Piece by Vinnie Simone
I started writing this article at 4 AM. I’ve always been a night owl, but quarantine has amplified some of my habits. My roommate is gone for the weekend, so I made the executive decision to rewatch There Will be Blood. Daniel Day-Lewis really gave an all-star performance. If you haven’t seen it, go watch it on Netflix before they take it down. Netflix always removes our favorite movies too soon.
As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, my mind races about ideas for different writing I can work on. I was going to abstain from jumping into this story until we can see the desperately needed return of the NBA, but I want to share with you the underdog story of the 2011 NBA finals now.
July 8th, 2011, LeBron James announces on ESPN he will, take his talents to South Beach. What a rehearsed line by the way. Personally, I think “The Decision” was a too dramatic. Let’s leave the drama for Daniel Day-Lewis. I would have been fine with reading “Lebron James signs with Miami Heat” on the ESPN Bottom Line while I watch the same eight stories reported in an hour segment on SportsCenter.
“The Decision” creates the talented trio of Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and LeBron. D-Wade being the only with a championship ring. Nonetheless, the Miami Heat are an immediate contender. In fact, Miami was the favorite to win the Finals at the start of the season.
The welcome party in Miami is where LeBron said he would bring, “not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven” championships to the Heat. Quite a bold statement from LeBron. Seven seasons later Dwayne wade would average 18 points per game, down from the 25.5 he did in their first season as the big three, while shooting nearly 7 percent worse from the field. Chris Bosh unfortunately played his last game six seasons after the making of Miami’s big three. Hindsight is always 20/20 though. Was Lebron joking, just having fun in the moment? He had to be, right? Regardless, the championship expectations are high for the Heat going into the 2010-2011 season and beyond.
There was some good from the welcome party. It was entertaining, and we witness Chris Bosh channel his inner dinosaur with a thunderous roar. I’m a big fan of the Chris Bosh dinosaur memes all over social media.
The super team was constructed, and LeBron became a villain to many NBA fans. Regardless, the city of Miami was faithful the big three would bring home another title.
There was also a large bandwagon following once LeBron and Bosh signed with the Heat. Shout out the Minnesota Timberwolves staff for the “Not from Miami” cam. I chuckled in the nosebleeds when I saw 10-year-old kids in their Heat jersey on the jumbotron. The Timberwolves lost the game by 19 and Miami gave the Wolves their 59th loss on the season, so the humor from the jumbotron was comforting.
The Dallas Mavericks have a veteran squad going into the season. Jason Kidd, at the age 37, is the starting point guard. 33-year old Jason Terry first man off the bench to play a combo guard role. Shawn Marion, age 32, is a key defender all season for the Mavs. Tyson Chandler, the man in the middle, is the rim protector. The 2006-07 MVP Dirk Nowitzki, better known The German Wunderkind, a nickname courtesy of Conan O’Brien, is the driving force behind the Mavs offense. Dirk is not actually better known as the German Wunderkind, but let’s try to make that catch on. Did anyone know there is a teammate of the year award? I didn’t, but Dirk won that in the 2016-17 season. Needless to say, most members of Dallas have the better parts of their career behind them. At the start of the regular season, the Dallas Mavericks are the ranked 7th to win the NBA finals at 20/1 odds.
The Mavs also had Corey Brewer. He only averaged 11.3 minutes per game over 13 regular season competitions with the Mavs, I just wanted to include him because he dropped 51 points for the Timberwolves later in his career. Most people don’t care about the Timberwolves, so that is the last time I’ll mention them in this article, I promise.
When the regular season finishes, Miami holds a record of 58-24, while winning 15 of their last 18 games. In the first round of the post season, Miami would walk through the seven seeded 76ers, who finished the regular season with 41-41 record. Miami wins their first-round matchup in five games. The second round was the first post season test for the Heat. They square up against the reigning Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are the three seed, with a 56-26 record. Boston has a veteran core with Kevin Garrnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, along with rising playmaker Rajon Rondo. All four Celtics were all-stars. Regardless of the Celtics regular season successes, the Heat finish the series in five games.
