Dallas Mavericks Win First NBA Finals

“But the harder the battle you see, it’s the sweeter the victory”

Well, rest easy Miami Heat haters.  The one thing no one outside of Miami wanted to happen did not happen.  A great majority of basketball fans breathed a collective sigh of relief as Dirk Nowitzki laid in the ball to put the Dallas Mavericks up 105-92 late in the fourth quarter of Game 6, effectively sealing the deal that brought the first NBA Championship to Dallas in franchise history.  Dirk added two more accomplishments to his hall of fame resume – a ring, and the Bill Russell award for Finals MVP.  Likewise, Jason Kidd finally got what had eluded him for the first 16 years of his career.  Jason Terry saved himself from the embarrassment of having his premature tattoo removed.

Mark Cuban put in his bid for classiest move of 2011 by having original Mavericks owner Don Carter accept the championship trophy.  For all the bad press and criticism Cuban has generated over the years, it appears that he has matured a little bit.  He stayed uncharacteristically silent during the run.  I don’t think anyone saw this coming, but perhaps it’s for the same reason that Terry got his tattoo.  After seeing so many great Mavericks teams fall short come postseason, maybe he just had a feeling about this group.  Or maybe he just didn’t want to jinx them, or give the officials any reason to call fouls on Dallas.

At the beginning of the game, it looked like Miami Heat forward Lebron James was about to have a career night.  He hit his first four shots and had nine of Miami’s 14 points when Dallas called their first timeout of the game.  But with roughly five minutes to go in the first, Jason Terry made a pair of jumpers that sparked a Mavericks run that had them leading 32-27 at the end of the quarter.  I fully expected the Heat to dominate Game 6 with their backs against the wall, but the flurry at the end of the first made it look like the Mavericks were more determined.

In the 2^nd quarter however, the Heat swung right back.  With the aid of the sparkplug Eddie House and his affinity for making 3-pointers, Miami went on a 14-0 run that had the score at 42-40 with roughly six minutes left in the half.  The roof was about to blow off the building and Dallas called a timeout to stem the tide.  There’s always a lot of jawing during these moments and emotions got the best of a few players.  There was some pushing and shoving and it took several minutes to figure out how to assess the necessary fouls.  It resulted in a technical free throw for the Mavericks, but more importantly completely sapped the Heat’s momentum.

Both teams played the final six minutes pretty tightly and the half ended with the Mavericks up 53-51.  To me this was a significant turning point in the game.  Dallas made their name on mounting huge comebacks all year.  But had there not been a long stoppage in play, the crowd might have pushed Miami to a defendable lead.  While J.J. Barea and Jason Terry were clearly both on, Dirk Nowitzki was struggling immensely, having made one field goal and one free throw for just three points in the first half.  Miami gained a one point lead early in the 3rd quarter, but promptly lost it and did not lead again in the game.

Besides Tyson Chandler, and until the 4^th quarter Nowitzki, almost everyone on the Mavericks played a great game.  They were defensively solid, rebounded and shot the ball well, especially from beyond the arc.  They did everything you expect a championship team to do.  They knocked off three great teams to get to the Finals, and to the Heat’s credit, beat another great won to win it.  Decades from now, Dallas basketball fans will still be talking about the great 2011 team.  They fully deserve this moment.

Everyone wants to talk about the fact that Miami put all the pressure on themselves by making “Championship or failure” their motto and goal for this season.  But lets be honest folks, if you are one of the top five or six teams in the league, in ANY league, that must be the goal of the organization.  George Steinbrenner didn’t bring the Yankees back to glory by stating that he would be satisfied with second place.  And it was pretty clear that the Miami Heat were one of the best teams in the league during the regular season, even with the cloud of doubt and criticism that surrounded everywhere they went.

The thing that bothers me the most is how much criticism Lebron James has received over the past week and a half.  Granted, I don’t feel bad for him at all; he put the target on his back when he made that ridiculous announcement last summer.  We can’t forget why he left Cleveland, why he chose not to re-sign there.  These Finals are just another example of the best team winning.  He can’t do it by himself, he wasn’t able to before, it’s just not possible in today’s game.  James seemed to defer to Dwyane Wade after Game 3, naturally, because Wade actually has the ring that James covets so much.  He did have bad games in the series, but he’s not Michael Jordan.  We all know that now.  I personally thought the comparison was ridiculous to begin with.  James needs to know that, know that no one can stop him when he drives to the basket, and stop taking so many jump shots.

I have no doubt in my mind that this Miami Heat group will eventually win it.  They already have to be the favored team for 2012.  At the end of the day, these guys just haven’t played long enough with each other to re-work their identities.  Chris Bosh has done a better job than anyone in attempting to do this.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually do feel bad for Bosh.  I thought he played his tail off all postseason.  He’s been willing to recreate his identity, his role, in the name of winning.  But it was made painfully clear during the Finals that two real egomaniacs on Miami, Wade and James, have yet to find their own happy medium.  No one doubts their desire and determination.  But great teams don’t necessarily get formed overnight; we’ve learned that lesson now.  Neither does a championship come easy.  Just ask the Dallas Mavericks.