DALLAS — It was a fairytale start.
The Dallas Mavericks were 29-0 this year when leading after the first quarter.
They led, 34-31, after the first 12 minutes of Friday night's playoff game against the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
A first quarter that began better than the near-capacity crowd could have ever imagined.
Luka Dončić hit a fadeaway jump shot as if he had morphed into his legendary seven-foot German predecessor.
Dirk Nowitzki smiled from his seat in an American Airlines Center suite. His longtime teammate J.J. Barea was beaming as well, one row in front of the future Hall of Famer.
Both Nowitzki and Barea were on the roster the last time the Mavericks played a home playoff game in Dallas.
On April 23, 2016, Nowitzki scored 27 points in a losing effort to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Five years later, Nowitzki is enjoying retirement from the suites and stands of Mavericks games.
On Friday night, he was one of the 17,705 fans clad in blue -- the Mavericks largest home crowd since they hosted the Denver Nuggets on March 11, 2020.
I think we all know how that night week month year turned out.
Nowitzki looked on as the new Mavs torch-carrier torched the nets like NBA Jam for N64.
Dončić buried a 25-foot three-pointer.
39 seconds later, he buried another.
The Mavs led 8-0 in Doncic's first career home playoff game in Dallas.
The American Airlines Center erupted once. Twice. Thrice.
It was the perfect start to a night #MFFL's have been waiting half a decade for.
The arena shook.
The energy was infectious.
The euphoria was existential.
These people needed the Mavericks.
Clearly, the Mavericks needed them too.
The Mavericks built a 30-11 lead in the first quarter.
The 22-year-old two-time All Star from Slovenia had scored as many points as the entire Clippers team.
Fans stood and applauded.
Seats to Game 3 cost north of $150 per ticket.
You could not pay them $150 to sit down during those first seven minutes and 22 seconds.
Thoughts of a first round sweep swept through the minds of fans from Denton to Duncanville.
The Mavericks were sprinting to the finish line... in the first mile of a marathon.
"It's a long game," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. "You have to play out the entire first quarter."
The Mavs blistering start was quickly extinguished by a 20-4 Clippers run.
"We know we relax a little bit when we go up," Doncic acknowledged.
At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks led 34-31.
Recent data was on the Mavs' side. Recency bias and regression was not.
"We were super hyped," noted Mavericks forward Maxi Kleber. "We came out pretty strong. But, we have to keep the lead. We can't give it away in two minutes."
In fairness, the Mavericks did not relinquish the lead until the 4:59 mark of the second quarter when the Clippers' Kawhi Leonard dunked the ball on an assist from Paul George.
Leonard and George have faced scrutiny over the last two years, but no criticism more fierce than over the last week.
The underdog Mavericks walked into their building after they won both Games 1 and 2 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
A statement by a young Mavericks team.
Leonard and George responded emphatically.
Leonard scored 36 points in Game 3 on a ridiculously efficient 13 of 17 from the field.
George added 29 points on 11 of 18 shooting.
The Clippers veteran stars made all their free throws (12-12).
"They had a great night and we did not," Carlisle stated.
Great is an understatement.
The Clippers shot 58% from the field; 42% from the three-point range; 94% from the free throw line.
Amazing, and likely unsustainable, numbers.
Plus, they got timely baskets from the likes of Reggie Jackson (16 points) and Marcus Morris (15 points).
"We didn't have our best offensive night, or defensive," admitted Mavs big man Kristaps Porzingis. "They were the better team tonight, and that's it."
Yep, pretty much.
Porzingis had some nice hustle plays but was mostly a non-factor with nine points and three rebounds.
For a 7-foot 3-inch human, three rebounds is bewildering.
For a sharpshooter, three baskets on 10 shots is baffling.
For the No. 2 star on a playoff team, that type of effort is not going to cut it.
Porzingis must elevate his play on both ends of the floor, if the Mavericks are going to finish the job and win their first playoff series since they won the NBA Finals in 2011.
Dončić was sensational in his first home playoff game (44 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) but as we saw in Games 1 through 3, Dončić can not do it alone.
He can keep the Mavericks in games, but they will not win them unless Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and the rest of the supporting cast knock down shots.
"Crowd was great and into it," Carlisle mentioned. "We have to get them more into it by getting [defensive] stops and rebounds."
There will be no sweep, as the attention turns to Game 4 with the Mavericks still in command of the series 2-1.
As the horn sounded and fans exited the arena many of them had waited 443 days to enter, the jumbotron read: Clippers 118, Mavericks 108.
It was the Mavs' first loss of the season when leading by the end of the first quarter.
The hare was outraced by the tortoise.