Warriors, Mavericks playoff matchup brings back “We Believe” memories

SAN FRANCISCO — Steph Curry remembers when the “We Believe” era was all the Warriors had. That whirlwind 2007 playoff run was still the pride and joy of a Warriors fandom desperate for something to cheer for.

On video segments played over Oracle Arena’s big board during games early in Curry’s Warriors’ career, season ticket holders asked of their favorite memories would reminisce about the eight-seed Warriors upsetting the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks headed by MVP Dirk Nowitzki in the first round.

“That was always the one,” Curry said. “That, or Baron Davis dunking on Andrei Kirilenko the same year. That was it.”

It took only a few years for Curry to not only give Warriors fans something new to cheer about, but loft Golden State into the NBA history books as the team of the 2010s: Three championships and five finals appearances, a 73-9 season, MVP awards. A dynasty.

Now the Mavericks and Warriors are meeting in the playoffs for the first time since the “We Believe” Warriors stamped out the title favorites in six games 15 years ago. And roles are reversed.

Led by 23-year-old Luka Doncic, the Mavericks leapt to the Western Conference finals as the No. 4 seed having won their first playoff series since 2011 against the Utah Jazz and upsetting the No. 1 seed Phoenix Suns in seven games in the semifinals. The Mavericks aren’t a fringe playoff team by any means, but they’re tasked with challenging the team of this generation.

Led by a championship core, the Warriors are the old guard hoping to hold off Doncic and the next generation for as long as possible. They are a team of destiny aged into a historic team looking to make their sixth Finals appearance in eight years. A series win would add a jewel to Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr’s legacies.

For the Warriors franchise, this Western Conference finals matchup should serve as a moment to reflect. But it’s also a good time to remember that series in ’07.

The Warriors used a 16-5 run to capture the eighth seed as a fringe playoff team. Dallas was coming off a 67 win season, one of the best in league history, with the the league MVP and a fully healthy roster.

Coach Don Nelson used his “Nellie ball” scheme — a fast-paced offense that teams including the Warriors use today, but not widely accepted then — with the team’s breakout local stars in Baron Davis, Jason Richardson and Stephen Jackson to out-run a more traditional Dallas team.

The Warriors became the third eighth-seed team in NBA history to eliminate the first-seed team. The only other two before them were the New York Knicks in 1999 and Denver Nuggets in 1994. Despite the Utah Jazz eliminating them in five games the next series, that first-round series is still celebrated as an all-time Warriors moment.

Kerr was in the TNT broadcasting chair for Game 6, the Warriors’ clincher at Oracle Arena. He remembers feeling the old arena shake.

“I probably said on the air it was the loudest arena I had ever heard in my life,” Kerr said. “Oracle was just going crazy. Such a great moment in Warriors history and a devastating one in Mavs history since they won 67 games.”

The Warriors have since added plenty of memories for Warriors fans to brag about, Kerr said, “We’re not the Celtics or the Lakers where it’s 40 years of hanging banners.”

But the We Believe playoff run set the foundation for success to come.

“There’s a really vibe with this organization that’s resonated with the Bay Area,” Kerr said. “There’s a love affair that’s here and you could feel it that night when the Warriors knocked off Dallas in ’07 and in the last 15 years since then, a lot of great things happened since then.”