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[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.google.co...ex=&startPage=1

NBA Finals: Mavericks need serious upgrade.
Posted by berrytramelon.

"The Dallas Mavericks didn’t play horribly in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Mavs led by eight in the third quarter, trailed just by just one with two seconds left in that period and trailed by just four with 3:50 left in the game. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James went into their usual overdrive down the stretch and made this a 92-84 Miami victory.

But the Mavericks hardly looked like the same team that swept the Lakers and took out the Thunder in five games. Which is a testament to defense. The Heat plays big-time defense, which the Thunder must aspire to.

The ESPN broadcast crew actually was kind of the Thunder. Jeff Van Gundy, I think it was, said at one point that Oklahoma City had to wondering where some of those Maverick misses on Tuesday night were in the Thunder series.

Where did Dallas fall short in Game 1?
* Jose Barea was awful. He torched the Thunder a couple of times and was never awful. But against Miami, Barea made just 1-of-8 shots and didn’t get fouled. Barea forces the Heat into a lineup adjustment; Miami can’t use Mike Bibby when Barea is on the floor, but that kind of manipulation didn’t pay off Tuesday.

* Peja Stojakovic was awful. Awful as in almost unusable and perhaps in need of not getting another chance. Peja was not any good against OKC, either, but he was really exposed against the Heat. Wade took away the ball from Peja like a schoolyard bully, plus Peja was 0-of-3 on 3-pointers.

* Tyson Chandler seemed like a strength for the Mavs, if going against Miami center Joel Anthony. But Chandler was ineffective in Game 1. He had nine points but just four rebounds in 33-plus minutes. Chandler has got to rebound better. The Mavs got hurt bad on the boards.

* Dirk Nowitzki played fine but just missed shots. Dirk had 27 points despite making just seven of 18 shots. He was 12-of-12 from the foul line — OKC knows the feeling — and that gives Dallas hope that Nowitzki can score at a consistently high level in the series.

* Jason Kidd was Jason Kidd. Does he ever play any differently than coolly efficient. Kidd had nine points, making three 3-pointers, two of them early that helped Dallas stay steady in the first quarter, plus six assists. The one thing we know for sure in this series, either team, is how Kidd will play.

* Jason Terry was OK. He made three of 10 shots and scored 12 points. Terry is a shotmaker; he will shoot better. Terry doesn’t do a lot more than that. Interesting stat: in plus/minus, Terry was the lone Maverick not in the minus. Dallas played even with Terry on the court, in 32-plus minutes.

* Brendan Haywood was the surprise Maverick. He played pretty good, with seven rebounds, plus three foul shots (out of six). Haywood runs hot and cold, but he was effective at times against OKC and showed signs of the same in Game 1.

* Shawn Marion was the Mavs’ best player, 16 points and 10 rebounds, on 6-of-12 shooting in a game in which his teammates combined to make just 19 of 55 shots. Marion was very active and effective against the Thunder and kept it up against Miami."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.google.co...ex=&startPage=1
Commentary|Randy Galloway.

"Dallas Mavericks inexplicably lacking hustle, toughness.
Who said everything is different this time?


Mostly different teams, in a different situation, with different motivational ploys.


Sorry, but everything appeared to be the same here Tuesday night. And for the Dallas Mavericks, exactly what wasn’t needed was a sudden flashback to some hot early summer evenings in this town.

Five years ago, of course, the Mavs were destroyed here in the NBA Finals, losing all three games at AmericanAirlines Arena, and eventually watching the Heat celebrate a title.

This time, it was just a disgusting Game 1 loss.

But if things don’t change in a hurry, then this is going to be 2006 all over again, although the Mavs, based on what was observed Tuesday night, won’t be hanging around past three more games.

A 92-84 loss was more of a disgrace than a disappointment.

Timid play

No matter how poorly the shooting, and it was awful for the Mavs (37 percent), repeatedly giving up offensive rebounds and a new possession, is strictly a hustle and toughness issue. There is no way the Mavs can be caught timid in that kind of vital area.

Except they were, surrendering 19 offensive rebounds. On the other end, the Mavs had six offensive rebounds.

The Heat also didn’t shoot well enough to win most games (39 percent) but with a huge advantage on possessions, generated 80 shot attempts to only 67 for the Mavs.

Hustle and toughness. How do the Mavs open the NBA Finals by losing in that department?

Rick Carlisle missed a good chance in his post-game comments to offer up that magic word: Soft.

He’s done it before, and with good results afterwards.

Speaking of Game 2, Rick said, “We can’t be a minus 10 in offensive boards. We have to straighten out the rebounding and we have to do a better job of putting the ball in the basket.”

Let me help Rick a bit.

Your team was soft, coach. You should have said it yourself.

Does the Heat play good defense? Of course.

Everyone at fault
But the Mavs almost missed shots they have to make. That starts with, yes, Dirk Nowitzki, then goes to Jason Terry and from there, all the way down to J.J. Barea and Peja Stojakovic.

Then again, do the Mavericks play good defense?

The Miami shooting suggests that.

But when it comes to the fourth quarter, and the game is up for grabs, is Dirk going to step up or not? And Terry, too?

At a critical point in the final quarter, with Miami up by five, the Mavs had four straight possessions after Heat misses, and ended up with one point on those trips.

Terry missed two shots, including a wide open three-pointer from the corner. Dirk missed a baseline jumper and Tyson Chandler made one of two free throws.

Dwayne Wade, rather quiet until the fourth, came back at that point with a clutch jumper, and it was Wade who put the game out of reach a little later with a steal off his own blocked shot, then nailing a three-pointer on the other end.

Making them count
Despite only seven points in the quarter, Wade made them count.

Dirk had 10 in the fourth, and 27 for the game, but the same as five years ago, it was Wade, with 22 points overall, who ended up with the headlines. And deservedly so.

Wade, who didn’t fake any injuries in this game, has plenty of proven help in that guy LeBron, and also Chris Bosh, who despite a poor shooting night (5-of-18) got to the foul line and also hustled the boards, with five offensive rebounds.

Wade, James and Bosh combined for 65 points, but were well under 50 percent shooting. The Mavs can live with that in this series. In fact, they would invite that.

But the Mavs bench, starting with Terry going 3 for 12, and Barea’s 1 for 7, was outscored 27-17 by the Heat reserves.

No way the Mavs can win this series with that happening.

Barea was again a game changer with his penetration, but this time he couldn’t finish. And this time the Mavs were finished because of their bench failure.

From a worry standpoint, this was the fourth consecutive game where Terry had shooting woes going back to the Oklahoma City series.

Without Terry breaking this slump, the Mavs chances of survival are diminished.

The losers’ lament when opening a series on the road is always, “we came here to get one win.”

Game 2 is Thursday night.

But even with a 5-year gap in the NBA Finals, one win is still something the Mavericks haven’t celebrated in this town.

Unless something changes drastically in Game 2, then absolutely nothing will be different from the last time."

[jcisco loboe'77]

...what Goodman 'fails to explain is that the heat onlyshot 38% themselves! !

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/01/2244609/miami-heat-beat-dallas-mavericks.html

.Game 1: Heat 92, Mavericks 84
Strong three-point shooting sparks Miami Heat.
Mavericks held to 37.3 shooting; Nowitzki injures finger.
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN.

"That’s five in a row now for the Heat against the Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

The Heat won four in a row against Dallas to win the 2006 Finals. Five years later, the Heat began the rematch with a 92-84 victory on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Heat is 9-0 at home this postseason and plays again at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday before traveling to Dallas for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 2011 Finals.

After struggling against the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals, Dwyane Wade returned to his more familiar postseason form Tuesday. He had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his first NBA Finals game since winning the 2006 Finals MVP trophy. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting.

After the game, Nowitzki revealed that he tore a tendon in the middle finger of his left hand. Nowitzki, who was injured when Chris Bosh stripped him of the ball, will play the rest of the series with a splint on the finger.

Wade’s fifth assist of the night led to a dunk by Bosh with 1:08 to play to give the Heat a 10-point lead. Assist No.6 for Wade came less than a minute later when he found LeBron James for an alley-oop. James, who needs three more victories for his first NBA championship, screamed to the crowd and slammed his left fist against his chest. He scored a team-high 24 points on Tuesday on 9-of-16 shooting, including 4 of 5 from three-point range.

“We were able to get some defensive shots there at the end to get some distance,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

The Heat’s quick and athletic defense held the Mavericks to a postseason-low 37.3 shooting percentage. The Heat, which struggled at times with the Mavericks’ zone defense, wasn’t much better. Miami shot 38.8 percent. The Heat’s bench, led by Mario Chalmers’ 12 points, outscored the Mavs’ reserves 27-17.

“Shots are going to be hard to come by,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

Wade put the Heat ahead by nine points with 3:06 to play when he swished his second three-pointer of the game. Moments earlier, Wade blocked Shawn Marion’s midrange attempt to trigger a fast break. Wade’s ensuing shot in transition was the Heat’s 11th and final three-pointer of the game. It was one off the Heat’s postseason high for three-pointers.

Entering the Finals, conventional wisdom said the Mavericks’ stable of sharpshooters gave Dallas a distinct advantage from three-point range. Not the case in Game 1. The Heat shot 45.8 percent from three-point range compared to 40.9 percent for the Mavericks.

"I thought we played well defensively and they allowed us to get out and get some good shots on the other end," Wade said. "Obviously I made some shots tonight but we all made plays down the stretch that helped us win the ballgame."

James’ first exclamation point on the Finals came after a powerful crossover against Shawn Marion led to a a driving dunk. James made a free throw to convert the three-point play to give the Heat an 85-75 lead with 2:48 to play.

