It showed, when Dirk sat and the Kings defense just fell apart. So focused on stopping the sun, all the planets collided at the rim in the void. But the allusion lives: Dirk was defended well for three quarters, Dallas didn't score 120, ergo "solid defensive effort from the young Kings." Yes, yes, no. The Mavericks offense hummed. One hundred and eight points on ninety-one possessions. Too efficient. Too good.

Really, all you can take away from that defensive effort is that

a. Nocioni really pisses Dirk off, something we already knew,

b. the Kings can get defensive boards against poor offensive rebounding teams,

c. the Kings have trouble closing on shooters, and

d. the Kings have massive problems with fast guards.

I don't mean to be Debbie Downer, but come on. That was a bad defensive game. The team is improving, but it's mostly on offense. Almost exclusively on offense. This squad has a loooooooong way to go on defense. They can't even see the finish line. The finish line is on Mars, basically. Maybe Neptune.