2011 Finals Game 3 – All Hail the Champ

June 7th, 2011, Author: robd

“Resilient “is the best way I can sum up this performance by the Miami Heat. A tough win in a hostile environment after a heart-breaking loss. A game where the Heat only got 17 points from Lebron. A game where Dirk Nowitzki threatened to take over as he has done so many times this post-season. A game the Miami Heat could have so easily rolled over and died in, with plenty of explainable reasons for doing so. But they didn’t.

3 votes – Dwyane Wade. This man was the single biggest reason the Heat got the W in this game, when on so many occasions I thought the Mavs would run past them. It sounds corny when you say “player X just wouldn’t let his team lose”, but on this night that description sums up Wade perfectly. He was stubborn. When Dirk his two FTs to bring the Mavs within 2 late in the fourth, Wade came out of the ensuing timeout and buried an eff-you three. And when a raging Dirk leveled the scores with 2 minutes left, Wade his a clutch fade away (so much Kobe in that shot) to give Miami breathing space. He played with the arrogance of a champion tonight, on a completely different level to his teammate Lebron James. “I took it upon myself as a leader to lead my guys by example. I’ve been here before”, he said. Word.

This is where I point you to something I wrote over 8 months ago:

… I think Lebron looks over at Wade and wonders if “that guy knows something I don’t?”. I’m not talking about a ring, I’m talking about the winning gene. Lebron knows that individually he’s had more success than Wade and that he’s a better all-round player than Wade. That makes it even harder to him to swallow. The fact that every day he walks the halls of the Heat locker rooms and sees posters of Wade hoisting the 2006 Championship trophy. A reminder that “nothing you’ve done Lebron compares to this”. The fact that before every game Lebron is looking over at the guy next to him in the number #3 jersey, knowing they’re about to lace up for the next step in the journey – a journey Wade has already successfully completed.

And when it comes to May or perhaps June, and the pressure cooker is at maximum late in the fourth, and the question of championship mettle is being asked at the megastar duo? I think Lebron is still looking over at Wade, because he doesn’t know the answer. Dwyane Wade does. No one will forget that this season. Especially not Lebron.

Now I’m certainly not trying to say Lebron has faded from the big moments this postseason – far from it. But this is the Finals, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence Wade has stepped up and tried to shoulder the load. He’s averaging 20 shots per game so far in these Finals – Lebron’s attempts have curiously dropped to 15 (they were both averaging around 18 so far these playoffs). Lebron has delivered some mind-blowing dunks and sublime passes, Wade has delivered the assassin-moments. And Lebron needs him to.

2 votes – Mario Chalmers. I very nearly gave Mario Chalmers a vote in Game 1 because his shooting and defensive energy were huge X-factors for the Heat in securing the victory. So it’s with little hesitation that I give him 2 votes today, because he was even better in this one. He was 4-6 from downtown and was so crucial in spacing that floor and allowing Wade, Lebron and Bosh to do damage. I’ve said it so many times before. You only need your role players to have 1 or 2 games like this in a Finals series to win it all. Chalmers has done that. Puerto Rican guy hasn’t. That is the difference right there from being up 2-1 to be down 1-2. And don’t think that Chalmers is just bobbing up from time to time – he has been so consistent across the three games, nailing at least three treys in each. Right now, outside of the Big Three, he might be Miami’s most important player.

1 vote – Dirk Nowitzki. Another epic game from Dirk in a loss. Despite not shooting well early and me proclaiming to my mates that “Dirk is stinking it up today”, he came home strong as per usual and nearly won the game single-handedly. Sure he has a costly turnover and missed the game-winner, and some morons will probably choose to dwell on those points. Truth is he was bound to miss one. And I don’t really like the Mavs strategy of throwing all their eggs into the Dirk Basket late in games. They’re becoming as predictable as the Kobe-centric Lakers in late-game situations, the only difference being Kobe has a couple of other supremely talented team mates to occasionally make plays. Dirk does not. The Dirk Basket isn’t there by choice; it’s a necessity.

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I think the Heat have it from here. I thought he Game 2 loss might result in some mental scarring, and another late collapse in Game 3 would have just about killed off their mojo for good. But they were resilient and they rebounded, and now they know they’re going back to Miami. That gives them the world of confidence, and just adds to the weight already bearing down on the Mavs. There are cracks in the Heat’s armor, they’re certainly not the best Finals team I’ve watched over the years, but I honestly don’t think the Mavs have the weapons to stop them. More accurately, I don’t think Dallas have the firepower to overcome Miami’s defense. Terry, Barea and Peja need to get going. They need to surround Dirk with shooters who can actually make shots. They need to get in a groove for 2, 3 games in a row. If that doesn’t happen, mark my words, this series will end quickly.