With three seven-footers in its rotation, Dallas entered Tuesday’s series opener with plans of dominating the glass. Instead, the shorter and quicker Eastern Conference champions consistently beat the Mavericks to loose balls and missed shots. Miami outrebounded Dallas 46-36, including 16 in offensive rebounds. Dallas had six."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.miamihera...k-nowitzki.html
Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki good, but not great .He scored 27 points, but Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki was held mostly in check by a group of tough Heat defenders.
By Barry Jackson.

"Dirk Nowitzki’s joyride through these NBA playoffs hit a bit of a speed bump in Game 1 of the Finals. Stalked by two of the Heat’s lunch-pail defenders (Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony), Nowitzki made only 7 of 18 shots, well below his 51.7 percent accuracy in the playoffs. He scored 27 points, slightly below his 28.4 playoff average, with six of those coming in the final three minutes.

Haslem did yoeman’s work against him, just as he did in the 2006 Finals when Nowitzki averaged 22.8 points on 39 percent shooting.

Coach Erik Spoelstra opened with Anthony — instead of Chris Bosh — on Nowitzki. Bosh defended him briefly in the fourth quarter, when Haslem went to the bench for a short rest and Juwan Howard re-entered.

But both Haslem and Anthony got assistance, as the Heat often sent a second defender to help on Nowitzki..

“I had some good drives in the first half. Just have got to finish,” Nowitzki said. “I have to keep attacking and take my opportunities when they’re there. We all know Udonis Haslem is a good defender, probably one of the best in this league.”

Nowitzki said during the game - when he tried to strip the ball from Bosh - he tore a tendon in a finger in his left (non-shooting) hand, but the injury will not keep him from playing. He said he will wear a splint during the rest of the series.

“Both teams were locked in and making a strong defensive effort,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We had shots we normally make that didn’t go down.”

Nowitzki was quiet early (two points, 1 for 3 shooting in the first quarter), but scored nine in the second, including a three-pointer over Dwyane Wade and a turnaround bank-shot over Haslem to go to halftime with 13.

Nowitzki went 1 for 5 in the third quarter. When he returned with 1:09 left in the third — after a three-minute rest — he had an aggressive mentality, driving on three sequences before the Heat could set its defense. That resulted in two free throws and a layup.

But Nowitzki missed a jumper over Haslem with 5:06 left in the game and Dallas down six. By the time he scored his fifth and sixth points of the quarter, the Mavericks were down by nine with 2:56 left.

Some other Game 1 developments, from Dallas’ perspective:
• The Mavericks had two damaging droughts — one in the third quarter when they scored just two field goals in the final 8:32 (from Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler). Then Dallas had only one field goal in a six minute stretch of the fourth, until five minutes remained. By that point, the Mavericks were down 77-70.

• One huge factor: Jason Terry went scoreless in the second half (0-for-3 shooting) after scoring 12 points in the first half. Dallas’ bench, one of the best in the league, shot 0 for 9 in the second half, with J.J. Barea missing all four of his attempts on a 1-for-8 night.

Also significant: In the second half, starting point guard Jason Kidd had just three points (on a meaningless late three), two assists and two turnovers.

“It’s a long series,” Carlisle said. “We’ll adjust.”

• Marion had a well-rounded game, filling the box score with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

• The Mavericks, who have made nearly nine three-pointers per game in the playoffs, had nine in Game 1 but that didn’t tell the full story. Dallas opened 7 for 15 from beyond the arc but missed five of its next six before Kidd’s meaningless three in the closing seconds.

• Dallas, which has been outrebounded by two per game in postseason, was beaten 46-36 on the glass.

“What really killed us was offensive rebounds,” Nowitzki said. “Those guys will have you scramble defensively. We were out of position to box out. J.J. was rushing some of his shots in the paint.”

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.sbnation....inals-heat-mavs
Dirk Nowitzki Injury Affects Middle Finger On His Non-Shooting Hand.
by Brian Floyd.

"Following the Dallas Mavericks loss to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, we learned Dirk Nowitzki had sustained torn tendons in his left middle finger. We know Nowitzki will wear a splint on his injured finger, but will be fine to play in Game 2. What we don't know is how the injury will affect him, or if it will at all. If there's good news for Dallas fans, it's that the torn tendons are in the middle finger of his non-shooting hand, lessening the blow and, perhaps, the pain involved.

Nowitzki himself downplayed the injury on Tuesday night, saying he'll be ready to go on Thursday and doesn't think it will affect his game.

"I thought I stripped him clean, then I kind of looked down and I couldn't straighten my finger out anymore," said Nowitzki, who had 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting as the Mavs fell behind in a series for the first time this postseason. "So I tore a tendon in there. I guess it will be all right. I have to wear a splint probably the rest of the playoffs."

His left hand is his guide hand, and while the injury and split used to protect it may be uncomfortable, this may not be the death blow for the Mavericks. Nowitzki's shot should be fine, though the splint may take some getting used to in the days leading up to Game 2.

However, the trouble for Nowitzki may not be in the act of shooting, but rather setting up his shot. With the split, dribbling could become more difficult, and any attempt by the Heat to swipe the ball could result in immediate pain, should they hit his injured finger.

We're flying blind ahead of Game 2, with no real indication as to how Nowitzki's injury may affect the Mavericks and his own game. If he can handle the pain and get used to the splint on his left hand, Dallas may be fine. If the injury worsens -- and it may overnight -- the Mavericks face an uphill battle over the rest of the series as they face a Miami team that already looks poised to bring home the title."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.usatoday....-nowitzki_N.htm

Mavs' Nowitzki on injured finger: 'I'll be all right.'
By Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY|.

MIAMI—"True to his word, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gave Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki different defensive looks.

Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem defends against Dirk Nowitzki during the Heat's NBA Finals Game 1 victory in Miami.
The Heat started with center Joel Anthony on Nowitzki. Then LeBron James guarded the 7-footer. Heat guard Dwyane Wade defended him, then forward Chris Bosh had a chance — all in the first six minutes of the first quarter.

"We'll have multiple guys guard him by necessity and because of that's who we are to change up things, different looks and great players require that," Spoelstra said before Game 1.

"Every team we've played is very aggressive on him," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's a unique player. He's got to be denied the ball virtually all the time. Haslem is a guy who has the wherewithal to do that, and they're going to play him aggressively, and we know that. {hellip} We've got to keep giving him opportunities to create."

"They're a very good defensive team. ... Both teams shot (below) 40%," Carlisle said. "It gives you some idea of (how) difficult good, clean shots are going to come by in this series."

Miami's aggressive defense kept Nowitzki from dominating, and the All-Star had as quiet a 27 points as a player can score in Miami's 92-84 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday.

The right-handed Nowitzki tore a tendon in the middle finger of his left hand but said it shouldn't be a problem. He said he injured the finger while trying to steal the basketball from Bosh.

"I kind of looked down, and I couldn't straighten my finger out anymore," said Nowitzki who had an X-ray on the finger. "I guess it will be all right. I have to wear a splint probably for the rest of the playoffs. ... I'll be all right for Thursday."

The injury earned him no sympathy from James.

"Dirk is right-handed," James said. "He shoots the ball extremely well. That left hand is just a guide hand for all shooters We all know that. It won't affect him. He's still going to be great. He's still Dirk."

It was Dallas' second-lowest scoring total of the playoffs.

"You hold a team to 38% and 92 points, for us, that's usually a victory," Mavericks forward Shawn Marion said. "To score 84 points is very rare for us."

Nowitzki scored 13 points in the first half and four points in the third quarter. He made seven of 18 shots (38.9%) in one his worst shooting games of the playoffs.

"Both teams are good defensively. That's why both teams are in the Finals," Nowitzki said. "I had my opportunities there. I had some good drives there in the first half. I've just got to finish. I missed a righty layup. I missed a lefty layup that rolled around. I have to keep attacking and take my opportunities when they're there."

Said Wade: "We'll take seven of 18 every game we can."

The Mavericks shot 37.3% from the field Tuesday, including 36.4% in the second half.

After Dallas took a 51-43 lead early in the third quarter, the Heat finished on 22-10 run and took a 65-61 lead into the fourth quarter.

And the fourth quarter has been where Miami's defense has excelled through the first three rounds of the playoffs. It continued against the Mavericks with James, Wade, Haslem, Bosh and forward Mike Milleron the court.

"We were able to get some defensive stops there at the end to create some distance," Spoelstra said.

The Heat entered the series knowing they couldn't stop Nowitzki for 48 minutes. He's too tall and can get his shot off at anytime. He's too creative with his arsenal of traditional and unorthodox moves.

"You just have to make it tough on him and wear him out throughout the game," James said before the start of the series.

While Nowitzki lamented missed shots, the Heat also did fair job of making him work for shots and keeping him from his comfort zones as much as possible.

"I thought our guys did a good of paying attention to the detail of what we wanted to do," Wade said.

Of all the Heat players guarding Nowitzki, Haslem was the least surprising. In Miami's 2006 NBA Finals victory against Dallas, Haslem helped limit Nowitzki to 39% shooting and became known as "the Dirk stopper."

"We all know Haslem is a good defense at the four position, probably one of the best in the league" Nowitzki said.

Nowitzki, who entered the Finals averaging 28.4 points, started 1-for-3. He went 18 minutes, 39 seconds without a field goal in the first half. Miami wanted to keep Dallas out of the paint, and it did — at the expense of three-pointers. Six of Dallas' 13 field goals in the first half were three-pointers. But Dallas was held to three three-pointers in the second half.