Now I’m no movie critic, but Uncut Gems is on Netflix and it is a thrilling watch. Kevin Garnett plays himself, which seems like an easy role, but he does a phenomenal job on camera capturing the energy and intensity we have seen from KG on the basketball floor. I was drooling with anticipation to see the next scene with KG. Adam Sandler stretches out of his usual comedic role to play a complex jeweler and gambling addict. Sandler has come a long way as an actor since going back to elementary school in Billy Madison. Disclaimer: you will suffer severe moments of anxiety during this film. Don’t watch it before bed. Your mind be occupied by the emotional roller-coaster you’ve experienced. The movie deserves full attention from the viewer. Go watch it.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, Miami will face MVP favorite Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. Yet again the Heat win the series in five games. The Heat’s walk through the Eastern Conference was a leisurely breeze, losing only four games. Going into the NBA Finals, the Heat, as their name suggests, are red hot with a record of 27-6 over their last 33 contests.
The Dallas Mavericks finish the season with 57-25 record, winning only six of their last ten games. The Mavs must grind their way through the stronger Western Conference in the playoffs. In the first round, the Mavs face the Portland Trail blazers; a savvy squad with several weapons. Led by a young LaMarcus Aldridge and the recent arrival of former all-star Gerald Wallace, who was one year removed from the best season of his career. Portland finishes the year with 48 wins. Dallas drops games three and four on the road in their first series but win the series in six games. Dallas would face the reigning NBA champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, led by non-other than the great Kobe Bryant. Dallas swept the Lakers. Winning game four at home by a staggering 38 points. After the LA series, the Mavericks are suddenly able to push for a spot in the Finals, but not before playing the rising superstar duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Let’s not forget Oklahoma City had a future MVP coming off their bench in James Harden. Dallas drops game one at home, which can be a troubling sign, but win the next four games and eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even though the Mavericks won the series in five games, every contest was within a nine-point finish.
It’s important to understand the background of a story to fully grasp and understand the entirety of its power. That is why I’ve spent the last thousand some words to set the stage for the Finals. Don’t forget about the film recommendations though. Those are important too.
The 2011 NBA Finals is set. We’ve got the super team from South Beach in one corner, and the last chancers in the other. At the beginning of the playoffs, Dallas was the 8th most likely team to win the finals. Now, Dallas has a legitimate chance to force the Miami dynasty to wait another season to get their first ring.
Game one in Miami, Lebron James plays over 45 minutes and leads the way with 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists going 9-16 from the field, and 4-5 from 3-point range. D-Wade scores 22 points, a game high 10 rebounds (tied with Shawn Marion), and 6 assists. Even though Dirk scores 27 points he struggles from the field shooting 39%. Dirk also tears a tendon is his left middle finger. Final score, 92-84 Miami.
Everything is going to plan for the Heat.
Game two in Miami, Dwayne Wade hits a corner three with 7 minutes left in the game to put the Heat up 15 points. If you’re a Miami fan, at this point you must like how this series has been shaping up. Your team is about to take a 2-0 lead before traveling to Dallas.
The German Wunderkind and the Mavericks had other thoughts. Dallas goes on a 22-5 run to end the game. Dirk scores the final 9 points for the Mavs and caps off the game with this left-handed layup from Dirk. Final score, 95-93 Dallas.
Let’s take a second to appreciate the speed of Dirk driving down the left lane line. The man is a blur on my screen.
Dirk had 24 points, 11 boards, and 4 assists, it was clear the injury to his finger wasn’t slowing him down. Shawn Marion had 20 points and 8 rebounds on an efficient 9-14 shooting. Wade carried the Heat offense scoring 36 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. LeBron was second in scoring with 20 points, while reeling in 8 rebounds, dishing 5 assists, and he tallies 4 steals. Chris Bosh struggles shooting the ball, scoring 12 points on 4-16 shooting.
The Heat fans are concerned. Miami must go play three games in Dallas. Yes, this series was in the 2-3-2 format.
Game three at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Texas, Miami needs to win one of the next three games in Dallas to bring the series back to Miami and a chance to win the Finals. Miami accumulates a twelve-point lead in the second quarter, but only hold a five-point lead going into half time. The Heat jump on Dallas, with eight unanswered points to start the second half. But going into the third, Miami only leads by three. With a 1:40 left on the clock, Dirk pulls up of the dribble and fades away over Udonis Haslem tying the game at 86-86. However, Chris Bosh hits a catch and shoot jumper from the short corner off a feed from LeBron with 40 seconds left on the clock. Bosh’s bucket was the last of game three, and Heat get to go play in Miami at least one more night. Final score 88-86 Miami.
