Mavs and Heat ready for battle
The Dallas Mavericks will take on the Miami Heat in a repeat of the 2006 NBA finals where the Heat took the series four games to two. In 2011, the Mavs have made the finals by beating Portland 4-2, destroying the Lakers 4-0 and brushing aside Oklahoma City Thunder four-one. Miami’s route to the finals involved beating seventh seed Philadelphia 4-1, thrashing the Celtics 4-1, and seeing off the favoured Chicago Bulls 4-1. Both sides will be full of confidence going in to game one after easing through their respective conference finals, but who will come out on top?
When you think of the Dallas Mavericks you think Dirk Nowitzki. The huge German who is the best 7ft shooter to ever play the game averages over 28 points a game, and can create something out of nothing. the Mavs however, are more than just Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas’ bench over the course of year has averaged a massive 40.2 points a game, which is a good 40% of the teams overall points. 33 year old Jason Terry brings points and experience off the reliant bench, along with Serbian Peja Stojakovic, who is known for his downtown shooting prowess. JJ Barea is another in reserve, and the 6ft point guard brings points and tempo. In contrast to this, the Heat’s bench averages just 21.4 points a game, meaning they will have to close down and restrict the Mavs’ bench if they are going to win game one and the series.
Although Miami’s bench isn’t the strongest, they do have the ‘big three’ in their starting line up in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The Mavs’ defence has been solid in the playoffs but if these three fire on all cylinders, then Dallas may struggle to contain them. However, if two of these three are having a bad game we could see an enormous win by the Mavs just like they inflicted on the Los Angeles Lakers.
Probable starting match ups with the big three are Stevenson vs Wade, Marion vs James and Nowitzki vs Bosh. There are some great head to head battles on show, not forgetting the point guard battle between Jason Kidd and Mike Bibby who share 32 playing years and ten All-Star appearances between them. As the Heat were victorious in one more game than the Mavs in the regular season, they will have home advantage with game one in Florida at 9pm ET on Tuesday night.