"Defense is our staple," James said of the Heat, who entered the Finals allowing 88.3 points a game in the playoffs and were No. 6 in points allowed a game (94.6) during the regular season.

To get an idea of how much emphasis the Heat place on defense, Bosh said they made too many mistakes on defense in a game in which their opponent did not shoot 40% or score 90 points.

"Tomorrow, we'll look at film, we'll see where we made our mistakes, we'll make adjustments and move on from there," Bosh said.

Spoelstra, as he did throughout the conference finals when Miami kept Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose from controlling games, didn't want to take credit for what the Heat did."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.nypost.co...jqnoADBdW0OTthN
Mavericks' Nowitzki to play through torn finger tendon.
By MARC BERMAN.

MIAMI--"Dirk Nowitzki tried to slip a bombshell past everyone in the postgame press conference last night, saying oh so matter-of-factly that he has a torn tendon in the middle finger of his left hand.

As if the Mavericks' night could not get any worse as they shot 37.4 percent in losing Game 1 to Miami, 92-84.

Nowitzki, who wore a splint after the game, injured his non-shooting hand, trying to strip the ball from Chris Bosh and picking up a foul to boot.

Nowitzki finished with a game-high 27 points, but did not put his stamp on the game as he looks for his first ring.

OH, SPLINT: Dirk Nowitzki goes for a rebound during the Mavericks' 92-84 Game 1 loss last night in Miami. After the game, Nowitzki was wearing a splint on the middle finger on his left (non-shooting) hand.
"I thought I stripped him clean and then I looked down and couldn't straighten my finger out anymore," Nowitzki said. "So I tore a tendon in there. I have to wear a splint for probably the rest of the playoffs. But it will be alright."

Nowitzki said he had an X-ray. "I guess it's not broken," Nowitzki said.

LeBron James said he doubts the Nowitzki will be impaired.

"Dirk's right-handed, the left hand is just a guide hand," James said. "It won't effect him. He'll still be great."

* NBA commissioner David Stern announced the addition of a "full-blown" negotiating session with the players union to take place today in Miami -- and, in doing so, poked fun at a famous quote from James.

In a press conference before Game 1 of The Finals, Stern said, "We told the players and owners to bring their negotiating talents to South Beach."

Stern was having fun with James' pronouncement, when he chose Miami as his free-agent destination last July, that he was taking his "talents to South Beach."

Previously, the NBA and union had scheduled just two meetings in the site of the Western Conference city -- Dallas. The Finals could be the last NBA competition for a long while, with some estimates saying a lockout could last until December.

"I would say it's going to be a challenge to the NBA owners and union to reach the right deal so that this success we're having can continue, and the challenge is to do it before the expiration on June 30th," Stern said.

* When Jason Kidd still was a Net, the team moving to Brooklyn was still a pipe dream. And if they ever escaped Jersey, he would be pushing 40.

Kidd was right to want to leave, but said the Nets are right to believe things will be better at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, which is scheduled to open after next season.

"It will work itself out once they get there," Kidd told The Post. "They still have to find players. They got an owner [Mikhail Prokhorov] who wants to win it. At some point, it will turn once they get to Brooklyn."

* Miami's Dwyane Wade gave a friendly jab at the 38-year-old Kidd, kidding the former Nets superstar who became the oldest point guard to ever start an NBA Finals game last night.

When asked at yesterday's morning shoot-around his first memory of Kidd, Wade said jokingly, "I think I was watching him in black and white, it seems so long ago."

LeBron James said he remembers Kidd as being every bit as athletic as the new breed of athletic point guards.

"When he was in Dallas, he had that high-top box and he was basically Derrick Rose, John Wall, Russell Westbrook," James said.

"All these guys, that's what Jason Kidd was, but passed the ball better than those guys. He could go on a 1-on-4 fastbreak and finish up at the rim just like the great point guards we have today."

* Chris Bosh of the Heat is a Dallas native but did not grow up a Mavericks fan.

"There weren't many Mavericks fans back then," Bosh said. "I was more a fan of the league. I liked players."

Bosh's parents and relatives still live in Dallas, but are not fans of Mark Cuban's Mavericks, either.

"Absolutely not. You can't be any fan but where I am."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://blogs.dallaso...011_torn_te.php
2006: Broken Heart. 2011: Torn Tendon. Ugh.
By Richie Whitt.

​"The frustrating thing about Dirk Nowitzki's injured finger? It happened on a play that wasn't a foul.

"I thought I stripped him clean," Dirk said after last night's 92-84 Game 1 loss to the Heat in the NBA Finals. "Then I kind of looked down and I couldn't straighten my finger out anymore."

On the play that Dirk tore a tendon in the middle finger of his left hand, he cleanly stripped the Heat's Chris Bosh. It was a big play in a lot of ways.

After Shawn Marion's three-point play, the Mavs pulled within 77-73 with 3:44 remaining. Bosh took a pass in the lane, went up for a shot and was cleanly stripped by Nowitzki.

But instead of a steal and a possession for Dallas, it was whistled a foul. Two free throws, followed by a 3-pointer by Dwyane Wade on Miami's next possession and, bam, ball game.

Nowitzki certainly isn't known for his defense, but one of his "moves" is the slap-'n-strip. With him wearing a splint on the finger the rest of the series, it's a small asset taken away from his arsenal.

It will also affect his ball-handling. And perhaps his psyche?

The Heat, as expected, sent a lot of looks at Dirk and forced him to miss 11 of his 18 shots. Joel Anthony started on him, then a couple of possessions of Bosh and in the second half some Udonis Haslem. And, yes, lots of double-teams.

I still think LeBron James will cover Dirk on game-deciding possessions, but last night Miami didn't need him."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.nba.com/2...ls=iref:nbahpt1
John Schuhmann.
Heat tighten up defense on Heat to nab ugly Game 1 win.

"Game 1 of the 2011 NBA Finals was ugly. But ugly is how the Miami Heat win games and on Tuesday, their stifling defense trumped the Dallas Mavericks' potent offense in a 92-84 victory.

It was the fourth time in the postseason and the third time in the last five games that the Heat have held their opponent to under 40 percent shooting. They've won five straight games and in doing so have held the Bulls and Mavs to just 417 points on 433 possessions (96.3 per 100).

It was just the eighth time in 98 games and the first time in two months that the Mavs have been held under 40 percent shooting. They're now 6-18 when they fail to score 93 points."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.nba.com/2...ls=iref:nbahpt1
John Schuhmann.

"Empty bench for Big D.
Particularly bad offensively was the Dallas bench, which averaged 39 points on 46 percent shooting through the first three rounds, but scored just 17 points on 4-for-22 shooting (18.2 percent) on Tuesday.

The 17 points were the lowest output of the season for the Mavs' bench, and 18 percent was easily the worst their bench has shot since they went 1-for-15 on Feb. 20 of last year against the Heat (a game the Mavs won).

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in the days leading up to The Finals that the Heat would have to treat J.J. Barea similar to the way they treated Derrick Rose. In Game 1, Barea got into the paint, but couldn't finish. He took seven of his eight shots from the paint, but made just one of them.


Jason Terry, meanwhile, took eight of his 10 shots from beyond 15 feet. That's not all that unusual, but Terry made just one of his three attempts on corner 3-pointers after shooting 17-for-27 from the corners in the first three rounds."




http://www.nba.com/s...;splitValue=mia
• StatsCube: J.J. Barea's shooting in Game 1
Player Statistics.
2010-11 Regular Season.2011 Playoffs..Shooting Analysis..
...........GP MIN FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% O D REB AST TO STL BLK PTS +/-
Totals.....81 1669 285 649 44% 66 189 35% 133 157 85% 29 130 159 317 136 30 1 769 157
Per Game...81.20.6..3.5 8.0 44% 0.8 2.3 35% 1.6 1.9 85% 0.4 1.6 2.0 3.9 1.7 0.4 0.0 9.5 1.9
Per 36 Min.81 1669..6.1 14.0 44% 1.4 4.1 35% 2.9 3.4 85% 0.6 2.8 3.4 6.8 2.9 0.6 0.0 16.6 3.4



Advanced Statistics

OffRtg DefRtg NetRtg OREB% DREB% REB% AST% ASTRatio TORatio eFG% TS% Usg%

Totals 107.68 101.74 5.95 2.1% 8.9% 5.6% 31.4% 27.1 11.61 49.0% 53.5% 26.7%

> 10% above the player's AVG> 10% below the player's AVG.

Shooting Analysis PLAYER AVG
FG%--PLAYER AVG
58%--138-238

COMPARED TO PLAYER AVG FG%
PLAYER AVG 34% 36-105

COMPARED TO PLAYER AVG FG%
PLAYER AVG 39% 45-117

COMPARED TO PLAYER AVG FG%
PLAYER AVG 33% 8-24

COMPARED TO PLAYER AVG FG%
PLAYER AVG 35% 58-164

Edited by jcisco loboe'77, 01 June 2011 - 07:09 PM.

[jcisco loboe'77]

Miami leads series 1-0.

