The Mavs finally extinguished the Heat

It’s amazing! Incredible game! The Mavericks finally won their first ring ever! I still can’t fully believe that they successfully overcome the Heat, which was expected to be the next NBA champion, thanks to the successfully assembled three all-stars in the team. The Mavs, who had become an underdog in the Finals series, had been staggering ever since the first game in Miami. However, they decided to overwhelm the fear, and started to formulate a more solid strategy, which could be observed in Game 2, also in Miami. Left behind by 15 points with 6:19 on the clock seemed doesn’t enough to blunt their spirit of champion. They kept trailing the Heat point by point, tirelessly searching for gaps in Heat’s so-called impenetrable defense – that Nowitzki called "almost suffocating” – until they finally took ‘em down with 95-93 as the final score, thanks to Dirk Nowitzki’s last minutes lay-up. Unluckily for Heat, Dwyane Wade’s three right before the buzzer couldn’t make up to the two-point deficit.

Then the series were tied at 1-1, the Mavs brought the series home smiling, imagining they could make three straight wins to make sure that they could receive the trophy at home, and thus celebrated at home as well. As though the Heat proclaimed “not so fast!”, they went to Dallas, played the game, and hey presto! They took down the Mavs with a tight score 88-86, lead the series by 2-1, and erased those smiles out of their opponent faces. This was a terribly bad news for the Mavs. History stated that when the final series were tied 1-1, the next winner would win the trophy. This had been proven 11 times out of 11 tied final series. If this would always hold true, the Heat would be expected to win this final series. But the Mavs seemed doesn’t want to lay back and surrender to the history. So they fought back, won three straight games – including one last time in Miami – and grab that sacred Final award!

Personal Opinion

I’m actually a Lakers fan, especially Kobe Bryant the Black Mamba, and how it broke my heart knowing that the Mavs took down the Lakers with four straight victories in the second round. I had no idea what happened, I couldn’t watch the games that time. Even so, I was so optimistic the Lakers could take down the Mavs. But it’s just OK. I know the limit of liking something, and I won’t weep for it.

Even the Mavs eliminated my favorite team, I supported them in the final series for some reasons. First, they haven’t win any final award ever, and it seems a good time to bring the dream into reality, especially for great veterans as Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. Second, I don’t hate Heat, but I am a big LeBron James hater! I hate him more than arrogant Ron Artest. He is so cocky and cannot accept defeat when he has to. Well, I like Wade. His speed, his side-step driving, his superb defense and his calm personality are his great features, but I had to doubt his decision in convincing James to be his teammate. That’s not very smart, I think! Losing another NBA ring is one of the evidences.

With its famous big three (Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh), the Heat had failed to overcome the Mavs’ big one (Dirk Nowitzki) superiority. Well, Nowitzki was dull in the first half of the sixth game, just made 1 out of 11 shots, perhaps caused by his torn middle finger. But, in the end, his overall final performance made him the final MVP. A couple things were in effect there, including the Mavs’ solid teamwork and offense. I would say Jason Terry was the top performer in the sixth game. He made a lot of contribution through big shots, scoring 27 points in the game, with 3 out of 7 made from the down town, a.k.a three point shots. He was just red hot in there! Also, another player who wasn’t less than him, J.J. Barea. The five-feet-and-seven-inches guard just surprised me to the bone. I dare to say, he was the quickest n’ slickest player on the floor, confidently driving down the Heat’s superb defense and… hey, he shot a lotta threes as well!

Defensively, the Mavs also showed solid organization. They forced a total of 17 turnovers in the sixth game. Unluckily for the Heat, turnovers and free-throws were the important contributors to their loss. Four minutes on the clock seemed make them play emotionally in rush, desperately made vain shots just to damage the field-goal percentage.

As the game was over, Nowitzki strode down the corridor. Face down, but definitely overwhelmed by enormous emotions that he finally paid back what the Heat had once stolen from him in 2006 final: the NBA ring.

At last.