Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks close out the series to clench the 2011 NBA Finals!
It was only one game, and it is not as though Dirk Nowitzki played all that well. In fact, he wasn’t very good at all in the first half, shooting 1-for-12 before finishing 9-for-27 from the field with 21 points. But that will all be soon forgotten, because these playoffs—already a crowning few weeks in Nowitzki’s stellar career—have ended in a Dallas Mavericks championship, and the Season of Dirk will now be assigned to history, crunch-time legend added to the legacy of the best international player in league history.
“I don’t think there is any doubt that, after this series, Dirk has earned the clout as one of the all-time great players,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “His versatility, the way he performed in the clutch—I mean, he was 1-for-12 in the first half. Second half, he was absolute money. So, I am really thrilled for him.”
LeBron James, on the other hand, is in for a long summer. Though he led the Miami Heat with 21 points and was solid in the fourth quarter for the first time in this series (3-for-5 shooting, seven points), it wasn’t enough. He was the lightning rod of this series, sparked mostly by his inability to come through in the clutch against the Mavericks, whose defense did a good job keeping him out of the paint. James scored just 11 fourth-quarter points on 4-for-16 shooting in the first five games, and as the Finals wore on, it was clear that whatever happened with the Heat would land on James’ shoulders.
As Nowitzki’s legacy soared on Sunday night, James’ sank. But James insisted that the enmity he has gotten from fans and media isn’t going to stick with him.
“At the end of the day,” James said, “all the people who want to see me fail, they gotta wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had when they woke up today. Same personal problems they had today. I am going to continue to live and do the things I want to do and be happy with that.”
(sportingnews.com)
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