OAKLAND, Calif. – They had their chances, and now those chances are gone.

The Mavericks did a better job on points in the paint, did a better job of attacking and getting to the foul line. They got big contributions from Josh Howard early and Jerry Stackhouse late.

It was not enough.

Golden State took a stunning 3-1 series lead on Dallas with its 103-99 victory at Oracle Arena on Sunday night.

The Mavericks looked like anything but champions down the stretch. With 3.2 seconds left, they actually had possession out of bounds and a chance to tie.

Devin Harris threw the ball right into the hands of the Warriors' Mickael Pietrus.

Ridiculous.

Is it time to write off the Mavericks, call it a season?

There's only one reason to say no, but it's a good one. This team won 67 games.

As Golden State coach Don Nelson said before Game 4, "They can win three in a row. They won 17 in a row during the season, and they had two other [12-game winning] streaks."

And because they put up more of a fight Sunday and seemed to figure out a few things about keeping the Warriors from killing them with points in the paint, you can say Dallas is still alive.

Only barely.

You'd think of anyone on the Warriors was ready to put a verbal dagger into Dallas, it's Stephen Jackson, who has done such a good job defending Dirk Nowitzki.

He wasn't biting.

"They got a lot of stuff we don't have – 67 wins, trip to the Finals last year," Jackson said. "We're just getting started. We want to get to their level. Right now we're just trying to win a series."

All those "MVP" chants for Baron Davis instead of Nowitzki no longer seem misplaced.

The Mavericks' forward may be handed the trophy soon, but the Most Valuable Player and the one truly unstoppable player in this first-round series has been the Warriors' point guard.

The man certainly knows how to close out quarters.

At the end of the first half, Nowitzki's three-point play should have sent Dallas to the locker room leading by three. It didn't.

Davis banked in a 50-foot shot at the buzzer to tie and drive the fans wild.

Then Dallas had a two-point lead at the end of the third quarter with possession out of bounds. Davis stole the pass intended for Jason Terry, outraced him to the bucket and dunked.

Just part of Davis' 33-point, eight-rebound, four-assist performance that fueled another Warriors' win.

As for Nowitzki, he simply has not asserted himself in this series.

His 14 rebounds were nice, but the scoring isn't there. The big shots aren't coming. For the most part, he's not even attempting them.

Nowitzki was held to 23 points Sunday night. He's barely averaging 23 for the series.

He had a chance to hit his first 3-pointer of the series in the final minute. When his team needed him most, he delivered an air ball.

With 14 seconds to go, he finally hit one. With 3.9 seconds left, he hit another.

Too late. The Mavericks needed those big shots to start falling much sooner.

Part of it you simply give credit to Jackson and Matt Barnes, who defend him so well with help from a weak-side defender at times.

But Nowitzki seems to never have returned from the rest coach Avery Johnson gave him late in the season.

MVP candidates take over games. They make the money shots like Nowitzki did in Game 7 at San Antonio last year.

That guy? We haven't seen him.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense on him," Barnes said. "He's the MVP of the league. They go as he goes."

And right now, they look like they are going nowhere.

These Mavs just don't look like the 67-win team and part of the reason is that Nelson's Warriors refuse to let them.

With Davis' ability to break down the defense and drive or pass to open shooters, the Warriors have the Mavericks' number. Nine wins in 11 games the last two seasons tell us as much.

Teams that win more than 65 games are supposed to win NBA titles. Eight of the nine teams that had those great regular seasons went on to finish the deal.

The Mavericks can't even get started.

And now they look like they are done.