LeBron James struggled during "crunch time" - the last five minutes of the fourth quarter/overtime with the score within five points - during the NBA Finals. In crunch time during the 2011 NBA Finals, James did not score. Dirk Nowitzki had no trouble scoring.
The Heat made just four of their final 25 field goal attempts from 10+ feet during the fourth quarter of the 2011 NBA Finals. The Big 3 was a combined 4-17 over this stretch.
Miami scored eight transition points in Game 6 against the Mavericks, including four transition points off turnovers. The Heat's inability to create transition points off turnovers was a major factor in their demise. --On the other hand in Game 6, the Mavericks scored 20 points off 12 turnovers committed by Miami's Big 3, including 11 of their 15 transition points.
In eight minutes with LeBron James on the bench in Game 6, the Heat scored 21 points and outscored the Mavericks by 14 points. When James was on the court Miami was outscored by 24 points. It was James' worst plus/minus in a postseason game since April 24, 2008 against the Wizards when he was also minus 24.
Nowitzki was able to excel in one-on-one situations in the fourth quarter during the 2011 NBA Finals, making half of his field goal attempts on isolation and post-up plays in the final period.
Jason Terry entered Game 5 shooting under 40 percent from 15+ feet in the 2011 NBA Finals. In Games 5 and 6, Terry found his stroke, making more field goals from 15+ feet than in the previous four games combined. Terry made a series-high seven such field goals in Game 6 to close out the Heat, the most by any player in one game in the 2011 Finals.
Before Cuban bought the team in January of 2000, the Mavs had only 6 playoff appearances in 19 seasons, only four series wins and had never been to the NBA Finals. My, how much has changed: in addition to the two Finals appearances, the Mavs have now made the playoffs for 11 straight seasons - only the Spurs have a longer active streak. And now, of course, they've got their first title in franchise history.
The Mavs bench came up huge in Game 6, scoring 43 points. In fact this season, Dallas was 36-9 in games in which its bench scored at least 40 or more points. So for Dallas... the more its bench scores, the more it wins.
LeBron James averaged 26.7 points per game in the regular season. He averaged just 17.8 points per game in the 2011 NBA Finals. That discrepency between regular season scoring average and Finals scoring average was the largest in NBA history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Heat missed 13 free throws and lost by 10 points. The 13 missed free throws are the most misses from the charity stripe by a team eliminated in the NBA Finals over the last 15 seasons.
The Mavericks finished 4-0 this postseason in potential series-clinching games and have now won seven straight overall. that is one shy of the Lakers for the longest active streak.
Rick Carlisle is now 11-3 all-time in potential series-clinching games. Among coaches with at least 10 such games, his .786 win pct ranks 1st in NBA history, ahead of Tom Heinsohn, Gregg Popovich and Phil Jackson.
When you are out-numbered 3-1 in All-Stars, its imperative your supporting cast shows up... Lucky for Dirk, that's exactly what happened. In the four wins, Nowitzki's supporting cast combined to score over 75 points while shooting over 52 percent from the field. They were dangerous from downtown as well, including a 10-19 effort in Game 6
Since Mark Cuban purchased the Mavericks on January 4, 2000, the only team with a higher win percentage than his team is the Spurs (including playoffs).
From Elias: Dirk Nowitzki had 22,792 career points in the regular season entering the 2011 postseason. It's the 4th-most points by a player at the time of his 1st NBA title in NBA history, behind only Oscar Robertson (23,578), Wilt Chamberlain (23,442) and Jerry West (22,988).
It was five years ago that Jason Terry had a woeful Game 6 against the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, scoring 16 points on 7-of-25 shooting. But Terry helped fuel the Mavs offense this time around, hitting 19 of his 27 points in the first half.
Dwyane Wade and LeBron James combined to score 62 points in the fourth quarter of the 2011 NBA Finals. By comparison, Dirk Nowitzki scored 62 points all by himself in the fourth quarter during the Finals.
When you are outnumbered 3-1 in All-Stars, its crucial your supporting cast shows up. Luckily for Dirk Nowitzki, that's exactly what happened. In the Mavericks' four wins, Dirk's supporting cast combined to score over 75 points, shooting over 52 percent from the field.
The Heat scored 22 transition points on Sunday marking the first time in the 2011 playoffs the Heat scored at least 20 transition points in a game. The Heat are 21-2 this season (including playoffs) when they score 20+ transition points.
MIAMI -- For Dirk Nowitzki, the resume is complete. He's an NBA champion.
For LeBron James, the agonizing wait continues for at least one more year.
A season that began with Miami celebrating the signings of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- along with the promise of championships -- ended on the very same floor, with the Dallas Mavericks hoisting the title trophy for the first time in their franchise history after beating the Heat 105-95 on Sunday night. The Mavericks won four of the series' last five games, a turnabout that could not have been sweeter.
"I really still can't believe it," said Nowitzki, who had 21 points and took home Finals MVP honors.
