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Cuban was visibly angry after Game 3 because he believed the officials missed numerous key calls down the stretch, notably the noncall on Denver's Carmelo Anthony, who avoided a potential foul and calmly hit the winning 3-pointer with one second left.

As Cuban stormed out of the tunnel, he spotted Martin's mother in the stands. That's when the sudden and quick interaction took place.

Martin is a perpetually physical player, who committed a hard foul on Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki in Game 1, earning Martin a $25,000 fine from the NBA.

Cuban said by e-mail he knew Martin's mother, because after a previous game that Denver won, she had approached him and made trash-talk-type comments.

The NBA's announcement late Saturday that referees blew a critical call in the final seconds of Denver's Game 3 victory confirmed what the Mavericks already believed.

But in Dirk Nowitzki's opinion, the Mavericks might have had an easier time putting the loss behind them had the NBA not spoken on the matter.

How did Nowitzki and the Mavericks feel upon about hearing the admission?

"If I was the league, I wouldn't say that," Nowitzki said Sunday. "I don't think it makes anybody feel better. We don't get the last seven seconds back, to kind of play it over again. So more than anything, I think it made it worse."

Teammate Brandon Bass agreed, saying that as badly as he felt about the loss and falling into a 3-0 series hole, the NBA's announcement "made it a little worse."

"I should have not said anything and I was wrong. Hopefully you will accept the apology and we can move on."

"When the series comes back to Dallas,’’ he writes (optimistically) your family, and the family of other Nuggets players, are welcome to stay in my suite, with my family. It’s amazing how tempers mellow when real people talk to each other and realize that it’s still just a game.

"If that isn't acceptable, I'm happy to provide a suite, free of charge to them as well and place whatever security is needed to make them feel comfortable.

"We tried to have enough additional security for them tonight as well, but I know your family and friends didn't feel as comfortable as they should. I apologize for that as well. This arena is my responsibility, we could and should do a better job."

At some point, it really doesn’t matter who did what, who incited what. Some can argue that Martin’s Game 1 goal-line-stand hit on Dirk was the trigger. Others argue that K-Mart’s family haven’t said a peep.

Want me to tell you what I saw on Monday, from fairly close range?

While one report alleges that K-Mart’s mom and stepfather habitually sit calmly and quietly in their seats, I did not see that on Monday. It’s impossible to know who started it, but during a timeout early in the second quarter, fans and the K-Mart family were all talking at each other. K-Mart’s girlfriend, the singer Trina, was in the mix, too. And then Kenyon came to the scorer’s table and he started yelling at people in the audience.

Who is guilty of losing control of themselves? Lots of folks.

Martin had vowed early on Monday to visit with Mavs owner Mark Cuban to clear up an apparent Game 3 exchange between Momma and the owner. Instead, ‘Melo spoke after the game as if the matter wasn’t settled. Moments earlier, K-Mart had walked off the floor yelling in the general direction of Cuban.

But can it be over now? Please? Cuban seems willing to do his part.

"So if we can put this behind us,’’ he writes, “I will make sure when the series comes back to Dallas, your family and friends, and that of your teammates are very comfortable at our Arena.