FINAL
DAL-17-27-17-23=84
MIA-16-27-22-27=92




Dallas Mavericks...........field goals...rebounds
.............pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a.+/- off+def=tot ast pf st to bs ba=pts
S. Marion.....F 35:20 6-12 0-0..4-5...-9....3+ 7= 10 4 1 1 3 1 2==16
D. Nowitzki...F 40:27 7-18 1-2 12-12..-2....0+ 8== 8 2 4 0 2 0 1==27
T. Chandler...C 33:47 3 -4 0-0..3-5...-2....0+ 4== 4 2 5 1 2 2 0===9
D. Stevenson..G 14:26 2 -3 2-3..0-0...-5....0+ 2== 2 0 2 0 0 1 0===6
J. Kidd.......G 36:25 3 -8 3-7..0-0...-7....0+ 4== 4 6 0 0 3 1 0===9
J. Terry........32:30 3-10 3-7..3-4....0....1+ 0== 1 1 2 0 1 0 0==12
P. Stojakovic...14:43 0 -3 0-3..0-0...-3....0+ 0== 0 0 3 2 0 0 0===0
JoseJuan. Barea.18:09 1 -8 0-0..0-0...-6....0+ 0== 0 3 2 1 0 0 1===2
B. Haywood......14:13 0 -1 0-0..3-6...-6....2+ 5== 7 0 3 1 0 3 0===3
C. Brewer...DNP- Coach's Decision
B. Cardinal.DNP- Coach's Decision
I. Mahinmi..DNP- Coach's Decision
Total............240 25-67 9-22 25-32.......6+30=36 18 22 6 11 8 4 84
.....................37.3% 40.9% 78.1% team rebs: 10 total to: 11


Miami Heat..........field goals............rebounds
..........pos min fgm-a 3pm-a ftm-a +/- off def tot ast pf st to bs ba pts
L. James---F 45:15 9-16 4-5 2-2 +9 0 9 9 5 4 1 1 0 0 24
C. Bosh----F 38:55 5-18 0-0 9-12 +11 5 4 9 3 3 0 0 1 4 19
J. Anthony-C 17:52 0-1 0-0 0-0 -5 1 2 3 0 2 0 1 1 0 0
D. Wade----G 38:05 9-19 2-4 2-5 +7 3 7 10 6 1 0 3 2 3 22
M. Bibby---G 14:06 0-4 0-4 0-0 -2 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 0
M. Chalmers--28:24 3-8 3-7 3-4 +8 1 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 12
U. Haslem----29:34 3-8 0-0 1-1 +8 1 5 6 1 5 1 2 0 0 7
J. Howard----07:37 0-1 0-0 2-2 +2 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
M. Miller----20:12 2-5 2-4 0-0 +2 2 3 5 1 4 0 1 0 0 6
E. Dampier DNP - Coach's Decision
E. House...DNP - Coach's Decision
J. Jones...DNP - Coach's Decision
Total------240 31-80 11-24 19-26 16 30 46 20 21 5 10 4 8 92
...............38.8% 45.8% 73.1% team rebs: 13 total to: 12

inactive
Mavericks: Beaubois, Butler, Jones
Heat: Ilgauskas, Magloire, Pittman

technical fouls
Mavericks: --
Heat: --

scoring
Lead Changes: 10
Times Tied: 7


arena stats
Arena: American Airlines Arena, Miami,FL.
Officials: #29 Steve Javie, #24 Mike Callahan, #55 Bill Kennedy
Attendance: 20003
Duration: 2:38

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://www.nba.com/g...l#nbaGIboxscore
Mavericks-Heat notebook.
By Shandel D. Richardson, for NBA.com.

"THE FACTS: The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat lead the series 1-0. Forward LeBron James led the Heat with 24 points and nine rebounds while guard Dwyane Wade added 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

The Heat trailed by eight in the third quarter before turning things around. James hit an off-balanced 3-pointer at the end of the quarter to put Miami ahead by four. Miami limited the Mavericks to just 37 percent shooting, slowing star forward Dirk Nowitzki. He finished with 27 points, but shot just 7 of 18 from the field. Forward Shawn Marion added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

In a defensive battle, Miami shot poorly as well, making 38 percent from the field. The difference was the Heat's 16 offensive rebounds and 11 of 24 shooting from the 3-point arc.

QUOTABLE: "Well, again, that was a grind. It's tough. That's a very skilled offensive team. We didn't get into much of an offensive flow the entire game. This was more of probably a defensive battle."
-- Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.

THE STAT: The Heat won the offensive rebounding battle 16-6. The second-chance points were vital in Miami overcoming a second-half deficit and staying close in the first half.

TURNING POINT: The moment Wade joined the party in the second half. After allowing James and Chris Bosh to carry the early load, Wade finished strong with seven fourth-quarter points. The Heat are fine with this as long as Wade arrives at some point. He played the same way throughout the Chicago Bulls series in the Eastern Conference finals.

QUOTABLE II: "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."
-- Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle.

HOT: James shot 9 of 16 from the field, but more importantly hit 4 of 5 from 3-point range. That made things difficult for the Mavs' defense and eventually opened things up for him and Wade to drive to the basket.

NOT: Nowitzki scored 27 points, but had to work hard to get them. He shot just 7 of 18 from the field, with most of his production coming from the foul line. The Mavs will need him to perform like he did in the previous two rounds to have any sort of chance.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Wade finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Not bad for a player who was virtually a non-factor in the first half.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Jimmy Buffet, Gloria Estefan, Ludacris, Queen Latifah, Terrell Owens.

GOOD MOVE: The Heat decided to have James defense Mavs guard Jason Terry in the second half. It eliminated much of the Mavs' perimeter scoring. There was talk about James defending Nowitzki, but it never happened. It wound working because the Dallas offense was less effective in the second half.

BAD MOVE: The Mavs appeared to give up the 3-point shot. It came back to haunt them, with the Heat making 11 of 24 from behind the arc. Miami's 3-point shooting allowed it to offset its 38 percent shooting.

NOTABLE: The Heat are now 9-0 at home in the postseason ... Heat center Erick Dampier was active for the first time in the playoffs, but did not play ... The Mavs trail for the first time in a playoff series this season ...Mavs forward Caron Buter (knee) remained inactive, but coach Rick Carlisle has yet to rule him out for the series.

UP NEXT: Game 2 is Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena at 9 p.m."

[jcisco loboe'77]

Mavericks--Heat
FG%==37.3%-38.8%
3FG%=40.9%-45.8%
FT%==78.1%-73.1%


...................DAL-MIA
Total Rebounds......36-46
Offensive Rebounds...6-16
Turnovers...........11-10
Fast Break Pts......12- 7
Biggest Lead.........8-12
Points in the Paint.24-28

-----------DAL.------MIA
p Nowitzki--27 James-24
rb Marion---10 Wade--10
a Kidd-------6 Wade---6
s Stojakovic-2 Bibby--2
b Haywood----3 Wade---2

[jcisco loboe'77]

Those of U watching---how many realizes that by the 3:34 mark,this gane was over????


Start of 1st Quarter
(12:00) Jump Ball James vs Chandler (Bibby gains possession)
Chandler Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 11:42
11:42
[MIA 1-0] Bosh Free Throw 1 of 2 (1 PTS)
11:42
[MIA 2-0] Bosh Free Throw 2 of 2 (2 PTS)
Chandler Turnover : 3 Second Violation (1 TO) 11:22
10:58
[MIA 4-0] James Turnaround Jump Shot: Made (2 PTS)
10:50 Wade Foul : Personal (1 PF)
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Made (2 PTS) 10:39
[DAL 2-4]
10:13 James Fade Away Jumper Shot: Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:0 Def:1) 10:12
Nowitzki 3pt Shot: Missed 10:03
10:02 Bosh Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
09:39 Wade Jump Shot: Missed
09:38 Team Rebound
09:26 Wade Jump Shot: Missed Block: Marion (1 BLK)
Stevenson Rebound (Off:0 Def:1) 09:25
09:16 Anthony Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Nowitzki Free Throw 1 of 2 (3 PTS) 09:16
[DAL 3-4]
Nowitzki Free Throw 2 of 2 (4 PTS) 09:16
[DAL 4-4]
08:57
[MIA 6-4] Bosh Jump Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Bibby (1 AST)
Chandler Driving Dunk Shot: Missed 08:47
08:46 Wade Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
08:42 Wade Driving Layup Shot: Missed
Chandler Rebound (Off:0 Def:1) 08:41
Marion Turnover : Bad Pass (1 TO) Steal:Bibby (1 ST) 08:30
08:16 Bosh Jump Shot: Missed Block: Stevenson (1 BLK)
Team Rebound 08:15
Marion Layup Shot: Missed Block: Anthony (1 BLK) 08:05
08:04 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
07:46 Bibby 3pt Shot: Missed
Kidd Rebound (Off:0 Def:1) 07:45
Kidd 3pt Shot: Missed 07:36
Team Rebound 07:35
07:29 James Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Chandler Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed 07:29
Team Rebound 07:29
Chandler Free Throw 2 of 2 (1 PTS) 07:29
[DAL 5-6]
07:06 Wade Jump Shot: Missed
07:05 Bosh Rebound (Off:1 Def:1)
07:04
[MIA 8-5] Bosh Layup Shot: Made (6 PTS)
Nowitzki Driving Layup Shot: Missed 06:51
06:50 Anthony Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
06:27 Bibby 3pt Shot: Missed
Stevenson Rebound (Off:0 Def:2) 06:26
Kidd Turnaround Jump Shot: Missed 06:03
06:02 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:2)
05:55 Bosh Hook Shot: Missed
Chandler Rebound (Off:0 Def:2) 05:54
Marion Turnover : Lost Ball (2 TO) Steal:James (1 ST) 05:36
05:30
[MIA 10-5] James Running Jump Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Bibby (2 AST)
Nowitzki Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 05:30
05:30 Team Timeout : Regular
Stevenson Substitution replaced by Terry 05:30
05:30
[MIA 11-5] James Free Throw 1 of 1 (5 PTS)
Kidd 3pt Shot: Made (3 PTS) Assist: Marion (1 AST) 05:13
[DAL 8-11]
04:46 Bibby 3pt Shot: Missed
04:45 Bosh Rebound (Off:2 Def:1)
04:43
[MIA 13-8] Wade Layup Shot: Made (2 PTS) Assist: Bosh (1 AST)
Kidd 3pt Shot: Missed 04:26
Marion Rebound (Off:1 Def:1) 04:25
Kidd 3pt Shot: Made (6 PTS) Assist: Terry (1 AST) 04:13
[DAL 11-13]
03:45 James Jump Shot: Missed
03:43 Wade Rebound (Off:1 Def:1)
03:31 Anthony Turnover : Bad Pass (1 TO) Steal:Marion (1 ST)
03:26 Bibby Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Nowitzki Substitution replaced by Stojakovic 03:26
03:26 Bibby Substitution replaced by Chalmers
03:26 Bosh Substitution replaced by Haslem
Terry Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed 03:26
Team Rebound 03:26
03:26 Anthony Substitution replaced by Howard
Terry Free Throw 2 of 2 (1 PTS) 03:26
[DAL 12-13]
Terry Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 03:03
03:03 Wade Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed
03:03 Team Rebound
03:03 Wade Free Throw 2 of 2 Missed
03:02 Howard Rebound (Off:1 Def:0)
02:46 Chalmers 3pt Shot: Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:1 Def:2) 02:45
Marion Hook Shot: Missed 02:28
02:27 Haslem Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
02:06
[MIA 16-12] James 3pt Shot: Made (8 PTS) Assist: Wade (1 AST)
Team Timeout : Regular 02:04
02:04 Wade Substitution replaced by Miller
Terry 3pt Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Kidd (1 AST) 01:51
[DAL 15-16]
01:34 Miller Turnover : Out of Bounds Lost Ball Turnover (1 TO)
Kidd 3pt Shot: Missed 01:12
Marion Rebound (Off:2 Def:2) 01:11
Kidd Turnover : Bad Pass (1 TO) 01:02
Kidd Substitution replaced by Barea 01:02
Marion Substitution replaced by Nowitzki 01:02
00:43.9 Chalmers Jump Shot: Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:1) 00:42.9
00:37.3 James Foul : Shooting (2 PF)
Terry Free Throw 1 of 2 (5 PTS) 00:37.3
[DAL 16-16]
Terry Free Throw 2 of 2 (6 PTS) 00:37.3
[DAL 17-16]
00:15.9 James Jump Shot: Missed
Chandler Rebound (Off:0 Def:3) 00:14.9
Stojakovic 3pt Shot: Missed 00:04.5
00:02.4 Miller Rebound (Off:0 Def:1)
00:00.3 Chalmers 3pt Shot: Missed
00:00.0 Team Rebound
End of 1st Quarter


