by Brett Edwards
So far in this series, what I said would be Dallas' greatest asset is proving to be just that. The Mavs had five players in double figures as they cruised to a 14-point Game 2 win, after leading by as many as 27 in the second half. The depth of Dallas is the key to this series. Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench for 19 points, including 10 straight in the second quarter to help DAL to a 16-point halftime lead. Nowitzki also bounced back from a subpar Game 1 with a 26 and 16 performance.
On the Miami side, most experts expected Shaq to have a big game, but it was quite the opposite. Shaq had his worst postseason performance of his career, scoring only 5 points on 5 shots and grabbing only 6 boards in 28 minutes. Riles sat Shaq the entire 4th quarter, partly due to the fact that the game was out of hand, and partly due to Shaq's ineffectiveness. Hell, even Eric Dampier racked up 6 points and 13 boards in the same amount of time on the floor. Unlike the Heat's previous opponent, the Mavs actually play solid team defense. This, combined with their depth on offense, is why I don't see MIA winning more than one game in this series.
Miami has been a strong home team in these playoffs, and I expect them to come out strong in Game 3. But the bottom line is that Dallas has too many weapons on offense and plays too much defense for the Heat to hang. Expect the Heat to maybe grab Game 3, but even that's a stretch considering they're now 0-4 versus Dallas this season.
I watched this game last night at a Dallas sports bar - the fan were so excited at the beginning of the game but since almost nothing happened in the game this series has so far been a disappointment, especially after the Spurs/Phoenix series. A coworker is already sad about Dallas winning in Miami. We will have a parade but its kinda weird when your team is winning b/c the other team isn't really playing.
Posted by: JenM | June 12, 2006 at 01:03 PM
JenM, a championship is a championship! I agree that Dallas will win the series in Miami, but you're still getting your first NBA title!
When the Lakers won 3 in a row from 2000-02, they only clinched the 2000 title at home. While it was an awesome experience to be there (and for the subsequent rioting afterwards), I was still just as happy for the other 2 titles.
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