Dallas Mavericks: Five best games during the championship run (Part-2)
May 2nd: Dallas Mavericks 96 – Los Angeles Lakers 94 (Game-1)
Playing at the Staples Centre, the Dallas Mavericks took the first step towards sweeping the two-time defending champions Los Angeles Lakers. The Mavericks made an exciting comeback in the second half of the game when Lakers were
leading by 16 points and toppled the champs in a thrilling 96-94 victory.
Rick Carlisle, the head coach of Dallas, decided to introduce a smaller and quicker line-up in the third quarter as they responded to the coach’s call. Dallas romped with 20-6 run during the third quarter that brought them back
in the game.
The 32 year old Dirk Nowitzki did the rest. He smashed the Lakers with 11 points in the final 12 minutes including a scorching blow from downtown as the Mavericks sealed a brilliant win. The star of the night Nowitzki finished
off with 28 points as his fourth quarter domination hampered the 36-point blitz of the legendary Kobe Bryant.
The veteran Jason Kidd said after the game, "We can say that we didn't play our best game, but we found a way to win. That's the bottom line this time of year ... the Lakers have been in this position a lot of times and they've
found a way to win the series, so we haven't done anything yet."
The Mavericks stamped their might on the Lakers despite of being the second favourite which set the tone of the series for them.
May 23rd: Dallas Mavericks 112 – Oklahoma City Thunder 105 (Game-4)
The Dallas Mavericks proved their brilliance on the road once again in the game-4 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder and showed they are relatively a different team in the 2011 play-offs from the
past years.
The Mavericks mounted a magnificent comeback in the fourth quarter when they were trailing by 15 points with less than five minutes remaining in the final buzzer. Nowitzki who earned the reputation of the Mr. Fourth Quarter Man
was the saviour for the team once again. Dirk blistered away with 12 points in the defining moments and took the game in overtime.
The Mavericks romped with 11-4 run in the overtime as they finished off with a comprehensive 112-105 win in the end.
Carlisle commended the performance of his team and said, "It was all about getting stops at the end. This team has been a resourceful group and extremely opportunistic. The way they hung in there was fantastic."
Nowitzki was absolutely brilliant throughout the night as he racked up 40 points to power his team for a startling comeback.
Tags: