When it was all said and done, the Dallas Mavericks grew while the Miami Heat wilted, going from underdog to favorite led by a cold-blooded monster in Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs beat the Heat in six games because as a team filled with players abandoned and lost in the seas of NBA roster movement, one thing became clear: all of them were hungry.
But of course, blame will fall on Miami’s preseason introduction ceremony of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, and mostly on King James himself. Yet, it isn’t that simple. Miami had one season of cohesion to Dallas’ years of scarring playoff losses on Nowitzki’s mind.
As irrational as blaming James might be, that doesn’t mean the tweets weren’t funny as hell. Behold, the last tweets from a game until, uh, who knows?
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Sure, he won the MVP and came alive in the fourth quarter once again. But Nowitzki just couldn’t find his shot for the majority of the game, getting good looks and watching the ball rim out of the hoop early and often.
@jemelehill: Dirk is colder than Kendrick Perkins’ mean mug
@alanhahn: Cuban has Mavs medical staff readying a needle with the flu strand b at halftime for a certain star player. *cough*
Yet, Jason Terry’s 27 points led the Mavs in scoring with 17 of those coming in a hot-shooting first half. He wasn’t the only one balling out; the Dallas bench won with the grit of The Custodian and the poor man’s Brendan Haywood (which I guess would be the poor, poor man’s Tyson Chandler). Brian Cardinal flopped – and sometimes legitimately got fouled – his way into frustrating the Heat, the highlight of which being a drawn charge against Wade’s patented side-step.
@treykerby: Fool Dad once with a Euro step, shame on him. Fool him twice? Not likely.
@darrenrovell: Brian “The Custodian” Cardinal is playing so well, he might get a Swiffer deal if the Mavs win.
Ian Mahinmi got some good playing time, too. He protected the paint well enough and even hit a 15-foot jumper with the shot clock winding down, a sign that it just wasn’t Miami’s night.
@DevineBoston: It would be rad as f*** if Mahinmi had “USE ALL SIX” tatted across his shoulder blades.
Things got chippy in the second quarter. After an Eddie House three-pointer, the Heat called a timeout and as the teams went to their respective benches, Udonis Haslem and DeShawn Stevenson got into a little tussle that resulted in players from both benches ending up on the middle of the floor.
@darrenrovell: NAMES FOR THE FIGHT: THE MELEE AT TRIPLE A (@uriyudewitz), THE SOUTH BEACH SKIRMISH (@aarongernes), THE BUMP ON THE BEACH (@TheRealPJR)
@SebastianPruiti: NBA should announce that everyone except Corey Brewer is suspended for game 7…just for giggles…
Then, it happened for the third game in a row. James looked hesitant not only to shoot, but also appeared scared to even touch the ball, quickly passing the rock on to his teammates in the fourth. But Wade wasn’t much more aggressive with the Dallas defense keying on him and James.
@TheDiesel: The King has that look in his eye…he’s going for 15 tonight.
@CobraCommander: I’ve decided to take my quitting to South Beach.
And that was that. Dallas was too much down the stretch and as the buzzer sounded, Dirk made a hasty exit for some alone time in the locker room. Meanwhile, Heat players looked stunned and Mark Cuban looked like an 8-year-old at Disney Land.
Oh and the Cleveland fans, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert especially included, were pretty stoked.
@MARLONLWAYANS: Chris bosh crying look like someone shot a dinosaur
@WhiteMamba206: @JumpedTheWeis I was kinda hoping Mark Cuban was going to take the Trophy from David Stern and tell him “Suck It Stern, get off my stage”
@cavsdan: Congrats to Mark C.&entire Mavs org. Mavs NEVER stopped & now entire franchise gets rings. Old Lesson for all:There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE.
Now what lies ahead? Dirk’s the NBA Finals MVP going into next season, whenever that begins, and Miami coach Erik Spoelstra might have a little heat on keeping his coaching gig (mind the pun).
@TheBillWalton: In the German Mongoose’s growing trophy room lies the head of a Black Mamba, the limbs of a Durantula, & now Chris Bosh’s lipstick canister.
@EricStangel: Congrats to Erik Spoelstra who just won a best actor Tony Award for “Guy Pretending To Be An NBA Coach”
What was your favorite tweet from last night?
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