Dirk Nowitzki (R) of the Dallas Mavericks shoots over Udonis Haslem (L) of the Miami Heat during Game Two of the NBA. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

With the score favoring the Miami Heat 88-73 over the Dallas Mavericks, and with 6:20 left in Game two of the NBA Finals, the Marvelous Mavericks made their move. The rally had begun, led by Maverick forward Dirk Nowitzki.

In fact, there was some concern just how effective Nowitzki would be after tearing a tendon on his left middle finger during Game One of this final playoff series. He had managed only 15 points headed into the final period. But that last period was golden, providing the difference as he scored nine points, shaping the win.

With only 26.7 seconds left Nowitzki swished in a 3-pointer on a dish from guard Jason Terry, who himself had just made 3 points, giving Dallas a 93-90 led. The Heat’s Marion Chalmer’s shot a high-arch 3-pointer that banged in from the sideline, tying the game 93 all with 24.5 left in the game.

Nowitzki positions high, just out of the paint, gets the ball, fakes right, spins left around the Heat defender Chris Bosh, extends himself, and using his injured left hand, banks the ball off the glass for two with 3.6 left in the game. Miami could not respond and the Mavericks would win 95-93. The victory came on a 22-5 scoring run by the Mavericks.  

After last Tuesday’s loss to the Heat, Mavericks’ Coach Rick Carlisle was asked what he needed to change if they were going to be victorious. “We are going to have to rebound better,” he said simply.  

The Heat had out-rebounded the Mavs 46-36 in Game One, with 16 of them being offensive rebounds. In Game Two the Mavericks reversed the course, 51-39, and edged the Heat 11-6 in offensive boards.

How LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki play will determine the winner of the series.

The effort of the Mavs in the last quarter of this game has to be one of the finest offensive displays in NBA Finals history. But the Mavericks have a way of doing the seemingly impossible. In LA this year the Mavericks were down by 16, but went on to rally and defeat the Lakers. They were behind the Oklahoma City Thunder by 15 in Game Four, but defeated them. Tonight it was the Miami Heat’s turn.

Several Maverick players played outstanding basketball Thursday night.

Maverick center Tyson Chandler forced turnovers from Miami forward Chris Bosh. Chandler himself got into foul trouble but still scored 13 points.

A tremendous defensive effort was provided by Shawn Marion to keep Miami superstar LeBron James at bay. James had foul troubles and took to the bench early in the first half. James would score 20 points. Marion would go on to score 20 points, going 9-14 from the field with 8 rebounds.

Maverick guard J.J. Barea scored only 5 points, but unlike the first game against Miami, he was able to drive the lane and sidelines at will, though he couldn’t seem to find the bucket.

Jason Terry (L) of the Dallas Mavericks goes to the basket against the Miami Heat. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

Maverick guard Jason Terry, along with Jason Kidd had 5 assists, Terry also scored 16 points. “We felt real good about tonight,” said Terry after the game. “This team is all heart and we will never give up. I promised myself if I got a chance to play again for the NBA Championship, the outcome would be different.”

Terry was referring to the last time the Mavs had played for the NBA Championship and were defeated by the Miami Heat after leading the series by two games.  

LeBron James (R) of the Miami Heat tries to head off the driving Jason Terry (L) of the Dallas Mavericks. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

The Heat’s LeBron James may be one of the finest players in NBA history. He is big—6’9”—and strong, but is cat-quick and can jump into the night sky and hang on a star. He scored only 20 points in the game, down about 6 points from his average, but his sheer presence on the court gives Miami an advantage. In fact, I believe how James and Maverick Nowitzki play will determine the winner of the series.

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade is a sight to behold. He drives to the bucket at will, and shoots a 3-pointer like Robin Hood does an arrow into the heart of the Sheriff of Nottingham. I don’t think Dallas has anyone that can cover him unless it is guard DeShawn Stevenson. Although Stevenson had 9 points in the game, the fiery Wade had 36 points and 6 assists.

This series will have more drama than a knife fight on a Mississippi riverboat. These two strong-willed teams will go at it again Sunday night at The American Airline Center in Dallas, starting at 7 pm. The following two games will also be in Dallas, the next being Tuesday night at 7pm.

Durhl Caussey, a Dallas resident, writes on sports, automobiles, and life in general.

Thanks for reading! .

Read More: Jason Kidd (G – DAL), Tyson Chandler (C – DAL), Jason Terry (G – DAL), DeShawn Stevenson (G – DAL), LeBron James (F – MIA), Dwyane Wade (G – MIA), Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat

Here is the much-discussed “celebration” that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade engaged in that supposedly fired up the Dallas Mavericks and caused them to rally from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. It was a play that Tyson Chandler, Jason Terry and Jason Kidd all resented, with Chandler going as far to say that it “angered” the Mavericks. This means that everyone writing about this game has a built-in narrative that will be happily consumed by the masses thanks to all the Heat hate.

But let’s step back for a second. Really, Dallas Mavericks? That’s the celebration that you say inspired you? Weak sauce.

As Holly MacKenzie pointed out: if that’s your standard for a celebration, then Miami should be inspired every time DeShawn Stevenson does anything. If you watch the video, the only player on the Mavericks who is even responding to Wade holding his follow through is Terry, which is ironic in and of itself considering Terry’s antics when he hits big shots. As for Chandler, you can’t even really see him in the picture anyway.

