Golden State trip can't change past

Asked in the locker room right after the Mavericks beat Houston if he’s looking forward to a “rematch” with Golden State, Jerry Stackhouse nearly burned a hole through the eager TV reporter.

“I don’t look forward to nothing,” he bristled. “It’s the fourth game of the season.”

The first reaction is usually a pretty good reaction, but it also doesn’t leave time for reflection. Stackhouse and the rest of the Mavs don’t dismiss the obvious storylines associated with this week’s return to the Bay Area.

The Warriors knocked Dallas out of the playoff last season, a first-round upset as historic as any in NBA history. The streaking eighth seeds sent the 67-win Western Conference champs home for the summer after six shocking games.

No one is denying what took place six months ago.

“They were the Colorado Rockies,” Stackhouse said. “They got on a roll at the end of the season and won a bunch of games to get in the playoffs, and probably beat some teams they shouldn’t have beat.

“It eventually caught up with them in the Big Dance. But a hot team is a hot team, and you’ve got to understand that. Regardless of conventional or unconventional [style], they have NBA players. Any given night. In our case, four nights.”