Start of 2nd Quarter
Barea Running Jump Shot: Missed 11:45
11:44 Bosh Rebound (Off:2 Def:2)
11:25 James Jump Shot: Missed
11:24 Bosh Rebound (Off:3 Def:2)
11:23
[MIA 18-17] Bosh Putback Dunk Shot: Made (8 PTS)
Barea Jump Shot: Missed 11:04
11:03 Miller Rebound (Off:0 Def:2)
10:54 Miller 3pt Shot: Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:2) 10:53
Terry 3pt Shot: Made (9 PTS) Assist: Barea (1 AST) 10:42
[DAL 20-18]
10:22
[MIA 21-20] Miller 3pt Shot: Made (3 PTS) Assist: James (1 AST)
10:07 Jump Ball Haslem vs Nowitzki (Chalmers gains possession)
Nowitzki Turnover : Lost Ball (1 TO) Steal:Haslem (1 ST) 10:07
10:02 Chalmers Turnover : Step Out of Bounds Turnover (1 TO)
Terry 3pt Shot: Missed 09:40
09:39 Team Rebound
09:39 James Substitution replaced by Wade
09:19 Miller Jump Shot: Missed
09:17 Miller Rebound (Off:1 Def:2)
09:12 Wade Layup Shot: Missed Block: Haywood (1 BLK)
09:11 Wade Rebound (Off:2 Def:1)
09:09 Wade Turnover : Bad Pass (1 TO) Steal:Barea (1 ST)
09:06 Haslem Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Nowitzki Free Throw 1 of 2 (5 PTS) 09:06
[DAL 21-21]
Nowitzki Free Throw 2 of 2 (6 PTS) 09:06
[DAL 22-21]
08:49 Bosh Turnaround Jump Shot: Missed Block: Haywood (2 BLK)
Haywood Rebound (Off:0 Def:1) 08:48
Terry Driving Layup Shot: Missed 08:34
08:33 Wade Rebound (Off:2 Def:2)
Haywood Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 08:23
08:23
08:23 Chalmers Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed
08:23 Team Rebound
08:23
[MIA 22-22] Chalmers Free Throw 2 of 2 (1 PTS)
Barea Driving Layup Shot: Made (2 PTS) 08:10
[DAL 24-22]
07:46
[MIA 24-24] Wade Layup Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Bosh (2 AST)
Nowitzki Driving Finger Roll Layup Shot: Missed 07:27
Haywood Rebound (Off:1 Def:1) 07:25
Terry 3pt Shot: Missed 07:19
07:18 Haslem Rebound (Off:0 Def:2)
07:09 Haslem Jump Shot: Missed
Haywood Rebound (Off:1 Def:2) 07:08
Barea Running Jump Shot: Missed 06:55
06:54 Team Rebound
Haywood Foul : Loose Ball (2 PF) 06:54
Haywood Substitution replaced by Chandler 06:54
Nowitzki Substitution replaced by Marion 06:54
Terry Substitution replaced by Kidd 06:54
06:54 Miller Substitution replaced by James
06:54 Haslem Substitution replaced by Anthony
Stojakovic Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 06:40
06:40
[MIA 25-24] Bosh Free Throw 1 of 2 (9 PTS)
06:40 Anthony Substitution replaced by Miller
06:40 Bosh Free Throw 2 of 2 Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:2 Def:3) 06:39
Marion Jump Shot: Made (2 PTS) 06:20
[DAL 26-25]
06:03
[MIA 27-26] James Layup Shot: Made (10 PTS) Assist: Wade (2 AST)
Stojakovic 3pt Shot: Missed 05:50
05:49 Bosh Rebound (Off:3 Def:3)
Stojakovic Foul : Personal (2 PF) 05:45
05:45 Team Timeout : Regular
05:32
[MIA 30-26] Chalmers 3pt Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Miller (1 AST)
05:18 Miller Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Marion Free Throw 1 of 2 (3 PTS) 05:18
[DAL 27-30]
Barea Substitution replaced by Terry 05:18
Stojakovic Substitution replaced by Nowitzki 05:18
Marion Free Throw 2 of 2 Missed 05:18
05:17 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:3)
05:04 Bosh Layup Shot: Missed
05:03 Bosh Rebound (Off:4 Def:3)
05:02 Bosh Tip Shot: Missed
05:01 Wade Rebound (Off:3 Def:2)
04:58 Wade Turnover : Bad Pass (2 TO) Steal:Chandler (1 ST)
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Missed 04:49
Terry Rebound (Off:1 Def:0) 04:48
04:44 Bosh Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Marion Free Throw 1 of 2 (4 PTS) 04:44
[DAL 28-30]
04:44 Miller Substitution replaced by Anthony
Marion Free Throw 2 of 2 (5 PTS) 04:44
[DAL 29-30]
04:32 Wade Driving Layup Shot: Missed Block: Kidd (1 BLK)
04:31 Team Rebound
04:19
[MIA 33-29] Wade 3pt Shot: Made (7 PTS) Assist: Chalmers (1 AST)
Nowitzki Layup Shot: Made (8 PTS) Assist: Kidd (2 AST) 03:59
[DAL 31-33]
03:39
[MIA 35-31] Bosh Jump Shot: Made (11 PTS) Assist: James (2 AST)
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Missed 03:18
Team Rebound 03:17
03:17 Bosh Foul : Loose Ball (2 PF)
Team Timeout : Regular 03:17
03:17 Bosh Substitution replaced by Haslem
Nowitzki 3pt Shot: Made (11 PTS) Assist: Kidd (3 AST) 03:03
[DAL 34-35]
02:41 Wade Turnover : Bad Pass (3 TO)
Nowitzki Turnaround Bank shot: Made (13 PTS) 02:20
[DAL 36-35]
01:57 Wade 3pt Shot: Missed
Chandler Rebound (Off:0 Def:4) 01:56
Marion Dunk Shot: Made (7 PTS) Assist: Chandler (1 AST) 01:46
[DAL 38-35]
01:27
[MIA 38-38] Chalmers 3pt Shot: Made (7 PTS) Assist: Wade (3 AST)
Chandler Alley Oop Dunk Shot: Made (3 PTS) Assist: Kidd (4 AST) 01:12
[DAL 40-38]
01:12 Anthony Foul : Shooting (2 PF)
01:12 Anthony Substitution replaced by Bosh
Chandler Free Throw 1 of 1 (4 PTS) 01:12
[DAL 41-38]
Chandler Foul : Shooting (2 PF) 00:59.5
00:59.5
[MIA 39-41] Bosh Free Throw 1 of 2 (12 PTS)
00:59.5
[MIA 40-41] Bosh Free Throw 2 of 2 (13 PTS)
Terry Jump Shot: Missed 00:41.9
Marion Rebound (Off:3 Def:3) 00:40.9
Terry 3pt Shot: Made (12 PTS) Assist: Marion (2 AST) 00:38.7
[DAL 44-40]
00:25.9
[MIA 43-44] Chalmers 3pt Shot: Made (10 PTS) Assist: James (3 AST)
Nowitzki Turnover : Poss Lost Ball Turnover (2 TO) 00:05.9
Chandler Substitution replaced by Haywood 00:05.9
00:05.9 Team Timeout : Short
Nowitzki Substitution replaced by Stevenson 00:05.9
00:05.9 Haslem Substitution replaced by Miller
00:00.3 Miller 3pt Shot: Missed
00:00.0 Team Rebound
End of 2nd Quarter

