OAKLAND, Calif. – All the Mavericks needed was the real Dirk Nowitzki to please show up, please show up and everything in this crazy first-round series would be fine.

Or so we thought.

Nowitzki, held to 18.5 points on 35 percent shooting in the first two games in Dallas, scored the Mavericks' first eight points. By halftime he had 16 points and eight rebounds.

And the Warriors had a 13-point lead.

That advantage would grow into the 20s in the third quarter as Golden State – the team that definitely has the Mavs' number ­ won Game 3 by a count of 109-91.

And the real Nowitzki that Mavericks fans know and love disappeared again in the second half when his team needed him most.

(Honestly, I'm not sure even a 20-point half from Nowitzki would have helped but it would have been interesting to see.)

Nowitzki got into foul trouble, got tentative and had only four points after halftime. He finished with 20 points, which means he's not even averaging 20 points, which means the Mavericks are in serious trouble.

You just can't argue this point about the Warriors being in the Mavericks' heads any longer.

Since the start of last season, Dallas has won 76 percent of its games against all other teams. And it has won 25 percent (2-8) against Golden State.

The only losses that matter are the ones in these playoffs, and they are mounting faster than Dallas could ever have imagined.

Even though Nowitzki snapped out of his shooting slump early Friday, he's still struggling to get really good looks at the basket. He said as much before Game 3.

"Obviously, they've been making it tough for me to score," Nowitzki said. "They're not letting me catch the ball where I want to, they're fronting me in the post. They're not letting me get into a comfort zone.

"But I still have to be more efficient – let my teammates make plays, help them with the rebounds."

A year ago, Nowitzki's dominance was evident in the first-round sweep of Memphis.

Dallas made quick work of the Grizzlies riding on Nowitzki's back. He averaged 31.3 points and 7.7 rebounds. He hit more than 50 percent of his shots and more than 86 percent from the line. He was good from the 3-point stripe, even better inside.

As a result, the Grizzlies had no chance.

This year is different. These Warriors have a real chance because, as coach Avery Johnson explained before Game 3, they are a different team capable of troubling Nowitzki.

"This is a totally different year, a totally different team," Johnson said. "That was a bigger, slower team last year. This is a smaller, quicker team he's facing, they're doing a really good job of going after his dribble.

"Instead of all of us waiting around for Dirk to have a Dirk-type game, how about if we just have balance?"

Balance?

The only team with balance Friday was the Warriors.

All the starters scored in double figures. Jason Richardson had his first 30-point game of the series. Baron Davis had 24.

The Warriors hit 48 percent of their shots. The Mavericks hit just under 40.

That's how you lose a series.

The Mavericks won 67 regular-season games making other teams look slow. They make the Spurs look slow. They make just about everyone in the Eastern Conference look slow.

Now it's the Mavericks who look as if their sneakers are glued to the floor.

They can't get out on Richardson to guard him. They have no answer for Davis, the point guard who slashes through the lane and uses his body to shoot over Nowitzki, Erick Dampier and whoever happens to be under the basket.

Although Richardson had his best shooting night, it was Davis who was the dominant figure. Davis, in fact gets "MVP" chants when he gets to the foul line.

In this series, he deserves them.

As for the league's top MVP candidate, he was better in Game 3 than he had been in the first two games in Dallas.

But not by much.

And not by nearly enough.

And we learned in the first half Friday night that just getting Nowitzki going isn't enough to cure all the Mavericks' ills against this team.

No team with more than 65 wins has ever gone out a first-round loser.

All we know now is that it is very, very possible the Mavericks will make history in a way they never could have imagined.