With Memorial Day in the rear view mirror it's time for the NBA Finals to begin. This year's finals showcases a re-match of the 2006 Finals between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks. The teams may be the same from 5 years ago, but many of the players have changed. Will the outcome change as well? Let's find out!
Game 1
The first game of the series kicks off in Miami, thanks to a "meaningless" game in April to end the regular season when the Heat bench players trounced Toronto, giving the Heat a one game lead over a Mavericks team nobody expected them to face in the Finals.
Both teams shot terribly, falling below 39% from the field for the game. Good defense on both ends gets some of the credit, but both teams also missed some wide open shots, as well as a few lay ups and dunks (yes, we're still laughing at you for that miss Brendan Haywood).
Miami's trio of All-Stars spread the scoring fairly evenly amongst them, but due to the low scoring nature of the game none of them stood out as an outstanding performance. Bosh's abysmal 5-18 shooting night could have been a costly performance if not for the 9 points he added at the free throw line on a team high 12 attempts.
After a slow start in the first half, it was Wade that took over down the stretch. He scored 7 of his 22 points in the 4th quarter, while adding 3 key assists and a momentum shifting block. As Dallas tried to claw their way back in a two possession game, Wade blocked a jumper from Marion, which led to a 3 pointer on the other end by Wade that essentially sealed the victory.
On the bright side for Dallas, they managed to keep LeBron and Wade off the charity stripe for most of the game, as the two combined for only 7 attempts from the line. That's a big difference from the free throw parade Wade showered on them in their last Finals match. The strategy of keeping those two out of the lane and off the free throw line should typically work, and if it weren't from a combined 6 of 9 shooting from three point range between them then perhaps it would have worked. History shows us that those two have to cool off eventually, because neither has been nearly this accurate from that range in their careers. The fall away three pointer by LeBron to end the third quarter was ridiculous!
Offensively for the Mavs, they need to find a more reliable scoring option aside from Dirk. Their bench is typically one of their strengths, especially against a team like Miami that essentially has nobody that is a threat in their 2nd unit, yet the Mavs bench were outscored 27-17 by their Heat counterparts. That differential proved to be the difference in the game. Jason Terry hit a few big three pointers, but that was all he hit on his way to an underwhelming 3-10 shooting night. JJ Barrea, who had been such a sparkplug off the bench in these playoffs, was basically invisible in his 18 minutes of play, scoring only 2 points on 1-8 shooting. They clearly don't have the same level of talent at the top with their one super star against Miami's Big Three, so it's the role players that have to make up the difference. On this night, they failed to do so.
To make matters worse, Dirk reportedly tore a tendon in his finger late in the game. It's on his non-shooting hand, so Dirk vows to play in Game 2 regardless of the pain, but any injury to their star must have Dallas holding it's collective breath.
Game 2
The Mavs bench was mostly ineffective again, but at least they were able to get Jason Terry going a bit. He chipped in 16 points and tied Dirk with a team high +13 in the plus/minus column. With the starters logging heavy minutes, Terry was the only reserve to see significant action.
After the Mavs struggled just to stay even with the Heat in the first half, they seemed in danger of falling into a deep 2-0 hole in this series when Miami led by as much as 15 points in the 4th quarter. Yet the resilient Mavs found a spark that pushed them back into the game. Was it another example of the late game heroics Dallas has shown throughout the postseason, or did Miami just get a bit too comfortable with their lead? Perhaps it was a little of both. Credit the Mavs for an amazing come back victory, but Miami must also be troubled by how they seemed too content to coast to the finish line, becoming stale on offense and not hustling enough on defense. LeBron and Wade each missed several long jumpers while their supporting cast made some sloppy turnovers as the Mavs chipped away at their lead.
As the final few minutes ticked away, Dirk took over, scoring the final 9 points for his team, including a deflating three pointer with 26 seconds remaining. Although Mario Chalmers was able to tie the game seconds later, it left the deciding shot in Dirk's hands. He toasted Bosh on a drive to the hoop, effortlessly flipping the ball up for the game winning layup.
After losing at home for the first time this postseason, Miami will have to regroup and find a way to regain the momentum as the series shifts to Dallas.
Game 3
In a series that had thus far been a low scoring defensive affair, this game would of course come down to a 4th quarter shoot out between Dirk and Wade. Each seemed incapable of missing down the stretch as they carried their respective teams on their backs in a tight game.
Wade poured in a team high 29 points to pick up the slack for the lackluster performances by LeBron and Bosh. LeBron had a fairly efficient game, but settled for being a distributor (9 assists) down the stretch, seemingly content with allowing Wade to show the killer instinct to take over when the team needed him to.
