Joseph D'Amico

NBA Finals Preview – Miami vs. Dallas by The Sports Network

 

Miami Heat: 2nd Seed, East (58-24)

Dallas Mavericks: 3rd Seed, West (57-25)

(Sports Network) – Five years after Miami won its first and only NBA championship over the Dallas Mavericks, the two teams are set to meet again for the league’s biggest prize starting Tuesday in south Florida.

The Heat won the championship back in 2006, roaring back from an 0-2 deficit to win four straight, becoming just the third team to win a title after losing the first two games in the NBA Finals.

That series marked both Dallas’ and Miami’s first appearance in the finals and was the coming out party for Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who was named Most Valuable Player of the set.

Pat Riley has moved from the bench in 2006 to the front office in South Beach and was the architect of one of the most successful offseasons in NBA history coming into the 2010-11 season. In addition to re-signing Wade, Riley completed trades for perennial All-Stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh, while successfully re-signing Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony and inking a number of solid role players.

The Heat amassed 58 wins and garnered the second seed in the Eastern Conference before slicing through Philadelphia, Boston and top-seeded Chicago, all in five games.

James and Wade rallied the Heat from a late deficit on Thursday and carried Miami into the NBA Finals with an 83-80 victory over the Bulls in Game 5 of the East finals.

Trailing by 12 with a little over three minutes to play, Wade and James shared the load during a game-altering 16-2 run, which included James putting in a go-ahead jumper with 29.5 seconds remaining.

“We honestly don’t know what happened. It went so fast,” James said. “I want to go back and watch the last four minutes.”

The dramatic come-from-behind win sets up a rematch of the ’06 Finals, as the Mavericks wrapped up the Western Conference on Wednesday.

“This was emblematic of everything we’ve been through this year,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We had to go through the fire again. The majority of the game was not going our way, but we’ve built up a lot of resiliency and we made enough plays down the stretch.”

A game after rallying from 15 points down with under five minutes to go, Dallas rallied from an eight-point, fourth-quarter hole on Wednesday to capture the West crown with a 100-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5.

Dirk Nowitzki drained the go-ahead three with just over one minute to play, part of a 26-point, nine-rebound night. Shawn Marion also scored 26 points with eight rebounds and J.J. Barea donated 14 points for Dallas.

“Our goal now is to win four more games no matter who we play in the Finals,” Mavs guard Jason Terry said. “This time around it’s even going to be more special. We’re going to leave it all out there on the floor and this is what you play for.”

Dallas, which also disposed of Portland and swept the two-time defending champion Lakers in this year’s postseason, comes into this series with a more defensive-minded club that the ’06 team, a better coach in Rick Carlisle and a matured Nowitzki, who has a better understanding of how to trust his teammates in big situations.

The Mavs swept the home-and-home season series with the Heat in the regular season. In fact, after their slow start Miami went on a 22-2 run with both of those losses to Dallas. The teams only previous meeting in the postseason was the ’06 Finals.

MATCHUPS:

POINT GUARD: Dallas sports a ton of experience at quarterback in 38-year-old Jason Kidd, a future Hall of Famer who owns 107 career triple-doubles and moved into third place on the all-time steals list this season behind Michael Jordan and John Stockton. Kidd is a 16-year veteran who thinks pass first and excels in finding scorers in the spots they like. He is, however, lacking quickness at this stage, although his hands at the defensive end may be the best in the game.

“He’s one of our superstars. It’s as simple as that,” Carlisle said. “When he’s on the court, it elevates our overall confidence, and then he impacts so many areas. You’re talking about a guy that’s one of the greatest ever to play.”

Miami has its own veteran in Mike Bibby, a playoff tested guy on his last legs as a player. A defensive cardboard cutout these days, Bibby does still provide a steady hand with the ball and can hit a standstill three occasionally but he is very limited and isn’t on the floor when things count. Spoelstra has been using James and Wade as the ball handlers in late game situations.