Start of 3rd Quarter
Nowitzki Driving Layup Shot: Missed Block: Wade (1 BLK) 11:37
11:35 Bosh Rebound (Off:4 Def:4)
11:23 Anthony Turnaround Hook Shot: Missed
11:22 Bosh Rebound (Off:5 Def:4)
11:21 Bosh Tip Shot: Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:3) 11:19
Marion Jump Shot: Made (9 PTS) Assist: Chandler (2 AST) 11:06
[DAL 46-43]
10:42 Bibby 3pt Shot: Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:3 Def:4) 10:41
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Made (15 PTS) Assist: Kidd (5 AST) 10:29
[DAL 48-43]
10:12 James Driving Layup Shot: Missed
Kidd Rebound (Off:0 Def:2) 10:11
Stevenson 3pt Shot: Made (3 PTS) Assist: Marion (3 AST) 10:03
[DAL 51-43]
10:03 Team Timeout : Regular
09:50
[MIA 45-51] Wade Driving Reverse Layup Shot: Made (9 PTS)
Kidd Turnover : Lost Ball (2 TO) Steal:Bibby (2 ST) 09:38
09:34
[MIA 47-51] Wade Layup Shot: Made (11 PTS) Assist: James (4 AST)
Stevenson Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 09:34
Stevenson Substitution replaced by Barea 09:34
09:34 Wade Free Throw 1 of 1 Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:4) 09:33
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Missed 09:09
09:08 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:4)
08:43 Bosh Jump Shot: Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:5) 08:42
Marion Layup Shot: Made (11 PTS) Assist: Nowitzki (1 AST) 08:33
[DAL 53-47]
08:12 Wade Jump Shot: Missed
08:11 Anthony Rebound (Off:1 Def:1)
Chandler Foul : Shooting (3 PF) 08:00
Chandler Substitution replaced by Haywood 08:00
08:00 Bosh Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed
08:00 Team Rebound
08:00
[MIA 48-53] Bosh Free Throw 2 of 2 (14 PTS)
Marion Jump Bank Shot: Missed 07:42
Team Rebound 07:41
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Missed 07:33
07:32 Wade Rebound (Off:3 Def:3)
07:20
[MIA 51-53] James 3pt Shot: Made (13 PTS) Assist: Bibby (3 AST)
Nowitzki Running Hook Shot: Missed 06:57
06:56 Anthony Rebound (Off:1 Def:2)
06:39 Bosh Jump Shot: Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:6) 06:38
Haywood Dunk Shot: Missed 06:29
Haywood Rebound (Off:2 Def:2) 06:28
06:28 Bosh Foul : Shooting (3 PF)
Haywood Free Throw 1 of 2 (1 PTS) 06:28
[DAL 54-51]
06:28 Bibby Substitution replaced by Chalmers
06:28 Anthony Substitution replaced by Haslem
Haywood Free Throw 2 of 2 (2 PTS) 06:28
[DAL 55-51]
06:10
[MIA 53-55] Wade Jump Bank Shot: Made (13 PTS)
Barea Layup Shot: Missed Block: Bosh (1 BLK) 05:57
Team Rebound 05:56
Marion Jump Shot: Made (13 PTS) Assist: Kidd (6 AST) 05:47
[DAL 57-53]
05:27 Haslem Jump Shot: Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:3 Def:5) 05:26
Marion Jump Shot: Missed 05:12
05:11 Haslem Rebound (Off:0 Def:3)
05:05 Chalmers 3pt Shot: Missed
Haywood Rebound (Off:2 Def:3) 05:04
Barea Driving Finger Roll Layup Shot: Missed 04:57
04:56 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:5)
Haywood Foul : Shooting (3 PF) 04:36
04:36
[MIA 54-57] Wade Free Throw 1 of 2 (14 PTS)
Nowitzki Substitution replaced by Stojakovic 04:36
Barea Substitution replaced by Terry 04:36
04:36
[MIA 55-57] Wade Free Throw 2 of 2 (15 PTS)
04:21 Haslem Foul : Shooting (2 PF)
Haywood Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed 04:21
Team Rebound 04:21
Haywood Free Throw 2 of 2 Missed 04:21
04:20 Haslem Rebound (Off:0 Def:4)
03:57 Chalmers 3pt Shot: Missed
Haywood Rebound (Off:2 Def:4) 03:56
Kidd Turnover : Bad Pass (3 TO) Steal:Chalmers (1 ST) 03:47
Stojakovic Foul : Personal (3 PF) 03:34
03:34 Bosh Substitution replaced by Howard
Haywood Substitution replaced by Chandler 03:34
03:28 Wade 3pt Shot: Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:3 Def:6) 03:27
Stojakovic 3pt Shot: Missed 03:18
03:17 Wade Rebound (Off:3 Def:4)
02:58 Haslem Turnover : Traveling (1 TO)
Team Timeout : Regular 02:58
02:58 Wade Substitution replaced by Miller
Terry Turnover : Out of Bounds Lost Ball Turnover (1 TO) 02:49
02:34
[MIA 57-57] Haslem Layup Shot: Made (2 PTS) Assist: James (5 AST)
Marion Turnover : Bad Pass (3 TO) 02:24
02:10 James Turnover : Lost Ball (1 TO) Steal:Stojakovic (1 ST)
Chandler Dunk Shot: Made (6 PTS) Assist: Marion (4 AST) 02:05
[DAL 59-57]
01:46 Haslem Turnover : Lost Ball (2 TO) Steal:Stojakovic (2 ST)
Marion Jump Shot: Missed 01:24
01:23 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:6)
01:12
[MIA 60-59] James 3pt Shot: Made (16 PTS)
Team Timeout : Short 01:09
Kidd Substitution replaced by Nowitzki 01:09
Stojakovic Substitution replaced by Barea 01:09
Barea Driving Finger Roll Layup Shot: Missed 00:55.9
00:54.9 Haslem Rebound (Off:0 Def:5)
00:35.8 Haslem Jump Shot: Missed
00:34.1 Howard Rebound (Off:2 Def:0)
00:33.1 Howard Jump Shot: Missed Block: Chandler (1 BLK)
00:32.1 Howard Rebound (Off:3 Def:0)
Barea Foul : Personal (1 PF) 00:32.1
00:32.1
[MIA 61-59] Howard Free Throw 1 of 2 (1 PTS)
00:32.1
[MIA 62-59] Howard Free Throw 2 of 2 (2 PTS)
00:16.9 Chalmers Foul : Shooting (1 PF)
Chandler Substitution replaced by Haywood 00:16.9
Nowitzki Free Throw 1 of 2 (16 PTS) 00:16.9
[DAL 60-62]
Nowitzki Free Throw 2 of 2 (17 PTS) 00:16.9
[DAL 61-62]
00:00.0
[MIA 65-61] James 3pt Shot: Made (19 PTS)
End of 3rd Quarter


Start of 4th Quarter
11:40 James 3pt Shot: Missed
11:37 Chalmers Rebound (Off:1 Def:0)
11:29 Chalmers Turnover : Bad Pass (2 TO) Steal:Haywood (1 ST)
11:23 Haslem Foul : Shooting (3 PF)
Nowitzki Free Throw 1 of 2 (18 PTS) 11:23
[DAL 62-65]
Nowitzki Free Throw 2 of 2 (19 PTS) 11:23
[DAL 63-65]
11:02
[MIA 68-63] Miller 3pt Shot: Made (6 PTS) Assist: Haslem (1 AST)
10:41 James Foul : Shooting (3 PF)
Haywood Free Throw 1 of 2 (3 PTS) 10:41
[DAL 64-68]
Haywood Free Throw 2 of 2 Missed 10:41
10:40 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:7)
Barea Foul : Personal (2 PF) 10:31
10:17 Bosh Hook Shot: Missed Block: Haywood (3 BLK)
Haywood Rebound (Off:2 Def:5) 10:16
Nowitzki Driving Layup Shot: Made (21 PTS) Assist: Barea (2 AST) 09:57
[DAL 66-68]
09:28 Team Turnover : Shot Clock Turnover
09:28 Chalmers Substitution replaced by Wade
Barea Jump Shot: Missed 09:16
09:15 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:8)
09:01
[MIA 70-66] Haslem Jump Shot: Made (4 PTS) Assist: Wade (4 AST)
Stevenson 3pt Shot: Missed 08:44
08:43 Team Rebound
Nowitzki Foul : Loose Ball (2 PF) 08:43
08:43
08:26
[MIA 72-66] Wade Jump Shot: Made (17 PTS)
Stevenson 3pt Shot: Made (6 PTS) Assist: Barea (3 AST) 08:03
[DAL 69-72]
07:42 Wade Fade Away Jumper Shot: Missed
Team Rebound 07:42
07:42 Miller Foul : Loose Ball (2 PF)
Barea Substitution replaced by Kidd 07:42
Haywood Substitution replaced by Chandler 07:42
Chandler Foul : Offensive (4 PF) 07:32
Chandler Turnover : Foul (2 TO) 07:32
07:11 Bosh Layup Shot: Missed
07:09 Haslem Rebound (Off:1 Def:5)
Stevenson Foul : Personal (2 PF) 07:01
06:47 Haslem Jump Shot: Missed
06:46 Miller Rebound (Off:2 Def:2)
06:36
[MIA 74-69] Haslem Layup Shot: Made (6 PTS) Assist: Bosh (3 AST)
Nowitzki Foul : Shooting (3 PF) 06:36
Team Timeout : Regular 06:36
Stevenson Substitution replaced by Marion 06:36
06:36
[MIA 75-69] Haslem Free Throw 1 of 1 (7 PTS)
Terry Jump Shot: Missed 06:11
06:10 Wade Rebound (Off:3 Def:5)
05:57 Bosh Jump Shot: Missed
Marion Rebound (Off:3 Def:7) 05:56
Terry 3pt Shot: Missed 05:42
05:41 Team Rebound
05:19 Bosh Turnaround Hook Shot: Missed
Kidd Rebound (Off:0 Def:3) 05:18
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Missed 05:06
05:05 Miller Rebound (Off:2 Def:3)
04:46 Haslem Layup Shot: Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:7) 04:45
04:35 Miller Foul : Personal (3 PF)
04:35 Haslem Substitution replaced by Howard
04:35 James Foul : Personal (4 PF)
Chandler Free Throw 1 of 2 Missed 04:35
Team Rebound 04:35
Chandler Free Throw 2 of 2 (7 PTS) 04:35
[DAL 70-75]
04:35 Team Timeout : Regular
04:15
[MIA 77-70] Wade Jump Shot: Made (19 PTS)
Marion Jump Shot: Made (15 PTS) 03:58
[DAL 72-77]
03:58 Miller Foul : Shooting (4 PF)
03:58 Howard Substitution replaced by Haslem
03:58 Miller Substitution replaced by Chalmers
Marion Free Throw 1 of 1 (16 PTS) 03:58
[DAL 73-77]
Nowitzki Foul : Shooting (4 PF) 03:44
03:44
[MIA 78-73] Bosh Free Throw 1 of 2 (15 PTS)
03:44
[MIA 79-73] Bosh Free Throw 2 of 2 (16 PTS)
Marion Jump Shot: Missed Block: Wade (2 BLK) 03:25
03:24 Team Rebound

03:06 [MIA 82-73] Wade 3pt Shot: Made (22 PTS)--Game over!!

Team Timeout : Regular 03:06
02:56 Haslem Foul : Personal (4 PF)
Nowitzki Free Throw 1 of 2 (22 PTS) 02:56
[DAL 74-82]
Nowitzki Free Throw 2 of 2 (23 PTS) 02:56
[DAL 75-82]
02:48
[MIA 84-75] James Driving Dunk Shot: Made (21 PTS)
Marion Foul : Shooting (1 PF) 02:48
02:48
[MIA 85-75] James Free Throw 1 of 1 (22 PTS)
Nowitzki Jump Shot: Made (25 PTS) 02:36
[DAL 77-85]
02:14 Bosh Jump Shot: Missed Block: Chandler (2 BLK)
Kidd Rebound (Off:0 Def:4) 02:13
Terry 3pt Shot: Missed 02:07
02:06 Wade Rebound (Off:3 Def:6)
01:44 James Jump Shot: Missed
01:43 Team Rebound
01:43 Team Turnover : Shot Clock Turnover
01:36 Haslem Foul : Shooting (5 PF)
Nowitzki Free Throw 1 of 2 (26 PTS) 01:36
[DAL 78-85]
Nowitzki Free Throw 2 of 2 (27 PTS) 01:36
[DAL 79-85]
01:36 Team Timeout : Short
Terry Foul : Personal (2 PF) 01:22
01:22
[MIA 86-79] Chalmers Free Throw 1 of 2 (11 PTS)
01:22
[MIA 87-79] Chalmers Free Throw 2 of 2 (12 PTS)
Kidd 3pt Shot: Missed 01:15
01:14 Wade Rebound (Off:3 Def:7)
01:08
[MIA 89-79] Bosh Dunk Shot: Made (18 PTS) Assist: Wade (5 AST)
Team Timeout : Regular 01:08
Marion Substitution replaced by Stojakovic 01:08
Nowitzki Fade Away Jumper Shot: Missed 00:57.9
00:56.9 James Rebound (Off:0 Def:9)
00:40.6
[MIA 91-79] James Alley Oop Dunk Shot: Made (24 PTS) Assist: Wade (6 AST)
Chandler Dunk Shot: Made (9 PTS) Assist: Nowitzki (2 AST) 00:34.9
[DAL 81-91]
Chandler Foul : Shooting (5 PF) 00:10.1
00:10.1
[MIA 92-81] Bosh Free Throw 1 of 2 (19 PTS)
00:10.1 Bosh Free Throw 2 of 2 Missed
Nowitzki Rebound (Off:0 Def:8) 00:08.9
Kidd 3pt Shot: Made (9 PTS) 00:03.0
[DAL 84-92]
End of 4th Quarter

[jcisco loboe'77]

Series Stats NBA Finals - Game 1.
Mavericks-vs-Heat.



Dallas Mavericks Stats
Season Playoffs
FG% .475 .373
FT% .777 .781
Points 100.2 84.0
Rebounds 41.4 36.0
Assists 23.8 18.0
Steals 6.8 6.0
Blocks 4.3 8.0
3-Point % .365 .409

Miami Heat Stats
Season Playoffs
FG% .481 .388
FT% .769 .731
Points 102.1 92.0
Rebounds 42.1 46.0
Assists 20.0 20.0
Steals 6.6 5.0
Blocks 5.2 4.0
3-Point % .370 .458

[jcisco loboe'77]

FINAL ROUND 4our-Game 2wo.
May 31 Heat-vs-DALLAS MAVERICKS.


For the Mavericks, Game 2 of the 2011 Championship playoffs against the Heat.

June 2 (Thursday)----Opponent---Time-----Channel TV----------Radio.
---------Mavericks-vs-Heat---8:00 pm---8ight--ABC-----ESPN-FM (103.3), KFLC-AM (1270 in Spanish).


ABC has the TV broadcast rights for the 2011 NBA Finals.


Dallas Mavericks-vs-Miami Heat.


The schedule is as follows:

Game 1 Dallas[/color] 84-92 Miami
Game 2 June 2,2011 (8:00)(Thursday)Dallas at Miami
Game 3 June 5,2011 (7:00)(Sunday)..Miami at Dallas
Game 4 June 7,2011 (8:00)(Tuesday).Miami at Dallas
Game 5 * June 9,2011 (8:00)(Thursday)Miami at Dallas
Game 6 * June 12,2011 (7:00)(Sunday)..Dallas at Miami
Game 7 * June 14,2011 (8:00)(Tuesday)Dallas at Miami

*If necessary for the Heat! !

Edited by jcisco loboe'77, 01 June 2011 - 07:46 PM.

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://sports.espn.g..._tim&id=6614252
Mavericks feel Caron Butler's absence.
Heat capitalize without injured player's scoring punch, defense on LeBron James.
Comments by Tim MacMahon.
ESPNDallas.com.

MIAMI--"You won't hear this excuse from any of the Dallas Mavericks' mouths. But man, could they use Caron Butler in this series.

As optimistic as Butler continues to be, don't get your hopes up that he'll play for the first time since New Year's Day in these NBA Finals.

It's highly unlikely that the NBA Finals see an appearance from Caron Butler, who was a key cog in the Mavs' regular-season wins against the Heat.Donnie Nelson, the Mavs' president of basketball operations, recently said it was "next to impossible" for Butler to return from a ruptured right patellar tendon to play this postseason.

Nothing has changed since then, including Butler not being cleared for contact.

It'd take a miracle for Butler to suit up in this series, much less to resemble the reliable Robin to Dirk Nowitzki's Batman that he had become in the season's first two months.

Then again, it's something of a miracle that the Mavs roared through the Western Conference bracket with Butler wearing suits and watching from behind the bench.

Unfortunately for Dallas, the Miami Heat very well could be the team to finally expose the void in the Mavs' lineup left by Butler's absence.

The Mavs certainly needed some more firepower during their 92-84 Game 1 loss Tuesday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Dallas offense bogged down against the Heat's swarming defense. The Mavs, who were forced to grind out half-court possessions, shot a playoffs-low 37.3 percent from the floor.

"Offensively, that was a disaster for us," sixth man Jason Terry said, succinctly summing up the performance.

Of course, the Mavs were missing a main ingredient from their pair of regular-season wins over the Heat. Butler averaged 18 points on 54.2 percent shooting in the two games against the team that drafted him.

Butler also did a terrific job of defending LeBron James in those games. The self-proclaimed King James scored only 26 points in 53 minutes with Butler on the floor and had a shooting percentage (.276) that looked more like a batting average.

James didn't totally dominate Game 1, but he had an efficient 24-point performance, going 9 of 16 from the floor, dishing out five assists and committing only one turnover.

Marion, DeShawn Stevenson and maybe even Jason Kidd are smart, quick and sufficiently rugged defenders to at least have a chance to limit James in this series. But that's the kind of job that needs to be done by as big a committee as possible.

Marion -- the former four-time All-Star who eventually replaced Butler in the starting lineup -- was actually one of the few bright spots for the Mavs, with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and 10 rebounds. But Marion isn't the off-the-dribble scoring threat or jump-shooter Butler is, the kind of player that makes aggressive defenses pay for focusing so much on Nowitzki.

"They're able to flood the strong side and make the other team play on the weak side," said Nowitzki, who might as well have been explaining why Butler was so efficient against the Heat this season.