He and Jason Terry, who led the Mavs with 27 points, were the two remaining players from the Dallas team that lost to Miami in the 2006 Finals.
"Tonight," Terry said, "we got vindication."
James did not. Not even close, and a year unlike any other ended they way they all have so far -- with him still waiting for an NBA title.
He scored 21 points for Miami, shook a few hands afterward, and departed before most of the Mavs tugged on their championship hats and T-shirts. Bosh had 19, Mario Chalmers 18 and Wade 17 for the Heat.
"We worked so hard and so long for it," Nowitzki said. "The team has had an unbelievable ride."
So did the Heat. Unlike Dallas, theirs wasn't a joyride.
"It goes without saying," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You're never really prepared for a moment like this. ... Neither team deserved this championship more than the other, but Dallas earned it."
When you are outnumbered 3-1 in All-Stars, its crucial your supporting cast shows up. Luckily for Dirk Nowitzki, that's exactly what happened. In the Mavericks' four wins, Dirk's supporting cast combined to score over 75 points, shooting over 52 percent from the field.
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Make no mistake: Miami lost the Finals, but the blame will be directed at James. Even he knew that after the way he left Cleveland with "The Decision" and all the animus that generated not just in Ohio but around the entire league, the only way he could silence some critics was with a title.
"It doesn't weigh on me," James said. "At all."
Still, he got even more criticism -- and a thinly veiled jab from his former owner with the Cavaliers, Dan Gilbert, who reveled in the moment on Twitter.
"Mavs NEVER stopped & now entire franchise gets rings," Gilbert wrote. "Old Lesson for all: There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE."
And the winning owner, Mark Cuban, took what may be perceived as a jab as well: "I could care less about the Heat," he said.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle joined a highly elite group, those with NBA titles as both a player and a head coach. Only 10 other men are on that list, including the presumably retired-for-good Phil Jackson, one of Carlisle's mentors in K.C. Jones, and Heat President Pat Riley -- who led Miami past Dallas in 2006, and was the mastermind of what the Heat did last summer by getting James, Wade and Bosh on the same team with an eye on becoming a dynasty.
It might still happen, of course.
But even after 72 wins this season, including playoffs, the Heat lost the last game. And that means this year was a disappointment -- except to just about everyone else in the NBA, or so it would seem.
It was five years ago that Jason Terry had a woeful Game 6 against the Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals, scoring 16 points on 7-of-25 shooting. But Terry helped fuel the Mavs offense this time around, hitting 19 of his 27 points in the first half.
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"This is a true team," Carlisle said. "This is an old bunch. We don't run fast or jump high. These guys had each other's backs. We played the right way. We trusted the pass. This is a phenomenal thing for the city of Dallas."
Hating the Heat became the NBA's craze this season, and the team knew it had no shortage of critics, everyone from Cleveland (where "Cavs for Mavs" shirts were popular during these Finals) to Chicago (the city James and Wade both flirted with last summer) and just about every place in between lining up to take shots at Miami.
"We could feel it," Carlisle said, noting he was repeatedly told during the Finals that "billions" of people wanted to see Dallas topple Miami.
Given their newfound popularity, meet the new America's Team.
Sorry, Cowboys -- your long-held moniker might have to be ceded to your city's NBA club. When it was over, Cuban ran onto the court to hug Carlisle, then punched the air and whooped.
"I'm so happy for him. I'm so happy for Dirk," Carlisle said.
Carlisle said Riley came down to congratulate the Mavericks after the game, showing "unbelievable class." Nowitzki and Wade exchanged texts at night's end, after Wade couldn't find him during the on-court celebration to shake his hand.
"Their time will come," Carlisle said. "But now, it's our time."
When the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead in Dallas during the '06 Finals, plans for their victory parade were announced. The Mavs didn't win another game in that series.
Now, that parade will finally happen. And when it's over, then the league's uncertainty will truly begin. Labor strife likely awaits, and although more talks geared toward movement on a new deal are scheduled for this week, both owners and players are bracing for a lockout to begin once the current collective bargaining agreement expires June 30.
Late Sunday night, the CBA was the last thing on the mind of the new champions of the NBA, whom Carlisle called "the most special team I've ever been around."
Jason Kidd, at 38 years old, got his first championship. Nowitzki got his at 32, Terry at 33. They were featured on the video screen in their building in Dallas during this series on what seemed like a constant loop, each posing with the NBA trophy and looking longingly at it, standing mere inches from it, as if to say "so close, yet so far away."
No more.
Dwyane Wade and LeBron James combined to score 62 points in the fourth quarter of the 2011 NBA Finals. By comparison, Dirk Nowitzki scored 62 points all by himself in the fourth quarter during the Finals.
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It's theirs. And for the second time, James went to the Finals, only to see the other team celebrate. San Antonio won in Cleveland in 2007, and four years later, he saw the Mavs party on his new floor.