EDGE: MAVS

SHOOTING GUARD: Wade, the NBA Finals MVP in 2006 and a former scoring champion, remains an athletic marvel and one of the league’s best finishers around the rim. He can also handle the playmaking role, something his transition and penetration skills are tailor-made for. He struggled offensively in the Chicago series with a balky left shoulder but the Heat have insisted that the injury is not an issue. Wade shot just 40.5 percent against the Bulls and seemed to defer at times, but did hit three key shots in the final minutes of the clincher.

“There’s nothing significant, other than the normal bumps and bruises from this really combative series,” Spoelstra said when talking about Wade’s injury.

For Dallas, DeShawn Stevenson is a defensive-minded player with good size and strength. The skill level is just not there offensively for major minutes, however.

EDGE: HEAT

CENTER: Tyson Chandler has proven he can stay healthy in Dallas and is a big- time defensive presence who can alter shots, protect the rim and dominate the boards when motivated. In the regular season, the Heat shot 66 percent within three-feet of the bucket. Against Chandler and the Mavs that plummeted to just 52 percent.

Throughout the playoffs the Heat have played much better when Joel Anthony has manned the pivot. Anthony, a defensive-minded, under-sized center that is very long and a natural shot-blocker relies on length and energy to create problems.

EDGE: MAVS

SMALL FORWARD: James has reestablished his spot as the best player in the game during these playoffs. An unbelievable athlete with freakish strength and size, when the jumper is falling he is virtually unstoppable offensively. James has also matured after a disastrous, selfish and narcissistic final few months in Cleveland. His “Decision” to publicly spurn the Cavs on ESPN turned off the entire country and morphed him into the games’ biggest villain.

While most will swoon over his monster shots in tight situations, James’ true progression in these playoffs came on the other end of the floor. His willingness to check Derrick Rose down the stretch is something that never happened in Cleveland. LeBron, who is averaging 26.0 points per game and pulling down 8.9 rebounds per game during the playoffs, has always had the lateral movement and length to guard any perimeter player in the NBA. With a championship in sight, he finally took the plunge and became everything people thought he could be.

Shawn Marion is a tireless defender and solid, albeit unorthodox, offensive player but faces a tall task here. Marion averaged more than 10 points and six rebounds in his second full season with Dallas and upped that a bit the playoffs.

“Shawn is a guy that has had such an underrated career,” Carlisle said. “If you look at his stats for his career, you know, he’s top five in almost every Phoenix Suns category. He’s been a franchise type player for a lot of years.

“Our team was built differently than the run and gun Suns and he really had to reinvent his game to some degree to figure out the way he was going to fit in with us. I give him a lot of credit. He’s proven right now to everybody that he’s about one thing, and that’s winning.”

EDGE: HEAT

POWER FORWARD: Never a top-tier on-ball defender, Nowitzki has developed into a solid help defender and is much tougher these days. Offensively, Nowitzki has unquestionably been the best player in this postseason and swiped the mantle of best closer from Kobe Bryant. He is averaging 28.4 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting, snaring 7.5 boards and made an amazing 59-of-61 free throws against OKC.

His rainbow fadeaway is unstoppable at times and made Charles Barkley gush “Nobody can guard that guy.” Carlisle recently called him one of the 10 greatest players ever.

Bosh is one of the best offensive power forwards in the game after Nowitzki and a plus rebounder. He can, however, wilt against nasty players that crave contact but that doesn’t exactly describe Dirk . All in all, Bosh is by far the best third-option in basketball but will have a very tough time handling Nowitzki.

EDGE: MAVS

BENCH: The Heat have morphed their bench from series to series but with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller playing well again after injuries, things are far more predictable now. Those two along with point guard Mario Chalmers get the major minutes for Spoelstra

Haslem, a a good rebounder with a solid mid-range jumper, missed most of the season after tearing a tendon in his left foot in November. He’s back now and brings a certain toughness and energy to the Heat that was missing.

