Dallas Mavericks cool off the Miami Heat - NBA Finals Roundup (Part-1)
After sweeping the two-time defending Champions Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semi Finals, the Dallas Mavericks knocked down the young Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference Finals and raced into the NBA Finals
to take on the most potent team in the league, the Miami Heat. Fuelled by the determination to land their first Championship Trophy, the Mavericks showcased a perfect combination of offensive brilliance and defensive hustle, restricting the Heat from stimulating
their three pronged offensive system.
Dirk Nowitzki, the 32 year old German sharp shooter was absolutely phenomenal throughout this year’s play-offs and turned out to be an unyielding power for the Mavs. Spurred on by the brilliance of Nowitzki, especially in the clutch,
the Mavericks won the Finals 4-2 and became the NBA champions for the first time.
The win finally ended the post-season jinx that saw the Mavs suffer heartbreaks, one season after another. This was also the perfect lining to the careers of Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, who had almost everything on his
resume but a championship ring. The win is more satisfying as it has come against the same team that crushed their hopes in the 2006 NBA Finals, even after being 2-0 down. It was payback time for Dallas and they executed it to perfection and returned the favour
on Sunday night in game-6.
An overview on all of the six games of the Finals is discussed below.
Game 1: Miami Heat 92 – Dallas Mavericks 84
Playing at the American Airlines Arena, Miami Heat continued their winning streak and overshadowed the Dallas Mavericks in the game 1 of the NBA Finals. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade carried the action dominantly for the Heat, landing
24 and 22 points respectively as Miami raced away towards an electrifying 92-84 victory.
Mavericks’ prolific shooter Nowitzki landed a game-high 27 points and clutched 8 rebounds to make the life difficult for the opposition. Shawn Marion joined the action with Dirk as he landed 16 points and gathered 10 boards in
less than 36 minutes of playing time.
The visiting Dallas were leading with 1 points going into the halftime however Miami picked up the pace in the second half and thrashed the Mavericks out of the game. James and Wade dominated the proceedings in the last two quarters
and combined for 29 points to put Miami on the frontline. Nowitzki strived to retaliate in the defining moments of the game however his efforts proved insufficient in the end.
Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle said after the game, "We'll play better. I'm very certain of that. Again, we had some opportunities that, shot we normally make, they didn't go down. And so that was tough."
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