Dallas Mavericks: Five best games during the championship run (Part-1)
The 2011 NBA play-offs expedition for the Dallas Mavericks ended in the best possible way in form of their first ever NBA championship title. The Mavericks stood confident against all the odds when the world of NBA was anticipating
an early exit for the champions.
Dallas Mavericks startled the best teams of the league throughout their play-off journey to accomplish their biggest dream which they have been craving restlessly since more than a decade. The face of the team Dirk Nowitzki was
the driving force for the Mavericks who kept soaring and scoring on the quest of completing his resume with a championship ring.
Nobody was expecting that the Dallas Mavericks will even race away into the NBA Finals. Many predicted that the Mavericks will be comprehensively thrown out by the defending champions Los Angeles Lakers in Western Conference semi-finals
however the result was totally opposite of it.
Even after sweeping Lakers in a convincing fashion, the sceptic still doubted Mavericks’ aptitude against the more athletic and dynamic teams, Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat. However Mavericks sheer determination and massive
play-off experience overshadowed every team who came in their way as they finally landed the Larry O’Brien Trophy in their town for the first time in the franchise history.
An overview on the five best games of Dallas Mavericks’ championship run is discussed below
April 28th: Dallas Mavericks 103 – Portland Trailblazers 96 (Game-6)
Trailing by 12 points with the start of the second quarter, the Mavericks recovered tremendously in the game-6 of the first round and thrash the Portland Trailblazers out of the play-offs followed by an electrifying 103-96 victory
at the Rose Garden. The win over the Blazers was the first step towards the NBA title as Dallas managed to make it into the second round for the second time in five years.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said after the game, "The way the game started was tough. Getting down 12 early, that's some real adversity, but everybody stuck together. Nobody hung their heads. Everybody kept encouraging each other.
We played possession by possession, as the game went on, we gained momentum."
The Mavericks won the first round series 4-2 when speculations were made with the start of the contest that the Trailblazers might inflict an upset on Dallas.
The influential power forward Nowitzki blistered away with a game-high 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Jason Terry exploded off the bench and landed 22 points as the Mavericks raced away towards the victory.
Prior to this win, the Dallas Mavericks struggled on the road as they were outperformed by Portland in the first two meetings at the Rose Garden which included a dramatic meltdown in the game-4 when Mavericks were leading with
23 points. Dallas removed the tag of the incompetent team on the road earlier in the play-offs which guided them towards the championship.
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