NBA Finals 2011: Mavericks Take Their Talents To South Beach, Win Franchise’s First Title

The Dallas Mavericks have vanquished the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA Championship and a shiny championship trophy, the franchise’s first. Dirk Nowitzki was named the NBA Finals MVP and was clearly the series’ top player. But because of the national (and global) image of the Heat -- a collection of three superstars with spare bits tossed in -- and the Mavericks -- a team in the truest sense of the word -- some observers might get it twisted and consider this a victory for balanced, team basketball over a superstar-focused roster.

That would be 100 percent wrong.

As you might imagine, Mavs fans were a little excited. The foks over at Mavs Moneyball took great delight in recounting the final moments of their team’s first NBA Title:

With the clock ticking down, Dallas defense took on a new level of insane, forcing turnovers and blocking shots. They even managed some second chance points thanks to a few offensive rebounds. The Mavericks began playing with the clock, running it down before they took their shots. They had a nine point lead with just under three minutes to play, and then Dirk, with hands in his face, hit a beautiful jump shot. It was at this point that Heat fans quietly began to file out of the arena. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, your 2011 NBA Champions, the Dallas Mavericks.

But one particular comment stands out, and will stand out going forward.

There’s actually nothing wrong with the statement insomuch as it’s impossible to live to appease the haters, especially when you’re someone as high-profile as LeBron. But you know why so many people are glad to see you fail? Because of the “you jealous?” vibe LeBron gives off in comments like this, partly.

Plus-minus is a stat that suffers when looked at on a per-game basis, and LeBron has been among the league’s best in plus-minus over the past five or so years. That said, it’s a glaring number impossible to ignore, even if we can’t quite figure out what it means.

For more on the Heat’s crushing loss, visit Peninsula Is Mightier.

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↵If you could tweet in Comic Sans, I’m sure Dan would have.

For more on Nowitzki’s huge finish, visit Mavs Moneyball and SB Nation Dallas.

Now the Mavs return to Dallas where they’ll be heroes not only to their hometown but also many fans in Cleveland, happy to see LeBron James lose in such a fashion. As for LeBron and the Heat, it’s gonna be a long off-season in South Beach.

Terry has 21, Dirk has 11 points and 7 boards and the Mavs lead 81-72 at the end of the third quarter.

The Mavs are shooting slightly better than the Heat (.500 vs. .491) and if they can keep that up, they’ll take home the title.

You might not be able to remember a more back-and-forth game, especially not in the NBA Finals. Each team has held a lead of nine points or more, with Miami’s 14-0 run in the second quarter giving way to a Dallas surge just before the half.

Oh, and there was a minor spat that resulted in some technical fouls.

Since there was a time out on the floor, there aren’t likely to be any mandatory suspensions for the players who came off the bench. If there were, Game 7 would have to be played by Pat Riley and Mark Cuban, and nobody everybody wants to see that.

Once again, the Heat’s offense in the final minutes struggled in Game 5. It wasn’t as bad as the other games Miami has lost (in my opinion, Miami’s poor defense was more to blame for the loss), but to me, the Heat are still struggling in terms of shot selection. Maybe the best example for this is the Heat’s pick and roll play in the fourth quarter of Game 5.

In the fourth quarter, Miami scored 12 points on 10 pick and roll possessions. That looks really good. Breaking it down further, you can see why they were so successful. When the Heat hit the roll man (six times), they scored nine points. When they didn’t (four possessions), they scored just three points. Instead of settling for jumpers coming off of screens, Miami needs to be aggressive and look for the roll man.

Should the series end on Sunday night, will there be questions as to how serious this injury was? Is Wade trying to play the hero? Find out tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

For full championship series coverage, visit our 2011 NBA Finals hub. For more on the Heat’s do-or-die Game 6, visit Peninsula Is Mightier. For more on the Mavericks’ championship quest, visit Mavs Moneyball and our regional hub SB Nation Dallas.

The Heat’s only loss at home this entire postseason came to Dallas in Game 2; Miami is 9-1 at home for the playoffs. The Game 2 loss came on a magical Dirk Nowitzki-led comeback, which is hardly a surprise after what the perennial All-Star has done all postseason. Miami needs to stop him two more times to come back itself. Otherwise, Dirk can help the Mavericks clinch an NBA Championship five years after he left Miami heartbroken in the 2006 Finals.

Will he be aggressive all game long? Will he resort to jumpers and deference? Will Miami’s offense thrive down the stretch, or crumble? If it’s the latter, that’ll be it for Miami, and that first of seven predicted championships will have to wait at least a year.