What happened to get-back? After ripping off nine straight wins following that double-OT loss to the Suns a few weeks back, we figured the Mavericks would take yesterday’s re-up. Didn’t exactly go down like that, as Dallas got 20-pieced. Leandro Barbosa scored 29 on a bunch of wide-open looks, Steve Nash had 23 and 11 dimes, and Amare had 24 points and a free horseback ride for Jason Terry on one dunk … Phoenix hit 65 percent of their shots for the game and only missed twice in the fourth. Dallas just couldn’t hang with that despite 28 points from Josh Howard. One reason? Dirk Nowitzki was taken out by Shawn Marion (6-for-18 FGs). It didn’t help Dirk that he got Bruce Bowen‘d by Matrix in the second half and turned his ankle … Would you be more surprised that Shaq missed a big free throw in the last two minutes, or that Chauncey Billups came down and hit a clutch jumper on the other end? Cats have reputations for a reason, ya know. Those two plays, on top of Rip Hamilton catching fire in the second half (17 of his 19 points) was enough to put the Pistons over the Heat in the Sunday’s second conference finals rematch … After the game, Shaq made his pick for tonight’s NCAA title game. “I’m going with Ohio State and big Greg Oden,” Diesel said … After breaking his right hand against the Bucks yesterday, Caron Butler said he could come back later in the postseason. Problem is, the Wizards aren’t making it past the first round without Caron. Washington already can’t guard anyone, but at least Caron gives them a chance to hold teams under 120 a night. Not to mention what he brings on the other end, averaging 19 points per game this season … Without Jermaine O’Neal (knee), the Pacers somehow still hung in there with the Spurs and pulled out the upset thanks to Jamaal Tinsley’s banker over Tim Duncan in the final seconds … Ike Diogu stepped up in J.O.’s absence with 18 points and 13 boards, while Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy each scored 20-plus … Jazz/Rockets is probably gonna be a first-round playoff matchup (where T-Mac finally might get past Round 1), so Utah knocking off Houston on the road yesterday probably qualifies as a statement game. Mehmet Okur scored 20 and Matt Harpring hit the three that capped a fourth-quarter comeback. Yao went off with 35 points, 16 boards and 4 blocks in the loss … Deron Williams went between his legs on a pass to Carlos Boozer coming down the lane, which would have been a sick highlight if Boozer hadn’t run into a Ming wall right after the catch … Houston’s play-by-play guy after a Jarron Collins airball: “That’s why he doesn’t shoot very often.” … Ricky Buckets got ‘em last night, giving the Magic 36 points, scoring the last six in regulation to force OT, and then canning the game-winning trey in the extra frame. Kevin Garnett rejected Jameer Nelson on Orlando’s next possession to ice it … You know Darko is legit now when he can put up 18 points and 10 boards and it’s no longer huge news … Carmelo (32 pts) and Allen Iverson (26 pts) led the Nuggets past the Sonics, who stink defensively. No shock there. What was shocking, though, was Earl Watson hitting six threes and dropping 28 points. It had to be the best Earl has ever shot in his life … Scott Skiles after the Bulls beat the Hawks: “We had some moments where we were sharp, but overall we clearly had some lag from the game yesterday. That’s why you have to win these types of games.” Translation: You have to beat crappy teams to make up for when you lose to good teams … Tyrus Thomas punchlined Josh Smith twice — once on a rejection where J-Smoove tried to cram on him with two hands and got sent packing, and then on his own dunk where Tyrus got Josh with two hands … Without LeBron (knee) and Paul Pierce (elbow) on the court, Cavs/Celtics had a certain JV vibe to it. Delonte West hit the go-ahead free throws with 1.9 seconds left at the end, and Damon Jones missed at the buzzer for Cleveland. We almost forgot DJ was on the squad; where’s he been since All-Star? … Gerald Green dropped 25 points. He’s like the Matt Schaub of the NBA — impressive when he’s replacing the superstar, but you can’t bench Pierce/Mike Vick for him … Pierce was actually in uniform and warmed up, but Doc Rivers decided to sit him. “This is not going to be a Willis Reed moment tonight,” Doc said. You think? Willis’ moment is famous because it happened in the Finals, not in the middle of a Lottery positioning battle … Sunday afternoon, Jordan Farmar played 41 minutes for the D-League’s L.A. D-Fenders, putting up 18 points and 6 assists in a loss (wearing jersey No. 2). A few hours later he came off the bench in the Lakers rout of the Kings (wearing No. 5), getting a couple buckets in 7 minutes of burn … Kobe had 19 and 13 dimes in the win, but he didn’t have to do much, seeing as the Kings basically gave up. Once in the fourth, Farmar got an offensive board and went back up for a layup while the three closest Kings — Mike Bibby, Brad Miller and Ron Artest — all stood there and watched. Actually, Bibby and Miller were busy watching each other after Bibby had accidentally smacked Brad in the face. And a few minutes before that, John Salmons got a long rebound and took off down the court — not even close to sprinting — and it was still at least a good five seconds before anyone in purple even showed up in the screen. Just no effort … In the women’s Final Four, Tennessee beat North Carolina, getting 14 points, 13 boards and 3 steals from Candace Parker, and Rutgers blew out LSU. Matee Ajavon scored 16 for Rutgers, who put the clamps on LSU and held them to 35 points total. And just to clarify, the Scarlet Knights crowd chanting “C-V-S!” at the end had nothing to do with the drug store; it was for head coach C. Vivian Stringer … Jed and his squad “Hebrew Thunder” won the Dime fantasy hoop league. Everybody clap for Jed. There’s a good chance you’ll be subjected to a braggadocious post about this later today. Feel lucky, since the rest of us in the office will have to hear about this for months and have to look at the engraved plaque (yes, there’s a plaque) for another year … We’re out like Caron …

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