Jason Terry will play in his 97th career playoff game on Sunday. As he always does in potential series-clinching games, he'll arrive to American Airlines Center in all black.
The Houston Rockets guard has been doing the funeral-black wardrobe thing to close out series for years, looking to enforce the mentality that a fourth series win was certain. Even if he may have some respect for his opponent - his former team, the Dallas Mavericks - that doesn't change the mentality or outfit for Sunday.
"You know my wardrobe," Terry said Saturday. "You know what it consists of when it's time to close a series out. So I haven't change that at all ... black on black."
The strange thing about Terry's tradition is that he's also employed it when his own team has been facing elimination, claiming it's a matter of reverse psychology.
Based on how the series has gone so far - the Rockets have won the three games by a total of 24 points and Dallas looks at a loss for how to bounce back - Terry's probably only going to need the all-black once. Through three games, the 37-year-old is averaging 10.3 points on 60 percent shooting, doing his part in place of injured starter Patrick Beverley.