In this post I will be looking into the Dallas Mavericks 2011 title run and how their talisman, Dirk Nowitzki was the key part in their success.
The Dallas Mavericks finished 3rd in the Western Conference in the 2010/11 season and they remain the only team since 2008 to finish 3rd or lower and go all the way.
Their 1st round match up was against the 6th seed Portland Trail Blazers boasting a young core of LaMarcus Aldridge, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Patty Mills and Brandon Roy (who was coming off an injury), as well as some more experienced players (Marcus Camby and Andre Miller). The Mavericks won the series 4-2 and Dirk was dominant as usual. He averaged 27.3ppg, 7.8rpg and 3.0apg on very efficient numbers including 44% from 3. He hit more than 1/4 of his teams total shots and I think playing with Tyson Chandler let him stretch the floor and exploit the opposing power forwards. It is also worth noting that the 2 games Portland won were in fact the closest games of the series (won by 5 and 2) while Dallas won by an averaged of 9 points. Despite this being their easiest game on paper, it was the joint most games they would lose in a single series while on this run. Next up was Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
Did somebody ask for a broom? Yes Dirk and the Mavs swept Kobe and the Lakers in a series where he led both teams in points per game and rebounds per game, this is an impressive achievement as he outscore Kobe and out rebounded his teammate Tyson Chandler as well as Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. Once again Dirk was the #1 option and still shot incredibly efficient(574/.727/.938). Admittedly he only took 11 3's but hit 8 of them giving him such a high 3pt% but regardless he took smarts shots that more often then not were money. Once again he hit more than 1/4 of the teams shots as he averaged 25.3ppg 9.3rpg and 2.5apg. Sweeping the 2nd seed Lakers most likely had the Mavericks thinking it couldn't get any better, but could it?
They moved onto the Western Conference finals and came up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a 61 win 1st seed team. OKC at that time had arguably the best young organic core of all time with 3 future MVPs in Kevin Durant (22), Russell Westbrook (22) and James Harden (21). However the Mavericks had a man on a mission. In a close series where all the games were decided by less than 10 points, Dallas' experience in closing out games proved crucial as they came out on top with a 4-1 series win. Once again Dirk seemed to step it up a level, he scored 48 points (24 were free throws) and had 4 blocks in game 1 as he got the better of Kevin Durant (40 points) and OKC as Dallas came away with a 9 point win and broke home court advantage. His 2nd 40 point game came in game 4 as he gave Dallas a 3-1 lead. He also showed his clutchness late on in the series, with 13 seconds left and the Mavs up by 2, Dirk had the chance to give the Mavs a 4 point lead with 2 free throws. Did he hit them? Of course he did. Ice Cold Dirk hit the shots that iced the game and the series and Dallas were heading to the finals after steamrolling whoever stood in their way in the West. Dirk averaged a crazy 32.2ppg to go along with 5.8rpg and 2.6apg.
Now, the NBA finals, the biggest stage where the best players shows who they are, and boy if you didn't know who Dirk was (we all did) well by the end of the series you did. The match up was set, Dirk's Mavs against the Miami Heat and their newly formed big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. There was no way the Heat would lose this series right?
Let's get to game 1, the Heat won pretty easily with a combined 65 points from their big 3, despite Dirk dropping a game high 27. It seemed as if this was one step too far for Dallas. However, as previously mentioned Dirk was a man on a mission.
On to Game 2 and with the game tied at 93 and Dallas down 1-0 in the series, a 2-0 deficit would surely be improbable to recover from (although not impossible as a team have blown a 3-1 lead in the finals LOL). With 3.6 seconds left Dirk scored a layup while guarded by Bosh to give Dallas the lead. Dwyane Wade had a chance to win the game but missed as Dallas battled back from a 15 point deficit. Dirk scored the last 9 points for Dallas to even the series in one of the best games we've seen in the Finals.
Similarly to Game 2, Game 3 featured a Mavericks comeback with a close 4th quarter. Down by 2 Dirk had the chance for a game tying shot he missed the shot at the buzzer as he failed to force OT but nonetheless he played great. He had 34 and 11 on the night as he finished the game with the best +/- of all players while scoring the finals 12 points for the Mavs.
Yet another close game in Game 4 as Dallas evened up the series. Once again another clutch game for Dirk as he finished the game with 21 and 11, with 10 of his points coming in the final quarter. Dirk nearly outscored the Heat by himself (10 v 14) in the 4th as once again the Mavericks entered the 4th quarter down and somehow pulled out the win.
It was revealed that Dirk was ill during Game 4 and Dwyane Wade and LeBron James seemed to mock Dirk, or perhaps claim he was faking it in the build up to Game 5. Game 5 was back in Dallas and gave the Mavs a real chance to get closer to their joint, ultimate goal. Yet again, Dirk led both team in scoring as Dallas came out with a 9 point win, and just 48 minutes away from becoming unlikely NBA champions. Dirk had 29 as he once again shot over 50% and led both team in +/- .
Back to Miami for Game 6 where the newly formed super team called home. It's hard to imagine such a talented team like the Heat losing a critical home game but games are not played on paper. A strong 1st quarter from Dallas, in particular Jason Terry (10 points) had the Mavs up 5 but by halftime this was anyone game, as Miami started the second half down by just 2. At halftime Dirk only had 3 points and the biggest 24 minutes of his career so far were imminent. For Dirk to really impact this game he had to turn into the Dirk we saw throughout these playoffs, and that is exactly what he did. He led both team in 3rd and 4th quarter scoring (8 and 10) to finish with 21 points and gives Dallas their first NBA title. Dirk was rightly named finals MVP after averaging 26 and a series high 9.7 rebounds per game.
What a run Dirk and the Mavs went on, from a 3rd seed team eliminating a number of great players and teams to becoming champions. Dirk has written himself into history through a historic offensive playoff run where in 21 games he led all players in scoring 12 times. His 27.7 and 8.1 on shooting splits of .485/.460/.941 shows how great he was all over the court and how efficient he was despite being the only real offensive threat for his team. What makes this more impressive is the caliber of direct opposition, he played against Aldridge, Gasol, Ibaka and Bosh, all great players on their day and all of whom were good players in the 2010/11 season.
Of course he didn't do it all himself and his teammates do deserve some love. Jason Terry played great off the bench averaging 17.5ppg including an all time great performance in game 7 of the NBA Finals where he poured in 27 on just 16 shots. His fellow starters of Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson/JJ Berea, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler were all vets who could do their roles perfectly. This Mavericks team did not have much youth but their unmatched experience proved vital when playing against young teams such as OKC and teams with chemistry problems such a Miami who were arguably both more talented than them. This fairy-tale story for sports is something all sports fans love and I hope we get to see more circumstances like this in the near future.
Thank you Dirk.
*Some notable players the Mavericks beat in their historic playoff run;
LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers)
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum
(Los Angeles Lakers)
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden (OKC Thunder
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh (Miami Heat)