The sharp-shooting Miller has struggled with injuries to both his thumbs but showed signs against Chicago, especially in Game 4. When Miller is on the weakside and hitting threes, it helps open the floor for the Heat’s “Big Three.”

Chalmers, meanwhile, offers speed and quickness but is an inconsistent player and streaky shooter that will turn it over and take bad shots on occasion.

James Jones and Eddie House can also stretch the floor for Spoelstra at times while Juwan Howard, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Jamaal Magloire can provide situational minutes up front.

“Our bench is very important,” Wade said. “It won’t show up in the statistics. What those guys do for us … is the reason that we are who we are and in the position we are.”

Jason Terry, who is netting 17.3 ppg in the playoffs, is Dallas’ top scoring option after Nowitzki and can really take over a game when the jumper is falling. “The Jet” also gives the Mavs a second big-time closer in tight situations.

J.J. Barea is a solid backup point guard that excels as a penetrater and kick- out guy, while Peja Stojakovic’s run as a big-time scorer is over but he’s still a very good pure shooter that can station himself on the weakside to take advantage of any double teams Nowitzki might see.

Brendan Haywood also gives Carlisle a third big body and impressive length. Meanwhile, depending on the game Carlisle could use Corey Brewer, likely as a defensive option to throw at James or Wade.

EDGE: EVEN

COACHING: Carlisle has a solid offensive and defensive pedigree and is one of the more underrated coaches in the game. He has morphed the Mavs from a run- and-gun team that had to outscore you to win into a more well-balanced bunch that can the job done in a number of different ways. He also gets along with volatile Mavs owner Mark Cuban.

“Dirk I know is excited. Look, this is what our season has been about. It’s been about advancing and getting an opportunity for a title, because it’s the one thing that he and Jason haven’t done, and Jason Terry and Shawn Marion, and Stojakovic,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got some guys with some very decorated careers here that have taken on different types of roles on a team that’s building a strength in numbers type team. It’s exciting, but my sense is we’re very grounded.”

Spoelstra, a Riley disciple, first joined the Heat in 1995 as the team’s video coordinator and moved up from there. He helped the team bounce back from an ugly 15-67 mark in 2007-08 and, like Riley, preaches defense and conditioning.

“We had a team of nine new players. A lot of new components.” Spoelstra said. “We’re trying to build a team philosophy, build up a defensive system. And then work on building a half court system where guys feel comfortable, even though they have slightly different roles.”

EDGE: MAVS

PREDICTION: Dirk and Dallas bested Oklahoma City in five games while LeBron and his Heat did the same to Chicago. The series were almost mirror images as both the Thunder and Bulls would play well at times but falter down the stretch as Nowitzki and James would take over.

So who executes better in this series?

The Mavs will need to exploit the point guard play of Bibby and Chalmers and take advantage of Miami’s lack of size inside. The Heat will have to figure out a way to deal with Dallas’ length and understand, no matter how good the defense is, Dirk is getting off his shot in late-game situations.

“I think the Mavs have a really good chance and I think they’re going to win the [Finals] series,” Barkley said. “Dirk Nowitzki is in the moment and they are in the Finals. I like this Mavs team. The stuff that the Heat did against the Bulls won’t work [against the Mavericks]. They are going to score. They aren’t offensively-challenged like the Bulls are.”

Conventional wisdom, however, says you need two superstars to win in the NBA these says and James’ “Robin” happens to be Wade while Nowitzki is left having to carry almost all the water for Dallas down the stretch of close games much like Derrick Rose in Chicago.

Nowitzki is certainly better-equipped to handle what’s being asked of him and does have better weakside options but expecting him to climb this mountain might be a little too much to ask for.

“Defense and staying together,” James said of the Heat’s fourth quarter success in the postseason. “We’ve been in these situations before when we’ve been down late in the fourth [quarter] and we just buckle down defensively and execute. It’s no sense of relief right now. We still have work to do.”

HEAT in 6.

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