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Fame power forward in Tim Duncan and two potential Hall of Famers in Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. At 62-20, they were the better team this season (the Mavs finished 49-33).

We've got a group of Mavs players, though, that have showed up on a huge stage and made it a riveting series. NBA Playoff format dictates that there are no Cinderellas in the postseason. If you win a best-of-7 series, you damn sure earned it. The Mavs are 4-0 in Game 7's in the Dirk era. It's not supposed to happen on paper. But then again, this series was never supposed to extend to seven games. Let's keep givin' em hell, and let the chips fall where they may.

See you on Sunday afternoon!