EWING THEORY UPDATE: Yes, it took a blow with the Mavs beating the Webber-free Kings, but here's Buck Harvey in the San Antonio Express-News implicitly endorsing it:

Nelson might have evened the series if he'd had Dirk Nowitzki. Years from now, when they look back at this series, everyone will see Nowitzki's absence as the difference.

But the Spurs' staff said afterward they wished he'd played. They said this privately, too, because it sounds nutty: The Mavericks were actually better for one night without Nowitzki.

The other Mavericks came harder and looser, freed from expectations, with a chance to divide up Nowitzki's shots. When Steve Nash, Nick Van Exel and Michael Finley all tossed in threes early for quick leads, Nellie was on his way to getting credit for everything.

He's writing about game four, which the Mavs lost, and not game five, which they won, but it still applies.