However improbable, Charlie Villanueva, Cameron Payne and Justin Anderson rank high on the matchup checklist for Game 3 of the Dallas Mavericks-Oklahoma City Thunder series. It has nothing to do with #podiumgame performances. It's more about the NBA platform -- the ability of this league to accent the absurd and the playoffs' tendency to magnify the minute. That's how all three have been thrust into the spotlight by a dance routine.
This is about Russell Westbrook, too, of course. The rest are only discussion topics because they entered his orbit. But when Villanueva and Anderson interfered with Westbrook and Payne's customary pregame dance before Game 2 and Westbrook shoved them aside, they were thrust into the storyline.
"That's for the guys who don't play," Westbrook said afterward. "You've gotta do something."
Kevin Durant called it "fake s---."
And with that, Villanueva and Anderson had accomplished their mission. They'd entered the minds of the Thunder, they'd distracted them from the more important matters at hand. Durant needed to worry about how his jumper could be so off that he missed 26 shots. Westbrook needed to tilt his assist-to-turnover ratio north of the 6:4 he had in Game 2. Instead of addressing what they needed to get right before Game 3, they were talking about something that had no effect on that night's outcome.
Villanueva doubled down on the off day, telling the Thunder dance duo: "If you want to go dancing and stuff like that, go to a nightclub."
Suddenly, Villanueva's opinions mattered in this series. The Thunder allowed that to happen when they allowed the pregame antics to become an issue.
Villanueva was the one in the wrong to begin with. When he stepped in, it was different than former teammate Reggie Jackson's gesticulations while the Detroit Pistons were in the process of beating Oklahoma City on March 30. Jackson's dancing was akin to a recently divorced man taking pictures with his new, young fling and tagging his ex-wife on the Instagram post. Westbrook and Payne weren't rubbing anything in. It was before the game, on their side of halfcourt.
You might ask why all the stepping in the first place? It comes with Westbrook. Crazy outfits, harmless antics. Over the weekend, a former All-Star player told me he loved when Westbrook Kevin Garnett-blocked the Denver Nuggets mascot because it showed how ultra-competitive Westbrook is.
But he also turned out to be hypersensitive. He never should have acknowledged Villanueva.
Villanueva's trolling reminded me of when the Lakers' Rick Fox threw some verbal jabs at Sacramento's Peja Stojakovic during the 2002 Western Conference finals. It seemed out of place and inappropriate, but after the Lakers won the series in seven games, Fox revealed his motive: If he could get the Kings upset at the things he said, it meant they'd spend less time focused on more important issues, such as Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
What will take place before Game 3? Will Westbrook and Payne break out their moves in peace? Will teammates such as Steven Adams have to serve as security guards to keep any Mavericks from wandering into their impromptu dance studio?
These are the added storylines. This is what happens in the NBA playoffs, which are never so serious that they can't take a wacky turn.