"It was a failure in '07 when we lost to the Spurs when I was in Cleveland," James said. "It's a failure now."
Nowitzki sealed it with 2:27 left, hitting a jumper near the Miami bench to put Dallas up 99-89, and some fans actually began leaving. Nowitzki walked to the Mavs' side slowly, right fist clenched and aloft.
He knew it. Everyone did.
"We feel it," Wade said. "We'll feel it even more tomorrow."
Spoelstra implored his team to foul in the final minute, and even then, they couldn't catch the Mavericks.
"All I remember is telling those guys that they deserved it," Bosh said. "Hands down, they were the better team in this series. ... All we can do is just admit it and move forward."
What happens with the next deal may affect the Heat more than anyone. Some owners will insist on a hard cap, rolled-back salaries and, potentially, trying to bust some current deals -- which could break up the Big 3 before get another chance to win a title together.
A gloomy end to the season may bring an even gloomier offseason for Miami.
"Every situation has felt like it was an our-back-against-the-wall situation," James said Sunday morning, hours before Game 6 began. "We've been able to figure it out and find our way through and scratch our way through. This is the last test. This is the last pop quiz for us that we need to pass in order to make it all worth it."
They didn't pass.
So therefore, it wasn't all worth it.
"We give credit to the Dallas Mavericks," Wade said. "They're a helluva team. ... We ran into a team that at this time is obviously better than us."
Miami had chances to take command and wasted them all. The Heat missed 13 of their 33 free throws, let the Mavericks score 27 points off turnovers and simply could not get a rebound in the final minutes.
Nowitzki finished 9 for 27, and the Mavs still won. He was 1 for 12 in the first half, and they were still ahead, 53-51, thanks largely to Terry's 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
"Was he unbelievable tonight or what?" marveled Nowitzki.
Down the stretch, Terry made another contribution. He grabbed Nowitzki during a time-out, telling him, "Remember '06." The final minutes belonged to Dirk and the Mavs, and a few German flags waved in Miami's arena during the postgame celebration.
"This feeling, to be on the best team in the world, it's just undescribable," Nowitzki said.
After James got off to such a fast start, he had two points in the final 19-plus minutes of the half.
James didn't score in the second half until a layup with 1:49 remained in the third -- his first field-goal attempt since 1:05 remained in the half. Kidd made a 3-pointer late in the period, pushing the Dallas lead to 79-71, and it seemed like the only people standing in the arena were the players, referees, Cuban and a few guys around the Dallas bench.
Dallas took control in the second half after some wild back-and-forths in the opening two quarters. Miami took its last lead of the game -- the season -- just 64 seconds into the second half, lost it 16 seconds later and chased the Mavericks the rest of the way.
They never caught them.
"I can't believe the journey," said Kidd, who lost two previous Finals trips with the New Jersey Nets. "The journey, the character of my teammates telling me they wanted to get me a championship. Tonight they came out and played well. I came here twice, this being my third time so third time was the lucky charm."
It was 81-72 entering the fourth, after Ian Mahinmi made a foul-line jumper as time expired in the third, just his third basket of the entire series.
None were bigger. The Mavs could taste a title.
"We had no champions on this team," Mavs center Tyson Chandler said. "And we walked away with a team full of champions."
Of the principal characters from the 2006 series, only Cuban, Nowitzki and Terry remain from the Mavericks' side, and for them, the beginning of this championship celebration seemed sweeter than even they could have imagined. Terry won't have to get his tattoo -- the one of the NBA championship trophy -- removed, which he vowed to have done if Miami won this series. Nowitzki will never be in the conversation of 'Best player without a title' again.
James is clearly the one with that most-unwanted label now.
As the night wore on, the smell of champagne permeated from the Dallas locker room, while Miami's was cleaned and vacuumed quickly, towels picked up, shower shoes stacked neatly before each player's locker. Nearby, in the team's usual postgame interview room, the Mavericks posed with the championship trophy, whooping in joy as Miami players filed out in stunned disbelief.
The offseason started earlier than the Heat ever imagined.
"The Greater Man upstairs know when it's my time," James tweeted. "Right now isn't the time."
Game notes
Carlisle improved to 11-3 as a coach with a chance to close out an opponent. ... James got a 21-minute rest in the second quarter in real time, thanks to a midcourt dustup and the referees taking several minutes to look at replays before doling out the technicals. ... Marc Anthony sang the national anthem, then took a courtside seat near the Heat bench.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
1:38 PM
Happy new year 2012
If I could go back, obviously you don't want anybody to get hurt, but I don't think I'd change the decision.
Francisco Liriano got off to a rough start, but since throwing a no-hitter on May 3, he's turned his season around and been lights out.
Braves starter Tommy Hanson is the first Braves starter to strike out at least 14 in a game since John Smoltz in 2005.
Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty ImagesMark Cuban has owned the Mavs since buying the team in 2000.
