Mavericks, Warriors battle on many fronts

Now it’s a basketball series too?

Feud angles didn’t get any better than Golden State Coach Don Nelson versus his old boss, Dallas owner Mark Cuban, the problem being the series didn’t figure to last long.

That was before Game 1 when the Warriors, once 26-35, shocked the 67-win Mavericks as cameras zoomed in on Cuban, slumped in his courtside seat, glowering at the action or jumping up to yell at the referees.

Nelson, who had billed it as “Nellie and some schmoes against a powerhouse,” managed to contain his glee, saying only, “I think we got their attention.”

They may have overdone it.

After two days in which Nelson’s one-time protege, Dallas Coach Avery Johnson, was torched for going small and obliged to deny that Nelson was in their heads, the Mavericks came from eight points behind to turn Game 2 into a romp.

Said a relieved Johnson, “We kind of looked like the Mavericks tonight.”

So it’s David 1, Goliath 1, as the series moves here for the first playoff game since 1994.

This saga started here where Nelson rebuilt the Warriors -- before trading Chris Webber, seeing the team fall apart and leaving before season’s end himself -- with Johnson as one of his players and his son, Donnie, as one of his assistants.

Years later, Johnson and Donnie would work under Nelson in Dallas, where Nelson nominated Johnson as his successor and Donnie became the general manager.

Hired by Ross Perot Jr. in 1997, Nelson hit some bumps (Sam Cassell et al for Shawn Bradley) but he had the Mavericks on their way back with Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash when Cuban bought the team amid great fanfare in 2000.

With another misadventure or two -- Cuban signed Dennis Rodman, who torpedoed their late playoff run -- the Mavericks became a power, capped by their 60-win season before losing in the 2003 Western Conference finals after Nowitzki was hurt. By then you could see the egos clashing. With Nelson’s contract up, he went home to Maui until Cuban came up with a three-year, $15-million deal.

A season later, as the team struggled amid speculation Nelson was OK with being fired, taking his money and going home, Cuban announced, “I’m not going to let Nellie sit in Hawaii and play golf and get a suntan if I can’t get one.”

Cuban said Nelson signed off on the 2004 decision to let Nash leave. Nelson said “a part of me died,” later noting they took Nash’s money “and gave it to Louie [actually Erick] Dampier.”

Nelson resigned the next spring. Still a Mavericks consultant, TV cameras often showed him standing in a runway during last spring’s run to the NBA Finals, until he was told he couldn’t stand there.

“Must have been the fire marshal,” said Nelson last week, laughing.

Hired by the Warriors this season, Nelson claimed no hard feelings, saying, “Mark Cuban has been very good to me and my family but he doesn’t like me very much.”

Within weeks of that, Nelson said he was suing Cuban for $6 million still owed him by the Mavericks, although no papers have ever been filed.

The Warriors started well, including a Nov. 6 stunner in Nelson’s return to Dallas -- after the Mavericks waited until that game, their second at home, to raise their conference championship banner.

With Baron Davis leaving for arthroscopic knee surgery in February, the Warriors fell to 26-35, when Nelson said they had no shot at the playoffs.

He then went to his smallest lineup yet with four guards and 6-foot-8 small forward Al Harrington. With Davis in and out, they still finished 16-5.

Then, with Nelson low-balling expectations in his aw-shucks style, they shocked the Mavericks anew in Game 1.

Stephen Jackson, employing the new “Nowitzki rules” that Nelson won’t discuss (it looks like they play in front to try to deny him the ball, don’t let him go left and double-team once he dribbles), outscored Dirk, 23-14.

The Mavericks arose in Game 2 while the Warriors melted down with Davis and Jackson getting ejected as the second half turned into a blowout.

Now for Game 3, to see if this is real or just a long shot’s dream.

mark.heisler@latimes.com