Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, and Jason Terry finally got their rings.
In a game the Mavericks dominated throughout with strong shooting, offensive rebounding, and tough defense — Dallas stayed strong and outscored Miami in three out of four quarters to win their first NBA title.
Dirk Nowitzki was named Finals MVP, though he struggled on this night, going nine-for-27 from the field for 21 points. Jason Terry had a strong offensive performance with 27 points, and carried the Mavericks offense most of the game. J. J. Barea added 15 points, and Shawn Marion added 12 for Dallas.
The Miami Heat, on the other hand, go home defeated. The storied 2011 saga, beginning with “the decision” heard round the world, has come to an end. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh will have to wait another year (pending a lockout) to get the big three a shot at a ring as the unit they promised to be.
LeBron James had 21 points in the loss, Chris Bosh added 19, Dwyane Wade had 17, and Mario Chalmers (who started this game over Mike Bibby) notched 18 points.
The Miami Heat never got it going in this contest. Dallas’ zone threw the Heat off their game early and Miami never made that big push they needed to take control of the game. While Miami had five players in double figures, no one stepped up and took leadership of the offense.
James continued to struggle and looked tentative the entire game. Dwyane Wade, only scoring 17 points on six-for-16 shooting also struggled offensively Sunday night, and was unable to step up offensively as he had been doing previously in this series. Bosh looked strong with 19 points on seven-for-nine shooting but never dominated the game the way Miami needed one of their big three to do.
As for the Dallas Mavericks, they will board that plane back to Dallas in style, as NBA Champions.
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