HEAT ARE CHAMPIONS!
(Image taken from NBA.com)
Well the Mavs certainly hadn't been banking on this. After winning games 1 and 2 at home they found themselves ambushed back in Miami, losing games 3, 4 and 5 and getting forced back home on the back foot, the Heat looking to win the title in Game 6. The Mavs problem? They had no way of stopping Dwyane Wade and looked sure to capitulate as a result.
Avery must have given his guys the "not in our house" speech though as they started on a 4-0 run and as the first quarter went on the home side looked to be running away with the match. Dirk Nowitski and Jason Terry had paired up yet again to try and devour the Heat with three pointers and though Miami cut the deficit down to single figures before the end of the quarter, the Mavs still led 30-23 at that point.
Of course Wade didn't like that idea and combined with Mourning to set about cutting the lead to one. Terry led the Mavs response and with less than five mins to go in the half they were back up by 11 points. In the last few minutes the Heat hit overdrive and no surprises for guessing who was leading the charge. A James Posey free throw gave them the lead with 47 seconds in the half which finished with the Heat up 49-48.
The Mavs kept things tight early on in the third quarter but eventually an increasingly cocky Heat broke loose and there was nothing that Dallas did that looked like it would stop the trophy sliding out of town. Alonzo Mourning happily turned back the clock to shut down Nowitski but late on the Mavs went on another surge. Still, thhe Heat were still leading 71-68 going into the fourth.
So the fourth quarter turned out to by anyone's game. Some very leaky MIami defence appeared to give the Mavs a lifeline which they appeared to be about to take with the game tied at 79 mid-quarter and Shaq forced to the bench on five fouls. However the Heat simply made another surge but the Mavs forced it back to one with 42 seconds on the clock. Wade hit two free throws, 93-90. Two more, 95-90. Josh Howard hit two of his own from the line and the NBA Championship wound up decided on a missed Terry three pointer. Heat win 95-92, and pick up the title(the first in their history) they should have grabbed last year after winning the series 4-2. No surprising in guessing that Dwayne Wade was given the Finals MVP award - no other player really deserved it.
So congratulations to the Heat who I always believed would be there or there abouts and though Pat Riley didn't repeat history by garunteeing a repeat(like he did after leading Magic Johnson's Lakers to the 1987 title) the first question for everyone in the NBA is going to have to be "who can beat Shaq, Wade and crew?". No one is coming to mind right now.
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