Dwayne Wade went for 29 points, 11 boards, and 3 assists. LeBron had 17 points and a team high 9 assists. The big man Bosh scored 18 points shooting under 40% from the floor, and only pulled in 3 rebounds. 3 rebounds as a premier big man in Finals game is weak. Peja Stojakovic played only 6 minutes and managed to pull in 3 rebounds. Former Kansas guard Mario Chalmers came up big going 4-6 from beyond 3
Dirk had another big night, scoring 34 points, 11 rebounds, and going 9-9 from the free throw line. Jason Terry scored 15 off the bench. Tyson Chandler pulled in 11 boards including 7 offensive rebounds. Brian Cardinal saw the floor in game three for back to back appearances off the bench. We could have captured all his game three time in a single Vine. For anyone over 25, a Vine lasts seven seconds. The real problem for Dallas was the lack of contributors down the stretch on the offense end. Dirk scored 15 of the Mavs 22 fourth quarter points. The 32-year-old forward cannot carry the Mavs to championship against a super team.
Game four, Miami leads 2-1. At this point in NBA history, no team has ever comeback down 3-1 in the Finals before. This is a must win for Dallas. Dirk starts the game on a 6-0 run himself. But Miami quickly closes the gap. DeShawn Stevenson steps up in the first half, hitting his third three-pointer to pull Dallas within 2, with just over six minutes to go in the first half. The halftime score is 47-45 Miami, and Chris Bosh bounces back from a rough game, by scoring 16 points in the first half. Miami and Dallas trade shots in a tightly contested third quarter, Miami leads by 4 going into the fourth quarter. After trailing most the game, Tyson Chandler forces a loose ball in the lane, which leads to an easy layup for Jason Terry. Dallas takes the lead 78-79 with five minutes to go. After a back and forth bout, Dallas has possession with 26 seconds left, and the ball of course is going to Dirk. Dirk drives the ball down the lane line and scores to give Dallas a 3-point lead with 14 seconds to go. Final score, 86-83 Dallas.
Even though Dirk hit the biggest shot of the night, game four was a far more collective effort by Dallas. Dirk still led Dallas in scoring, with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 16 rebounds. Shawn Marion had 16 points going 7-12 from the field, and Jason Terry had 17.
Chris Bosh had a better game four, scoring 24 points and adding 6 boards. D-Wade once again carries the Miami scoring load with 32 points, going 13-20 from the field. However, LeBron struggled. He contributed well on the glass, hauling in 9 rebounds, he facilitated the offense well with 7 assists. LeBron James only scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting, and he turned the ball over 4 times. It is clear, Miami needs a better scoring output from LeBron in order to secure a title.
The series is tied 2-2 going into the final home game for Dallas. After Dallas leads for almost the entire first quarter, a half court heave by Mario Chalmers at the buzzer gives Miami a one-point lead going into the second quarter. In the second, the big three in Miami combine for 19 points and Chalmers adds an additional 7. Dirk has his highest scoring quarter of the night, with 10 points including free throw line jumper with 6 seconds left to give the Mavs a 3-point lead going into half. Mike Miller opens the second half with a 3-pointer for Miami, knotting the score up at 60-60.
Lets not forget Mike Miller’s marquee career moment, when he hit a three without a shoe on in the 2013 NBA Finals. What play is more iconic? Miller’s single-shoed 3-pointer, or Jordan’s game winner over Russel against Utah in the 1998 Finals? This shouldn’t even be a conversation. Mike Miller’s play all the way. When I throw up bricks in the gym, I don’t pretend to be Jordan, I pretend to be Mike Miller.
