The Sacramento Kings and _allas Mavericks are two of the most explosive teams in NBA history, and their secon_-roun_ playoff series has been a buffet of offensive ability.-

Chris Webber rolling in the unconteste_ layup. Steve Nash hitting the wi_e open three. Shawn Bra_ley pirouetting out of Peja Stojakovic’s path to the basket. Nick Van Exel with another wi_e open three.-

Hey, will someone please guar_ the _amn ball?-

Seriously though, I enjoy a home run derby as much as the next guy, but this is getting ridiculous.-

We all knew coming in that Dallas couldn’t defend — Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Bradley cover the ballhandler like mother deer playing against her own injured fawn — but who thought Sacramento simply wouldn’t defend?-

The numbers have been staggering — Dallas scored an NBA-record 83 points in the first half of Game 2, while the last-place Denver Nuggets averaged 84 points per game over the entire season.-

The Kings have proved they can put up points in bunches without Webber, while the Mavs proved they could probably put up points in bunches without consciousness.-

Whichever team advances to the next round will have to tighten up their _efense before they get _ismissed.-

The Austin Croshere Curse-

Unheralded rookie Tayshaun Prince has resurrected his Pistons from the brink of first-round humiliation with his running hooks and smooth, long-range stroke. He also looks like the remedy to Detroit’s most glaring weakness — their lack of interior scoring to offset Ben Wallace’s invisibility in the half-court offense.-

However, before Piston General Manager Joe Dumars rushes out to sign his surging rookie to a long-term deal, he should first beware of the Austin Croshere Curse.-

You remember Indiana’s Croshere… like Prince, he was an unheralded mid-first round pick who had his coming-out party under the glare of the postseason spotlight.-

The 6-foot-10 pretty-boy forward averaged 10.3 points during the 1999-2000 season, but switched on the juice in the playoffs, averaging 15.2 points in Indiana’s NBA Finals loss to the Lakers.-

The next season, Croshere signed a seven-year contract with the Pacers worth about $50 million, and promptly shrugged into oblivion.-

Croshere’s rebounding and shooting numbers plummeted the next season as he played his way out of the Pacers’ improving rotation. Croshere played in only 49 games this season, averaging 5.1 points, and shot 5-for-19 in Indiana’s first-round playoff collapse.-

Prince played in only seven games through the months of December and January, but he’s been invaluable to the Pistons’ playoff push.

Where he goes from here is anyone’s guess.-

Of course, the Austin Croshere Curse is hardly endemic to basketball — in his first eleven games of the season, Anaheim pitching phenom Francisco Rodriguez has allowed twice as many runs as he did in his 11 appearances in the 2002 postseason.-

Oakland Raiders fans certainly remember the bottle-rocket trajectory of safety Larry Brown — after returning two interceptions for touchdowns in the 1995 Super Bowl, Brown signed a lucrative contract with the Raiders, who cut him two seasons later. Brown was arrested and charged last October with passing 18 phony checks at Las Vegas casinos.-

Jordan’s Tarnished Legacy

It wasn’t supposed to end like this — The Greatest Player Ever unceremoniously booted out of his front-office job by The Most Mediocre Team Ever.-

But while the Washington Wizards shake-up may smack of insufficient gratitude (thanks for the season ticket sales and now get out, Mr. Jordan), the fact remains that the Wizards are significantly worse than they were before Jordan took over.-

The groundwork for Washington’s annual playoff vacations was laid before Jordan arrived, starting five years ago when the Wizards traded “troubled” forward Chris Webber for an over-the-hill Mitch Richmond (imagine how a Jordan-Webber tandem would have dominated the Eastern Conference).-

Still, Jordan’s personnel maneuvers were nothing short of baffling, as he accumulated one overpriced square peg after another — Larry Hughes, Charles Oakley, Bryon Russell, Tyronn Lue, Christian Laettner, etc.

And with every Wizard loss, memories of his championship-clinching shot over Russell faded further into the distance.

Click here to send private feedback about this articleto the State Hornet’s Sports staff.