Dirk Nowitzki and the Nba Finals just got serious!

Just when the Miami Heat thought life was sweet in game 2, they quickly found out that life isn’t funny.  Just as the Dallas Mavericks’ hearts were ripped out of their chests during the 2006 NBA finals, so too were the hearts of the Miami Heat and all their faithful, also ripped out in game 2 of the 2011 finals.  The Mavericks and Heat now head back to Dallas for a three-game home stand with the beating heart of the Miami Heat held firmly in their hands, along with momentum, bravado, swagger and confidence resulting from a 15 point, late fourth quarter comeback victory.  Dallas will definitely need all of those things in order to overcome the challenge that lies ahead.  Dallas has Miami’s heart, now just to dispose of it and see to it that Miami does not regain possession of it again—can you call this “classic introduction?”

Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavs showed the world why they are to be taken seriously and why they are never to be counted out of a game until the clock ticks triple zeros.  As soon as Dwayne Wade and LeBron James stopped knocking down crazy jumpers from all over the floor, things were going to take a turn for the worst—for Miami that is, and that is exactly what happened.  As soon as Dallas stopped turning the ball over, started getting stops on defense and knocking down their open looks, they began to climb back into the game.  Maybe now Dallas realizes what they have to do in order to win this series.  The Dallas Mavs turned the ball over a whopping 18 times throughout the entire game.  That cannot happen again in game three if they are to be successful as expected!

Dwayne Wade carried the scoring load in game 2, pouring in 36 points to go along with 6 assists, 5 boards and 3 steals.  Aside from several typical, monster dunks, LeBron James was held to just 20 points and 8 rebounds.  He added 4 steals as well, but did turn the ball over 5 times.  Dirk Nowitness, I mean Nowitzki on the other hand had a modest 24 points, but those 24 points were all important and clutch points and were very much needed for the victory.

Dirk tied the game at 90 a piece, after being down by as much as 15 points with seven minutes left to go in the fourth quarter.  It was a 3-on-1 fast break layup, (credit the assist to Shawn Marion).  Dirk then put Dallas up by three points after connecting on a shot from down town with under a minute remaining, and then also scored the game-winning layup on Chris Bosh with the lefty finish—who said Dirk isn’t clutch or doesn’t show up in the big game?  They obviously don’t watch too much Dallas basketball, as he has been doing this type of thing throughout his entire career!  And if you didn’t know, well then now you know, you can also ask me, I’ve been watching it since 2001.  By the way he added 11 rebounds and also turned the ball over 5 times.  This was just a turnover-filled game.

Shawn Marion was huge in game 2 of the finals.  Marion kept Dallas in it for most of the game, scoring big time buckets when the rest of the offense was nowhere to be found.  Marion had 20, all-important points with 8 rebounds and shot 9 of 14 from the field.  Jason Terry also stepped up big time which was much needed for Dallas.  Terry added a clutch 16 points, 5 assists and went 6 for 6 from the line.  Jason Kidd was key too.  Although he did not score many points, he hit one of the key three pointers during the comeback run and also started the fast break which tied the game at 90.  If you watch closely, Jason Kidd punched the ball out of Haslem’s grasp which is what led to the fast break layup from Dirk Nowitzki.  That is what tied the game and the rest is history.

However, this series is far from over as Dallas may have just awoken the beast.  Both teams have been facing adversity and tough times all season long.  Battling from behind is nothing new to either of these teams.  Game 3 should be an interesting one as American Airlines Arena will no doubt be packed and jumping out the frame!  Miami will not want to go down two games to one against the Dallas Mavericks, the supposed underdogs.  At the same time Dallas will not want to give any confidence back to Miami after snatching their hearts from their chests in comeback fashion in game 2.  The Mavs smell blood and now is the time to pounce.  We will see what happens, as the 2011 NBA finals have now just gotten serious!

Tags: 2011 NBA Finals, basketball, chris bosh, dallas mavericks, dirk nowitzki, dwayne wade, erik spoelstra, Fantasy Basketball, game 2, game 2 recap, game 3, game 3 outlook, heat, LeBron James, mavs, miami heat, nba analysis, nba basketball, NBA Finals, nba finals series, rick carlisle

This entry was posted on Friday, June 3rd, 2011 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Basketball News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.