Stephen's Stoning Spree

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In the Bible, the apostle Stephen was stoned by persecutors while spreading the Gospel, but at Oakland, the story was retold in the opposite way. It was Stephen who is throwing stones. Stephen Jackson threw seven triples en route to 21 of a career-playoff-high 33 as the Golden State Warriors became the third eighth seed all-time to oust a top seed in the first by eliminating the Dallas Mavericks earlier, 111-86. The Warriors also became the first seed-8 to win a best-of-seven first round series. The two previous winners, the 1994 Denver Nuggets and the 1999 New York Knickerbockers, did the upsets in a best-of-five affair. Golden State also swept the Oakland part of the series, 3-0. Dallas became the first team to notch 65 or more regular season wins only to lose in the first round. Jackson, who survived suspension following two ejections, carried the load for team captain Baron Davis, who is suffering a strained hamstring. Davis, however, finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. The victory capped the first leg of their first playoff journey after 13 years with a 4-2 win against Dallas, the Warriors' first playoff series win since 1990. A 24-3 third quarter, sparked by four long toms from Jackson, turned a 50-48 halftime lead to 74-51 at mid third, resulting to a 86-63 lead after three. The Warriors got their defensive game going against German sensation Dirk Nowitzki. After making an end-game heroics during Wednesday's Game 5 with 30 points, 12 during a game-turning 15-0 Mavericks blast, Dirk was limited to only eight on a poor 2-of-13 shooting, muffing six tries from the arc. Golden State, under former Mavs coach Don Nelson, will face the winner of the game on Sunday between the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets. The Jazz took the series back to Texas for a Game 7 following a 94-82 win over Rockets in the preceding game. Andrei Kirilenko sizzled for 14 points and five swats, while Mehmet Okur garnered 19 while making four treys. The Turkish scoring center is only a 16% (4/25) 3-point shooter in the series prior to Game 6. Earlier, Okur fired 4-of-7, upping his percentage to 25% (8/32). Though Utah will be inspired by the Game 6 win, odds stiil favor Houston to win Game 7 as the home teams went on to win the six games. The Rockets will host Game 7 at the Toyota Center, where they took the first two.