Dallas Mavericks – A win away from claiming the 2011 NBA championship (Part 2)
After knocking down the two time defending champions from the title race, the Dallas Mavericks gazed their eyes on the Western Conference Finals, where they faced Oklahoma City Thunder.
It took Dallas five games to cruise past the Thunder in the conference finals and their star player Dirk Nowitzki was the real power behind their push as he excelled his performance with every game.
The Mavs were sluggish in the beginning of game-1, but they quickly shed their tiredness and ablaze the court with their ferocious play, as they thumped 35 points in both second and third quarter. This enabled them to register
the first game in their favour by 121-112.
However, the Thunder jumped back in the series, as they thwarted the Mavs in game-2 by 106-100 and knotted the series 1-1. The Mavs came violent in game-3 and knocked the Thunder out in the first quarter by using a 27-12 burst
and never allowed OKC to come in front in the rest of the game, before they defeated the Thunder 93-87.
Nowitzki poured in 40 points and the Mavs pulled an improbable 112-105 overtime win over the Thunder in game-4. The Thunder, who gave a tough time to the Mavs in the entire series, didn’t also go down in game-5 without giving them
a fight. The Mavs had to catch the Thunder from behind, as they used a dominant second half to pull themselves back and managed to squeak past OKC in the final 12 minutes of the game.
The victory against the Thunder put them in the National Basketball Association Finals against the winners of the Eastern Conference Finals Miami Heat, who were 4-1 against the Derrick Rose and Chicago Bulls.
Even before the start of the finals Dallas were once again termed as the weaker side, as they were lacking the likes of Miami’s trio (LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade). The trio were also in full rhythm before the finals
and were looking to dictate their terms in the series.
As expected Miami won the game-1, as James fell just one rebound short to achieve another game-winning double-double of his career and Wade hit 15 of his 22 points after the break. However, the Mavs came fired up in the second
and defeated the Heat 95-93 in game-2, with Nowitzki clutching game-high 11 rebounds for Dallas.
Though Nowitzki hit 34 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in game-3, but the Heat manages to shrill past Dallas in an evenly balanced game. Just when the Heat were looking as if they are ready to sweep the Mavs, but Miami dropped the
game as they were outclassed by Dallas with a 21-14 run in the fourth quarter to clinch the crucial win in game-4.
The major upset came in game-5, when the Mavs beaten Miami 112-103 and became the first team to hand over the Heat two straight losses for the first time in the playoffs.
This left Dallas GM Donnie Nelson clueless that how his team pulled off such an excellent run in the playoffs. However, it involves lot of courage from Nelson to build a team around Nowitzki and included such players in the line-up,
who have more than 10 years of experience, especially after losing the 2006 finals.
Nelson narrated this as, "What people call old, we call experienced. And just give me guys who have heart who want to win.
"That’s why this moment is so special. We could be San Antonio the next three years — getting bounced in the first round. That’s why this series is getting the kind of attention it is. And I’ll tell you, those scars have been with
us the last five years. And only one thing can take those scars away."
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