Dallas trailed for most of the game, but it was close entering the 4th quarter and remained so through the rest of the game. Their comeback attempt was aided by some ill timed loose ball fouls that put the Heat in the penalty early, giving Dirk the chance to earn some easy points at the free throw line.
In the end, the game came down to two plays that few could have predicted based on how the series had gone. First, it was Chris Bosh bailing out his team by hitting a mid-range jumper from the left side to put the Heat ahead by two. After hitting a woeful 16 of 52 shots from the field in this series, Bosh did not seem like the most likely of the Heat's trio to take the shot with the game on the line.
With only seconds remaining, Dallas still had one last shot to win or force overtime. They had to feel good about their chances once they got the ball in the hands of Dirk, but great defensive pressure forced him into a long off balance jumper that clanged off the rim, sealing victory for the Heat. Dirk, who has been so clutch in the playoffs and had seemed almost automatic late in games missed the most important shot of the series thus far.
The Mavs will have the benefit of having the next two games in Dallas to try to get back in this series, but they would be disappointed to know that the Game 3 winner in a Finals series tied at 1 has gone on to win the title each time since the 2-3-2 format was put in place.
Game 4
It wasn't quite like MJ's infamous "Flu Game," but another strong 4th quarter performance from Dirk, despite battling a 102 degree fever, proved to be just enough. The Mavs star chipped in 10 of his 21 points in the final quarter to help even the series at two. His weary body appeared to be on the verge of collapsing at times. Every shot of him slumped on the bench showed him wheezing into a towel with a mixture of exhaustion and misery painted on his face. Yet he still managed to find the strength to push himself back on the court and hit some key shots down the stretch. It won't look that way in the box score, but given the circumstances of Dirk's health, as well as the situation of being in what amounted to a must win game, this may have been one of the most impressive performances of his career.
Needing to find a way to shake things up to avoid falling into an insurmountable hole, Dallas swapped DeShawn Stevenson out of the starting lineup in favor of JJ Barea. While the Mavs ended up winning the game, I'm not convinced that this adjustment actually helped. Perhaps it was done to help jump start the struggling Barea, but he continued to disappoint, failing to finish several attempts near the basket and finishing with a team low -7 in the +/- column. Stevenson on the other hand contributed a trio of 3-pointers that helped get Dallas back in the game. The move to bring him off the bench may have had more to do with the need to bring him in to match up against LeBron when Marion needed a rest. I agree with that strategy, but going forward I'd rather see Terry in the starting lineup instead of Barea. I realize Terry may be more comfortable in his 6th man role, but he plays nearly the same amount of minutes as the starters anyway. It would benefit the team more to let Terry and Stevenson take away more of Barea's minutes if he continues to struggle.
Speaking of struggling, LeBron James may have his face plastered on a milk carton this morning as he appeared to be missing from this game. Despite playing a game high 46 minutes, he delivered a career playoff low 8 points. True, he contributed in other areas (9 rebounds, 7 assists), but he had a poor game efficiency wise (3-11 from the field, 2-4 from the free throw line, 4 turnovers) and failed to attempt to take over the game at any point.
The heavy lifting was once again left to Wade, who had a spectacular 32 point effort that was nearly enough to steal another victory. They had some chances near the end, but a 1-9 shooting slump for the Heat down the stretch (Wade had the only field goal) doomed their chances.
Poor shooting defined the game, as both teams shot under 43% from the field. Miami started out terribly, but managed to stay in the game due to their dominance on the offensive glass. 6 of their first 8 points came off second chance baskets.
After four games the teams are tied at two game apiece, with the last three games all coming down to a one possession game in the end. As much as Dallas had to have this game, the next game will be of equal importance. They can't afford to head back to Miami needing to win two road games to finish the series.
Game 5
Redirkulous. Sure, its a made up word, but it seems to be a fitting way to describe the role the Mavs are on right now, thanks in big part to Dirk. His game high 29 points led the way, capped off by a thunderous slam that gave Dallas the lead for good with under 3 minutes remaining.
Welcome to the party JJ Barea! After ineffectively being placed into the starting lineup last game, Barea finally broke out with his best game of the series, scoring 17 points, which included four 3-pointers.
LeBron rebounded from the worst playoff game of his career to post a triple-double (17-10-10), yet his point total still left much to be desired. Like the rest of his teammates, he struggled down the stretch as the Heat blew another game late in the 4th quarter. While he did seem a little more engaged than his puzzling performance in Game 4, there are still some troubling signs for LeBron and the Heat as they face elimination.
