2011 NBA Finals: The True "King" Has Now Been Crowned!

Who knows if they would have been able to fight their way back and tie the series up 3-3 if that were to happen?  But hey, Dallas just won three straight (Game's 4, 5 and 6), so I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be able to fight back in that scenario.  Anyway, the true king has been crowned–Dirk Nowitzki.

Without even an NBA Finals ring yet, the self-proclaimed King James continues to be called the King, but surely did not play like that in clutch-time situations and in the fourth quarter throughout the series.  LeBron James looked tentative when it mattered most and when Miami really needed a bucket.  There was a time during the fourth quarter with about three or four minutes remaining, when the entire Heat lineup looked as if they didn't want to be the one to take the shot and have to make it, knowing that Dallas was already up by 9 or more points—way too many extra passes.  The Miami Heat were the ones who folded under the pressure, so you can begin to talk about that now instead of aiming those types of pressure comments towards Dallas.  On the other end, Dirk gets the ball and fires away with no hesitation, only for his shot to find the bottom of the net—can you call him clutch now?  Are you still saying that Dirk folds under pressure and can't handle the big game?  I think not!

Dirk Nowitzki shot a horrible percentage from the field in Game 6 going 9 for 27 in total and only 1 for 7 from behind the arc.  He still finished the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, scoring 18 points in the second half.  Regardless of the off-shooting night for Dirk, he still knocked down clutch mid-range jumpers when the Heat began to threaten and cut the lead down to a reachable margin.  He was not to be denied in Game 6 and neither was Jason Terry.   "The Jet Terry" picked up the scoring slack and backed up all his talk throughout the series with 27, Game 6 points and a tattoo on his bicep of the Finals trophy that now does not have to be removed.  It seemed as though Jason Terry took it upon himself in Game 6 to see to it that the Dallas Mavs came out successful and avoid a Game 7 match-up.

J.J. Barea also stepped up huge in Game 6 knocking down a clutch three-pointer in the midst of a Miami Heat run with 10:14 left to go in the fourth.  The Heat had momentum in their favor and were making a case for the lead.  Dallas was ahead 81-77 with Miami surging closer.  It was Barea's trey ball which killed any hopes of a fourth quarter rally—a true dagger shot indeed.  He finished the game going 1 for 3 behind the arc, with 15 points, 5 assists and 2 steals.  For a guy who started the Finals series off pretty rough, missing uncontested layups and open three pointers, he sure helped end it in a big way playing huge roles in Game's 5 and 6.

LeBron James had 21 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 6 turnovers going 9 for 15 from the field.  Dwayne Wade was held to a quite night, considering what he's done to Dallas in the past, scoring only 17 points with 2 blocks, 6 assists, 8 boards and 5 turnovers himself.  Miami turned the ball over 16 times and Dallas turned it over 14 times.  The turnover battle in this series was a good indicator of who would win or lose.  Chris Bosh knocked down mid-range jumper after mid-range jumper on his way to 19 points and 8 boards—he shot 7 of 9 from the floor.

What ended up really killing Miami was their horrible shooting night from the charity stripe.  As a team, Miami shot 20 for 33, 60.6% from the free throw line.  Against the strong Dallas Mavs, that kind of free throw shooting is not going to get it done and the Heat found that out the hard way.  The refs tried as hard as they could to help out the Miami Heat, calling every little ticky-tack foul against Dallas, but not calling those same fouls the other way.  Miami, if you're going to get foul call help from the refs all game long, than you better hit your free throws and take advantage of what the refs are trying to give you.  By the way, how many times does Mario Chalmers need to push off of a Dallas defender before it gets called by the referee?  Dallas beat the Miami Heat in Game 6 and they also beat the refs.  This was a 2 on 1 battle and the lone star team won it!

Dirk's legacy is now complete.  With a league MVP award, Finals MVP award and a championship trophy, Dirk Nowitzki can now rest much easier at night as the NBA demons of his have now been exercised.  Jason Kidd's career is now complete as well with this championship–a true exclamation point to an awesome 17-year career.  Way to go Dallas Mavericks, the better team won this Finals match-up.

Any questions, comments, short circuits, doubts or cloudy systems?  Email me:  dlawso77@gmail.com