Rob mahoney two man game

And when Dirk was doubled, he dished to Kidd for a huge 3-pointer. Then, for the final , he put on one of the great shot-making exhibitions in recent Finals history. Yes, Dirk is a bad man for closing with nine straight Dallas points, but this was a total team comeback. Jason Terry had eight big points to rev it up; Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd quietly made plays on both ends; and Rick Carlisle's clever move to a staggered pick-and-roll helped free Nowitzki late.

Nowitzki made the money bucket to give Dallas the edge, but he doesn't even reach that point without the Mavericks' defense playing incredibly well down the stretch. Plus, buckets from Jason Terry and Jason Kidd were crucial to anchoring the Mavs' comeback, and Dallas is looking at an deficit without their shot-making.

Beckley Mason, HoopSpeak: Fact. He created pretty much everything for Dallas in the closing moments. His clutch history impelled Miami to double, opening up Kidd, Terry and Marion for buckets, and he went in the last three minutes. He's the best clutch scorer in the NBA and, with unexpected help from Marion, is the reason Dallas now controls this series.

His fantastic play early built the lead, and on a lot of nights 20 points, 8-for from the floor to go with eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block makes you a hero. Thursday night, however, he did all that with five turnovers and some noticeable jacking of long balls down the stretch.

Kevin Arnovitz, Heat Index: Fiction. The meltdown was a team effort on both ends of the floor, though if you want to tag LeBron for the loss or blown save that's probably fair. Apart from the sharp inbounds to Mario Chalmers, LeBron was too eager to break off the offense when option No. And those contested step-back 3s by James and Wade were pretty gratuitous.

Again, teams win and lose games more than individual players. It wasn't just James. Wade also settled for poor shots, and Bosh had miscues down the stretch, too.

Also, it was an exceptional cross-court pass from LeBron that set up Mario Chalmers for the game-tying 3, after all. Total team comeback for Dallas, total team meltdown for Miami. LeBron dribbled for too long on most of Miami's late-game possessions, but it was hardly his fault alone that the Heat squandered a point, fourth-quarter lead. All it would have taken to stave off the Mavs was a single bucket or a single stop, and though LeBron is certainly culpable, I'm not sure he's a sensible solo scapegoat.

It was truly a team loss, but LeBron bears the greatest responsibility for the collapse. Late, he didn't rotate on Kidd's 3, didn't get back on a couple Dallas fast breaks, blew a layup and repeatedly failed to get the Heat into their offense when all they needed was one score to put the game, and perhaps the series, away.

Now it's freaking Game. As for the psychological impact, I expect the Mavericks will have a little bounce in their step, but I also think the Heat will be focused and truly committed to playing the full If the Heat curled into the fetal position every time they failed to execute late in the fourth quarter this season, they would've checked out of title contention a long time ago.

If the closing minutes have a lasting effect, it will be as the moment in the series when the Mavs rediscovered their identity as a basketball team.

Any time a game gets stolen like that, it can have a major impact on the complexion of a seven-game series, as it did for Dallas in Game 1 versus the Lakers and Game 4 versus the Thunder, and also for Miami in Game 3 versus the Mavs in the Finals, for that matter.

He actually gave me my first shot at writing. If you want to hear our show, click the embed below or go to your favorite podcast app, search Mavs Moneyball podcast, and rate and review us. I ask him about the confusing defensive schemes the Mavericks employ and how they improve their roster. We then talk about the Mavericks in the bubble and how they might fare against the Clippers. He could go for 40 next game, he could go for four. Neither would surprise me. Dallas' defense has done a good job, but James is the best basketball player on the planet.

It's only a matter of time before he makes a serious impact on this series, and that could start in Game 5. But LeBron had all the motivation in the world to come up big in Game 4 and passed -- literally -- on the opportunity. First and foremost, I'd expect LeBron to apologize personally to Dwyane Wade if he hasn't done so already. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.

In six games against Dallas this season, including the regular season, the most he's had is I'm not so sure we should expect a "breakout" scoring game; clearly, Wade is finding better success. But I do expect LeBron to play with a lot more energy. It might be impossible to play with less. Skip to main content Skip to navigation.

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Houston Texans. Aussie draw delayed; Novak to face fellow Serb. Russ 2-for as Lakers drop another to Kings. Los Angeles Lakers. Bulls' Jones helped off with knee injury vs. The natural audience of team blogs is the hardcore fanbase, and so you look long and hard at player tendencies, individual play breakdowns, and patterns in on-court chemistry and production. Coming from my blogging background, I'm always trying to incorporate elements of both approaches.

It's important to talk shop and really break down the tape, but it's crucial that we as writers and fans remember that every play, every game, every hot streak, and even postgame quote is a piece of a larger, comprehensive whole. Before the Olympics last year, you compared a few members of the U.

Does this mean Dirk Nowitzki is Big Bertha? Big Bertha falls right in line with Dirk in a lot of ways, but the metaphor isn't perfect. Dirk's game is much more subtle than bombardment via artillery shells, and Bertha had many more practical applications on defense.

Of course the way to take down either is to crowd them, and to smother them in a way that negates their range. An equally imperfect comparison might be to blitzkrieg warfare.

Dirk would never be described as lightning, but the meticulously planned, focused, all-out offensive has me seeing images of off-balance jumpers. To Dirk's credit, the nature of his skills allows him to do more with less. He overcomes superior defenses and teams filled with quality players through meticulously planned footwork even on seemingly improvisational possessions and a designated point of attack. He doesn't need a huge frame or ungodly athleticism.

As a seven-foot jump shooter, he took the league entirely by surprise, attacking in a unique way that was equal parts visionary and revolutionary. If one needs proof that tactical points of attack are more important in basketball than overwhelming force, one needs not look farther than Dirk.

Also, he is particularly effective against Frenchmen. Does it still hurt? It's always going to hurt to lose one of the premier abstract expressionists of the generation. At the time of the trade, I was curious as to what the Mavs hoped to accomplish.