One of those troubling signs in this game was their defensive play. This was the highest scoring game of the series thus far, with both teams shooting well over 50% from the field. You wouldn't necessarily expect Dallas to keep up their stingy defense for long, but Miami was one of the top 3 best defensive teams this season. Even when they struggled in other aspects of the game in their earlier losses in this series, they at least could point to their defense as a bright spot. That wasn't the case after this game. They can't afford to allow that to happen again, as they now trail in the series and have their backs against the walls. As LeBron said, it's now or never.
Game 6
Apparently never was the appropriate response. Well, not never, but not this year in any case. Not for Lebron James and the Heat.
Dirk started out a woeful 1-12 from the field in the first half, yet the Mavs still managed to come away with a series clinching victory despite the uncharacteristic performance from their best player. Dirk would finish with 21 points thanks to a resurgent second half, but it was Jason Terry that was the hero in this game. His game high 27 points helped lead Dallas when Dirk's shot wasn't falling. The man who tattooed an image of the championship trophy on his bicep before the season started backed up his prediction by helping to deliver the Dallas Mavericks their first title in franchise history.
The series had gotten heated at times, but none more so than in the second quarter when things nearly erupted after DeShawn Stevenson shoved Udonis Haslem as the two crossed paths during a timeout. Several other players crowded around to intervene as the two players jawed at each other near mid-court. Since a timeout had already been called, there were already bench players on the court when the incident began. This led to speculation over how the league would view the situation in terms of possible suspensions. League rules dictate that a player that leaves the bench during such an altercation automatically receives a 1 game suspension, but in this case some players were already off the bench, so how would they determine which players, if any, came close enough to getting involved to warrant a suspension? Luckily, the Mavs saved us from the tragedy of facing a Game 7 impacted by key suspensions by winning this series in 6 games.
Miami made one positive adjustment that proved to be too little too late. They inserted Mario Chalmers into the starting lineup and allowed him to combine with Eddie House off the bench to replace the struggling Mike Bibby. Chalmers and House combined for 27 points in the game, easily outproducing Bibby's total (19) for the entire series.
As for the Miami trio, each had a solid, yet far from spectacular line from looking at the boxscores. Bosh had the most efficient game of the group, but he seemed like an after thought at times down the stretch, despite that the Mavs frontcourt was in foul trouble, making him even more difficult to cover in the post. LeBron started out strong in the first few minutes of the game, but then quickly disappeared again for long stretches. He finished with a team high 21 points, but aside from that early first quarter burst, it never felt like he was in control of the game. While the other key Heat starters all finished on the positive side of the +/- column, LeBron's -24 for the game is a telling eye sore. It's not often that you can say that this team is better with LeBron on the bench, but that sadly became the story by the end of this series.
Result:
The victory for the Mavs avenges their controversial meltdown against the Heat in the 2006 Finals. 5 years later Dirk finally found that elusive championship ring, which enhances his legacy and perhaps pushes him up the list of elite forwards in history above ring-less elites such as Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. The Finals MVP battled through a torn tendon in his finger, a sinus infection, a fever, and the pressure of being labeled "soft." He overcame all obstacles while putting together one of the greatest playoff performances in recent history.
Jason Kidd, one of the all-time elite point guards, finally won a ring as well. After 17 years in the league and 3 Finals appearances, it's a long awaited achievement as his career winds down.
Miami entered this season as heavily hyped favorites, so the loss comes as a crushing blow for a team carrying the burden of so many expectations. Granted they brought much of that on themselves by the way their star trio came together and for the celebration they had before even playing a game together, but before we crush their legacies based on this series, keep in mind that this team of stars in their prime will return for the next several years. They aren't going away and they will likely get another chance at some point. Wade already has a ring, so a Finals loss doesn't do much to effect him, particularly given how well he played this postseason. Bosh had never come close to making it this far in the playoffs before, so his stock could only have gone up.
The only one in danger of being viewed differently from a historical standpoint with this result is LeBron, who once again showed a puzzling pattern of disappearing at times and deferring to his other All-Star teammates. Was he unable to figure out Dallas' zone defense? Was he fatigued from too many minutes? Are the rumors of more off court drama distracting him again? Whatever it is, this was not the same King James we are used to seeing, and for the second straight season we have witnessed him fade away as his team was eliminated. The lasting impression he leaves on this series will be that he showed this Heat team belongs to Wade, not him.
Miami already had their parade before the season. Time for the true champions to have theirs.
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