Dallas Mavericks capture first championship in Game 6 win over Miami Heat (Nowitzki wins finals MVP)

Los Angeles Times ^ | 06/12/2011 | Ira Winderman

[SeekAndFind]

MIAMI— The end.

Of the hype. And the hope. Of instant gratification. And of vindication.

Year One of the Big Three ended with a thud Sunday night for the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena.

There will be no capping of last July's premature celebration over the free-agency signings of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Instead, there will be reflection on nights such as Sunday, when a 105-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6 of the NBA Finals brought down the curtain on the 2010-11 season.

And started a new waiting game, leaving plenty of questions in the wake of this meltdown.

It was a dreary ending, particularly for James, who again proved unable to match the moment. After making his first four shots when he appeared headed to a big night, he instead closed with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, seemingly paralyzed by the moment. It was a finish nearly as humbling as being swept out of the 2007 Finals by the San Antonio Spurs while a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

None of the Heat's Big Three, in fact, were very big, with Wade closing with 17 points and Bosh with 19.

Mavericks guard Jason Terry, though, was plenty big, keeping Dallas afloat through a 14-0 Heat second-quarter run with 19 first-half points. He closed with 27 on 11-of-16 shooting.

That allowed Dallas to persevere even on a night series Most Valuable Player Dirk Nowitzki, hero of the Mavericks' Game 2 and Game 4 victories, shot 9 of 27 for 21 points.

It ended with Pat Riley watching in stunned silence from across the Heat bench, with the Heat allowing Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to celebrate in their building, with the Mavericks shockingly managing to buy nearly an entire section behind the Heat bench

[Liberty Valance]

Ha Ha Ha!

[I Drive Too Fast]

Lakers have won 9 titles in the last 30 years, but who's counting;-)

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[Jvette]

Lakers fan here too.

It sure was a disappointing though not surprising loss to the Mavs. Like everyone else, no one seemed to think they had the gumption to go all the way.

Lakers were listless in the post season. The past four years have been hard on them and for whatever reason the team didn’t show up.

I was afraid when they went on that amazing run out of the all star game they would fizzle near the end.

Apparently the Laker boards were all abuzz with glee last night. At least it stayed in the West.