One of the Mavs' biggest problems is how to plug the hole at small forward when Marion rests or slides to power forward while Nowitzki takes a break. That was a total of 21 minutes Tuesday night.

Peja Stojakovic has been well worth the minimum salary the Mavs gave him when he signed with them in midseason. His perimeter shooting played a particularly key role in the Mavs' West semifinals sweep over the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.

But Stojakovic's below-average athletic ability makes him a liability against Miami, especially if he isn't making shots. He was 0-of-3 in 15 Game 1 minutes. Stojakovic wasn't referred to by name, but it's safe to assume that Peja versus LeBron was on coach Rick Carlisle's mind when he referred to matchups that "are challenging, to say the least."

Beating the Heat would be challenging, to say the least, even with a healthy Butler in the lineup. Without him, it'll be a heck of lot harder, if not next to impossible."

Tim MacMahon covers the Mavericks for ESPNDallas.com.

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://bleacherrepor...ricks-in-game-2
NBA Finals 2011: Tyson Chandler Needs to Step Up for Dallas Mavericks in Game 2.
By Ethan Norof(Featured Columnist).


"Before the finals got underway, I wrote about how the matchup between Tyson Chandler and Joel Anthony didn't give either side a definitive advantage.

Not surprisingly, the response wasn't exactly kind. Many thought that Chandler would run circles around Anthony at both ends of the floor, and after his impressive regular season, there was definitely an argument to be made for the big man.

But in the first game of the series, that's not what happened. In fact, Chandler couldn't get it going whatsoever despite playing a whopping 34 minutes, logging just nine points and four rebounds.

To be fair, it wasn't Anthony's play that really limited Chandler's production, because the starting center played just 18 minutes in the first game of the series.

However, Udonis Haslem's 30 minutes of action really proved to be the biggest thorn in the side of Dallas and their attempt to get a prolific attack going down low.

If the Mavericks are going to have any chance of upsetting Miami in the second game of the series, they're going to need Tyson Chandler to come up with a much bigger game than what he showed in the first go-around."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://espn.go.com/n...0602/daily-dime
1. Carlisle's Response Key For Mavs In Game 2.
By J.A. Adande.
ESPN.com.

MIAMI--"For the record, Rick Carlisle does have feelings. They might not surface among the major storylines of this series, which include Dirk Nowitzki attempting to make good on his second chance at a championship and LeBron James retooling his reputation as a clutch playoff performer, but the Dallas Mavericks coach has suffered his share of heartbreaks and setbacks along the way.

In his first season with the Detroit Pistons, he won the coach of the year award. In his next season, he reached the Eastern Conference finals. Then he was out of a job.

He was in the conference finals again during his first season with the Indiana Pacers … then the next season came the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and that Pacers team would never be the same.

He knows how thin the divide between those we consider winners and losers can be. His Pistons lost the first two games of the 2003 conference finals at home by a total of four points and they couldn't bounce back.

With Indiana in Game 2 of the conference finals the next year, Reggie Miller was on his way to a game-tying layup in the final minute when Tayshaun Prince demonstrated the elasticity of his arms to block the shot.

Carlisle has put in the requisite amount of playoff suffering. He has learned from the postseason classroom.

"Just an overall view of when you get to this point, how challenging it is," Carlisle said. "How you're presented with challenges of opposing great players, difficult situations, difficult venues, all that. But the thing that you learn more than anything is that those challenges are something you have to love, and you have to embrace them. As difficult as things are, you become more resourceful and find ways to be successful."

Carlisle has plenty of challenges on his hands right now. And does he ever need to be resourceful. His Mavs are down one-love to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, and must find a way to win a game in a building where Miami hasn't lost in these playoffs. He must devise ways to enable his team to score against what has been the fiercest defense in the league over the past month.

The Mavericks hired Carlisle because they noticed his players improved at an unmatched rate at his previous two coaching stops. Now comes another element of coaching, the in-series adjustments that mean everything during the playoffs.

"We'll make adjustments, for sure," Carlisle said.

"Like?" he was asked.

"You want to know specifically," he responded.

"Please," the questioner begged.

"We'll be ready for Game 2," was all Carlisle would allow.

No, on the day Shaquille O'Neal retired Carlisle didn't quite nominate himself to take over Shaq's role of adding levity to the Finals off-day media sessions. Carlisle made only 11 3-pointers during his NBA career, but he still had more shooting range as a player than he does emotional range as a coach. He's serious, but that's one reason the team is a more legitimate contender than it was way back in the Don Nelson days.

He'll have to elicit some passion from his players, however, if they are to win what he called "the line of scrimmage." That means the battle for the ball, boxing out and diving on the floor making whatever sacrifice is necessary to get or maintain possession.

The stat the Mavericks kept coming back to was Miami's 16 offensive rebounds.

"If we get some rebounds, get the ball in [Jason] Kidd's hands, I think that should play to our advantage," Nowitzki said.

Even if he's not in charge of rebounding, Kidd said that picking up the pace is on him.

"We've got to get out and run and explore easy baskets," he said. "Then also play in flow and put pressure on their defense."

The Bulls expressed the same desire in the conference finals, and they had one of the fastest players in the league with Derrick Rose, but they still couldn't make it an uptempo game because Miami is so good at getting back on defense.

That means the Mavs can brace for lots of looks at the Heat's half-court defense, the one that held them far below their averages of 99 points and 46 percent shooting during the playoffs.

"They do a good job of rotating and covering up, so we've got to make quick reads, the ball has to move and we have to make plays," Carlisle said.

If the ball has to move it means Nowitzki might have to be more of a facilitator. The Heat are double-teaming him earlier than the Thunder did in the Western Conference finals. They'd rather take their chances with the other shooters than let Nowitzki start dropping those off-balance jumpers on them.

Carlisle also will have to use less zone if the Heat keep outrebounding them and/or continue making 3-pointers as well as they did in Game 1 (11-for-24).

"We have to become more resourceful and more opportunistic, because those have been two traits that have identified who we've been getting to this point," Carlisle said.

"Effective" is a word that could apply to Carlisle's coaching. "Unfortunate" comes to mind as well. Game 2 should give us a good indication of which label will be most reflective after this series."

[jcisco loboe'77]

http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=6614490
Pulling for Big D.
By Rick Reilly
ESPN.com.


"Beating the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals will be challenging for the Dallas Mavericks, but rooting for Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd? That's easy."


MIAMI--"Pull for Dallas to win these NBA Finals because Miami will get forklifts of rings someday. This might be Dallas' last chance.

Pull for Dallas because it got screwed in the 2006 Finals worse than Bartman. To lose to the same team five years later would be tantamount to basketball waterboarding.

Pull for Dallas because Mark Cuban hasn't opened his mouth once.

Pull for Dallas because Dirk Nowitzki deserves this title more than anybody else on the floor, more than LeBron James, more than Dwyane Wade.



Pull for Dallas because Nowitzki stayed with his team, never took his talents anywhere but to the damn gym every day.



Pull for Dallas because Nowitzki stayed with his team, never took his talents anywhere but to the damn gym every day.


Pull for Dallas because Nowitzki has stuck it out through 13 seasons so far with this one team, stuck it out through all those depressing playoff springs, all those one-and-dones, all those words people called him -- "loser" "choker" "soft" -- stuck it out even when Steve Nash left, leaving Nowitzki with a lot of nobodies and some mops.

Pull for Dallas because when you ask Nowitzki why he didn't bolt the way everybody else does, he simply says, "Because this is where my heart is."

Pull for Dallas because Nowitzki didn't try to win a title the new way, didn't pick the best kids on the playground and take on everybody else, didn't get a bunch of super-human friends and schedule himself a ring, like you might a kegger or your birthday party.

Pull for Dallas because Nowitzki has this crazy idea about trying to win one the old fashioned way, by getting better.

Pull for Dallas because James is so heaven-sent talented that he'll get more than his share of rings before he's done.

Pull for Dallas because Nowitzki is much closer to done than starting now.



Pull for Dallas because 38-year-old Jason Kidd deserves one, too, despite what he says. "I want this more for Dirk than for me," says Kidd, who's played in three decades -- 17 years -- in this league without champagne in his hair. "All the work Dirk's put in, all the time. Man he deserves it more than anybody on this team. Plus, if he gets it, that means I get one too, right?"

Pull for Dallas because Kidd is the guy everybody likes, the Ray Bourque of the NBA, the one everybody wants to see hold the trophy over his head someday. If he doesn't win it now, in his third Finals try, he'll never win it.



Pull for Dallas because it has the best locker room in the NBA, not a whiner among them. There are more good guys in that room than in some divisions.



Pull for Dallas because it doesn't do pre-championship celebrations. Dallas has this crazy notion that you should actually hold the trophy in your hands before you throw the parade. Wouldn't it be nice to give them one?



Pull for these Dallas Mavericks because the way things are going, the Dallas Cowboys may never win a title again.

Pull for Dallas because it's clear they're the underdogs in this, sort of the way a squirrel is the underdog vs. an owl. You knew that after Tuesday night's Game 1, the way LeBron James was flying over people like Air Florida and Dwyane Wade was dazzling everybody else, the way he does in NBA Finals. You knew that the way they pulled away to that win in Game 1.


Pull for Dallas because its best player, Nowitzki, has a torn tendon in his left middle finger now and yet never once blinked when we asked if he'll keep playing.

Pull for Dallas because it's not about The Decision. It's about one team taking the easy way to a title and another team taking a way that just keeps getting harder.

Pull for Dallas, because how many good things can happen to Pat Riley in one lifetime?"

Edited by jcisco loboe'77, 02 June 2011 - 04:04 PM.