After a Tyson Chandler dunk with 3:47 left in the third quarter, the Mavs extend their lead to 9 points. Miami makes a run of their own to cut the lead to five going into the final period of play. The Heat have trailed the entire second half, but mid-way through the fourth quarter a surge by Miami leads to a Dwayne Wade 3-pointer to put the Heat up four with under five minutes to play. A Jason Terry 3-pointer with 3:22 left ties the game at 100-100. With under a minute to play, Chris Bosh goes 1 of 2 on a trip to the free through line, cutting the Maverick’s lead to four. However, Jason Terry drills a contested 3 over Lebron James the next possession to give Dallas a 7-point lead with about 30 seconds at go. Terry’s 3-pointer was essentially the dagger in game five.
The game five box score shows an unlikely hero for the Mavs. Dirk still led all scoring with 29 points, but J.J. Barea had the night of his career. Barea the 5’10” in guard, had 17 points, going 4-5 from beyond three, while racking up 5 assists and only 1 turnover. Jason Terry hit the biggest shot of the night over LeBron, but he also added 21 points and 6 assists.
The story of the night for Miami was their carelessness with the ball. The big three combined for 12 turnovers in the game, 8 of those in the second half. Dwayne Wade led Miami in scoring with 23 points and notched 8 assists. Lebron recorded a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Bosh had 19 points and hauled in 10 rebounds. Once again, Mario Chalmers had a stellar night off the bench, with 4 3-pointers and 15 points.
What we haven’t talked about yet is LeBron’s poor performance in the fourth quarters of this series. LeBron has played all but 1 minute and 45 seconds in five fourth quarters this series, but he has scored only 11 total points, including 0 points in game four. To give some perspective, J.J. Barea has scored 11 points in fourth quarters, but he did it in just over 21 minutes. In any two Finals games LeBron has logged more minutes than J.J. Barea has the entire series, yet the undersized guard who has a career average of 9 ppg, scores as much as LeBron in a third of the time. LeBron clearly contributes to the Heat more, and in a variety of ways, but LeBron’s fourth quarter scoring is sub-par for a superstar and MVP caliber player.
Game six in Miami, it is win or go home for the Heat. After criticisms of LeBron’s underwhelming performances in this Finals series, LeBron answers with a hot start, scoring 9 points and dishing 3 assists in the first quarter. Yet the heat finds themselves down 5 points at the end of the first, even with a last second Eddie House 3-pointer. With just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter, DeShawn Stevenson hits a 3 for Dallas to give the Mavericks a 12-point lead. Miami quickly makes a run of their own, as Eddie House hits another big 3-pointer with 6:25 to go giving Miami a 2-point lead. Dallas goes into half time up 53-51, led by Jason Terry’s 19 points.
After a slow first half from Dirk, he opens the second half with a mid-range shot over Joel Anthony. After Miami steals the lead 55-56, J.J. Barea rips it right back with a crafty fake spin in the middle of the lane for a layup. The Mavs lead the rest of the third and cap off the quarter with an Ian Mahinmi shot at the buzzer from the elbow to give the Mavs a 9-point lead. Miami attempts to gain momentum in the final quarter of play, but Dirk and the Mavs would pull away after any run the Heat would make. Dirk led all players in fourth quarter scoring with 10 points.
The big three of Miami scored a combined 57 points, and Mario Chalmers added 18 points. The turnovers once again were a problem for Miami. Wade and LeBron combined for 11 turnovers, which is equal to the total turnovers of the Dallas starting five.
Jason Terry showed up big in the elimination game, scoring 27 points on 11-16 shooting. J.J. Barea had another solid night with 15 points and 5 assists. Barea rose to the occasion and was a surprisingly effective player the final two games. Dirk had another stellar game with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Dirk was simply brilliant in this Finals series. The Finals MVP averaged 26 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2 assists a game. Dirk shot 46 free throws, and he only missed one. He was the most clutch player in the series. Dirk scored 156 total points, and 72 of them were in the fourth quarter. Only LeBron James, one the greatest pure athletes in all of sports, played more minutes than the 32-year-old forward from Germany. Dirk had solidified his performance as one of the greatest in Finals history.
Was the 2011 Finals a story of David and Goliath? No, it wasn’t. The Mavericks had a good team of veteran players. However, The Mavericks were not supposed to win this series. It was a Finals upset, and after the domination of the finals by a few teams in 2000s, it is refreshing to see a new team take home the Larry O’Brien Trophy.