Three Thoughts - Mavs Feel Good In Gm 4
On a Friday Night in mid-June, the Dallas Mavericks were all smiles once again.
It never felt right in the last 10 days.
Dallas looked almost as shocked as anyone to find themselves in the NBA Finals and just didn’t ever seem like they could get comfortable. They were full of jitters and unable to simply catch passes or grab rebounds. Their hands were betraying them, and the noise appeared to be getting to them.
The inability to steady themselves to any degree kept them from ever really resembling the team that made some believers out of the Western Conference. The team that took out three different 50-win opponents over the last six weeks had been replaced by a team that appeared completely outclassed.
But, Friday night, with pride and stubbornness the only two things to play for, the Mavericks were able to remind even themselves that they are more than just two guys and became that team of scrappy dogs who fought together and took turns making plays, even if it was only for one night. They saw every person who had a chance make a play and have a moment. They, perhaps for only one brief glimpse, showed up as a full squad in the NBA Finals. And in doing so, destroyed the Celtics, 122-84, in a way that loudly said, “not in our house” as the celebration will have to be taken somewhere else for all of those in green.
Game 5 will be somewhere else – in Boston – on Monday night. But the fact that there is a Game 5 was very much in doubt at dinner time last night, so we will take it.
These are My Three Thoughts:
–They did not go quietly into the night. All that I could think about in the build-up to this game was wondering whether they would just collapse on Friday Night and give in. I know the outcome of the series appears to be already determined, so now you are talking about being stubborn and dragging your feet as much as possible to delay the execution. It is a test of character and of resolve and it may not have any real payoff except you get the pleasure of knowing you were not a complete push-over. Fine. We will take that.