The Dallas Mavericks played in front of their home crowd earlier tonight to a standing ovation as they finally made a much anticipated return to the NBA finals. As usual they were led by veteran big man Dirk Novitski but had huge help from Shawn Marion.
The two stars had 26 points each and Dirk Novitski hit a valuable three pointer that hit OKC too hard. They ended up having to foul Dirk who hit his free throws and missed field goal attempts by OKC led to a dunk by Jason Terry at the final buzzer ending OKC's truly memorable run.
The kids have tremendous talent and showed a surprising amount of maturity but with veterans like Jason Kidd, Dirk Noivitski, and Shawn Marion leading the Mavs, the young guys showed that theys till have a lot to learn. If they learn form their mistakes form the series, they will surely make another good run in the playoffs next year, possibly making the finals this time around.
The last time Dallas made the finals was back in 2006 against the Miami Heat who were then led by Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O' Neal. The Mavs took a commanding 2-0 series lead but with the heroics of Wade and Shaq, they ended up dropping the next four games in a row losing in six.
Miami lead Chicago 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals with game five set to be played later on tonight in Chicago with Miami hoping to end the series at five.
Both teams are very tough but Dallas could win a title avenging their finals loss back in 06 against the team that defeated them.
Although this time they will be led a true veteran point guard in Jason Kidd, they are facing much more than just Dwayne Wade. Shaq may be gone but Cleveland's former jewel Lebron James and Toronto's former dominant power forward Chris Bosh joined forces with the faithful number three to form a tough trio. During the regular season, Miami slipped up by losing a few games here and there and some players even shed tears due to their utter embarrassment. Now the team has bounced back form that putting on a dominant performance in these playoffs and looking to prove to everyone that they are together for a reason--to win an NBA title.
Dallas play extremely well as a team but can rely only on one consistent scorer in Dirk Novitski. the players around him have stellar games here and there but not every game. Miami have Dwayne Wade and Lebron James who can change the momentum of the game by single handedly making things happen. Chris Bosh is not seen as equal as a player as those two but he is a tough rebounder and can surely score when he needs to.
Jason Kidd is a decent defender as he did a good job against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant as well in the Western Conference Finals. The Mavs have nothing to fear because after sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round, they proved to the world that they are no joke. They like Miami are also here for a reason: to finally win an NBA title.
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