Wade and James didn’t seem to think it was a big deal either. Via Dan Wetzel of Yahoo!

“It was no celebration at all,” James said, unwilling to acknowledge the comments pouring out of the Mavericks’ locker room. “I was excited about the fact that [Wade] hit a big shot, and we went up 15. The same thing we’ve done over the course of the season. There was no celebration at all. We knew we had seven minutes to go still to close out the game.”

“There was no celebration,” Wade said. “It was a shot made going into a timeout. Every team does something. That’s the game. … That’s not the first time. It won’t be the last time.”

It’s a nice little turning point that Mavericks players can turn to after the fact to explain their stunning comeback, but that’s not the same thing as saying it actually fired them up. No, what fired Dallas up was facing a 15-point deficit in what was essentially a must-win game in the NBA Finals. If the Mavericks want to say otherwise, it’s their right, but that’s closer to the truth.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

Read More: Kendrick Perkins (C – OKC), Dirk Nowitzki (F – DAL), Kevin Durant (F – OKC), Russell Westbrook (G – OKC), Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder, May 23, 2011 9:00 PM EDT

In Game 3, the Dallas Mavericks punched the Oklahoma City Thunder in the mouth early in the first quarter, winning that quarter 27-12. That poor Thunder start was due in large part to the lack of offensive movement in the first half. When OKC was finally able to get close, they were unable to stop the Jason Terry/Dirk Nowitzki pick-and-pop.  If the Thunder want to even up the series and give themselves a chance at making the NBA Finals, they are going to need to fix both of these problems.

Offense: Get More Movement

The lack of movement in the Thunder’s offense has always been a problem, but when Kevin Durant struggles and is unable to bail the Thunder out, these problems are amplified.  When watching the Thunder on offense, you usually see three or more players simply standing around possession after possession:

This time down the court, you have Russell Westbrook bringing the basketball up and attempt to try and call something while dribbling the basketball to the wing.  Then nobody moves.  After waiting for a while, Kendrick Perkins finally comes over and sets a screen, and Westbrook uses it.  After coming off the screen, he tries to kick it out to James Harden, but Shawn Marion is able to get his hand on it and create the turnover.  Now, the lack of movement is what allows Marion to get the turnover.  He knows that Harden isn’t a threat to cut off of his help, so he is able to dive in, stop penetration, and then shoot back out to get his hand on the ball.

Far too often, the Thunder run one action and think that is enough to get the job done.  Here, Durant sets a screen for Westbrook in an attempt to run a pick-and-pop and then gets a screen on the backside from Perkins.  Durant kind of jogs through the motions, and since Perkins isn’t a threat on the offensive end, Tyson Chandler is able to play the passing lane and take the over the top pass away from Westbrook.  Now once this action finishes, it is stand around time as everyone stands and watches Westbrook dribble the basketball.  Westbrook is forced to try and create, missing the jumper out of isolation.

Here is another example of just one action (setting a screen up top) with everyone standing and watching.  This time, we at least get to see a pass, but it goes to Durant who is stepping back to about 30 feet away from the basket.  Durant makes the catch, but because he is so far out, his dribble penetration takes him just to the elbow, where he misses the jumper.

What really makes this frustrating is that when the Thunder are actually spaced properly and are moving, they look great (as they should with two of the better players in the league).

On this possession, you know that the Thunder are running a set from the start. Westbrook quickly gets the basketball out of his hands and cuts through as the Thunder start a set.  Eventually, Westbrook attacks, but with good spacing, he has a teammate making himself available, kicks the ball out, and then the ball quickly shoots around the outside, forcing Dallas to recover.  Eventually, Thabo Sefolosha gets it, pump fakes, and gets the easy lay-in.

The Mavericks have a good but not great defense.  There are a few older guys on their roster who aren’t even close to being as quick as the guys on the Thunder’s roster.  You zip the ball around and have guys cutting, you are forcing the Mavericks defense to rotate and recover, when that happens, the Thunder are going to have opportunities to penetrate.  They need more of this in Game 4.

Defense: Don’t Hedge Off Of Nowitzki In Pick And Pop Situations

In the fourth quarter of game three as Oklahoma City started to fight back, the Mavericks went to a Jason Terry/Dirk Nowitzki pick-and-pop (which is the new Barea/Nowitzki pick-and-pop), and Nick Collison’s tendency to hedge on this play led to a few open jumpers for Dallas.

On both of these plays, Collison hedges out on Terry in an effort to keep him from penetrating.  While that is a solid strategy against a normal pick-and-pop, but with Nowitzki, you can’t do this.  Collison had success stopping Nowitzki by staying in his body and not giving him any space.  Once you hedge on the pick-and-pop, you can’t stay with Dirk or in his body.  This gives Nowitzki enough room to hit jumpers.

I understand that Terry is almost as much as a threat as Nowitzki in the fourth quarter, but you can’t leave Dirk. Maybe send a rotating defender from somewhere else, maybe hope that Terry’s defender can get through the screen, but don’t leave Nowitzki open.

That’s all for today.