The Mavericks have no room for error now.
Maybe urgency has not yet been replaced by panic. But panic is lurking around the corner, waiting to hijack urgency.
There’s no such thing as a must-win situation unless your season will end if you lose. The Mavericks will have another game, no matter what happens Wednesday night in Game 3.
But going down 0-3 in the NBA Finals is nothing short of a pink-slip notification that your time is up.
No NBA team ever has recovered from a 3-0 hole to win a best-of-seven series, whether it’s the Finals or any other round.