MyDallasMavs: June 2011

Nowitzki Throws out the Rangers First Pitch

2011 NBA Champion Dirk Nowitzki threw out the first pitch at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington before their game with the NY Mets.

Nowitzki stepped up to the mound with a basketball in hand and baseball in his pocket while wearing his personalized "Nowitzki" Rangers jersey and hat as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
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Cuban gets $341K Parade Bill

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban promised to pay all the costs of the Championship Parade that 200,000 fans attended.

City officials estimated the cost of the parade to be $340,947. This doesn't include the celebration in the AAC afterwards.
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Barea to Stay in Dallas?

JJ Barea, the fast little point guard that we all grew to know and love who drives to the basket swerving in and out of players quicker than the speed of light, is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

He made it aware that he wanted to stay in Dallas, and apparently his agent completely agrees.
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Mavs Draft Results

The Mavs, Blazers and Nuggets were involved in a 3-way deal:

Final Thoughts from Dirk Nowitzki

Raptors Hire Mavs' Assistant Coach, Dwane Casey, as Head Coach

Just nine days after helping the Mavericks win their championship, assistant coach Dwane Casey was hired by the Toronto Raptors as their head coach.

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Cuban Calls Rings "Old School", Mavs Want Them Anyway

After winning the NBA Championship for the first time in Dallas franchise history, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban explained in an interview that he thinks the rings are "old school" and that he'd like to give the players something else.
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DeShawn Stevenson Arrested for Public Intoxication

Irving police say Stevenson was arrested Tuesday night after several reports of an intoxicated man walking around an apartment complex.

After the police approached Stevenson, he said he didn't know where he was and he was then given field sobriety tests and arrested.

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Kidd Retiring?

After winning a greatly anticipated NBA title, most would think that Kidd would finally retire to end his career on a perfect note, but during Tuesday’s exit interviews, he clarified that he doesn’t plan on retiring. In fact, he thinks he has a few more years left in him.
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Finals- Mavs vs Heat: Game 6 (YOUR MAVS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS!)

The Dallas Mavericks were just one win away from their first NBA title; just one win away from avenging the Miami Heat from beating them in 2006; just one win away from leaving behind all the bad names and phrases they were given: "one and done", "soft", "too old"; just one win away from proving everyone wrong.

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Finals- Mavs vs Heat: Game 5

The Mavs stepped foot onto the AAC floor one last time this post-season for Game 5 with the hope of taking a 3-2 series lead before heading back to Miami for Game 6 and 7. Game 5 was a journey in itself, but the Mavs accomplished the task of getting the victory to advance to one win away from being crowned the 2011 NBA Champions after a 112-103 win.

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Finals- Mavs vs Heat: Game 4

The Mavs hoped to win Game 4 to avoid falling in a 1-3 hole, and with Nowitzki battling a 102 fever, their supporting cast stepped up and managed to get the 86-83 victory after an outstanding comeback with a 21-9 run tie up the series, 2-2.

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Finals- Mavs vs Heat: Game 3

The Mavericks stepped foot onto their home court Sunday night hoping to gain a 2-1 series lead with the advantage of playing 2 more games in the AAC but came up short after Dirk missed a game-winner at the buzzer.

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Finals- Mavs vs Heat: Game 2

The Mavericks entered Game 2 of the Finals after losing Game 1 on Tuesday night, which put them down 0-1 for the first time this postseason. The team, as well as the fans, were stunned to find out that Dirk tore a tendon in his left middle finger in the final minutes of Game 1 after battling with Bosh for the ball. With their leading scorer battling a slight injury and Miami 9-0 at home in the playoffs, Dallas knew that winning Game 2 in the AAA would be a hard task to complete but they hoped to be successful in evening up the series before heading back to Dallas for Game 3.

Finals- Mavs vs Heat: Game 1

After waiting nearly a week after defeating Oklahoma City in five games, the Dallas Mavericks returned to the court to play the Miami Heat in the Finals once again since their last Finals meeting in 2006.

The Mavericks entered Game 1 of the Finals hoping to end the Heat's 8-0 post-season record at home while continuing their 5-game road playoff winning streak.

The Heat had other things in mind as they found success in getting the Game 1 victory over Dallas to put the Mavs in a 1-0 series hole for the first time this post-season.

The Mavericks opened up the first quarter with trouble on the offensive end as they started just 1 for 7 from the floor. Despite their adversity, they fought back with consecutive 3-pointers by Jason Kidd to get back into the game while Marion and Stevenson worked together to try and defend sharp shooters James and Wade. Terry took a 2 for 2 trip to the free throw line after a hard foul from Lebron to allow Dallas to a 17-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Heat's big three brought all the attention to themselves as Dirk did the same. Marion continued to scored follow by an alley-oop and-1 finish by Chander off an assist from Kidd to push the Mavs to another 1 point lead, 44-43, to end the second quarter.

Both teams had trouble offensively in the first half, as the Mavs outshot the Heat, 38.2% to 36.6%. At the half, Dirk and Terry combined for 25 points while Miami's big three combined for 30.

The third quarter would be different for the Mavs as they started off on a 7-0 run. However, the Heat took advantage of the Mavs' turnovers and Lebron hit a fadeaway 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 65-61 lead to end the third.

The Mavericks' defense took it up a notch in the final quarter to stay in the game until Haslem scored an and-1 over Dirk in the lane; Dallas fell in a 75-69 hole with just under 7 minutes to play. Marion tried his best to spark the Mavs on the offensive end but his efforts were no use as Wade swished in a 3-pointer to put Miami up 82-73 with 3 minutes remaining. This was then followed by an and-1 dunk by Lebron to put the Heat back up by 10 in the final minutes, as Dallas started to lose hope of a comeback. Despite the lost hope, Dirk continued to fight, even after tearing a tendon in his finger during the fourth quarter when his hand got tangled up during an attempt to steal the ball from Bosh. He took a 2 for 2 trip to the line to cut the deficit to 6, 85-79, with 1:36 to go. Bosh dunked on the other end followed by another by James to cap off their lead at 92-84 and gain the 1-0 series lead.

Without much help from anyone else, Dirk finished with a game-high 27 points while Marion added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Terry was the only other Mav in double figures with 12 points (all in the first half), but hit just 3 of 10 from the floor. Barea struggled as well hitting just 1 of 8. This led to Dallas' bench being unusually outscored by Miami's, 27-17.

For the Heat, Lebron finished with 24 points while Wade had 22 points and Bosh added 19 points to go along with 28 rebounds combined from the big three.

The Heat outshot the Mavs, 38.8% to 37.3% as well as out-rebounded the Mavs, 46-36 (16 Heat offensive rebounds). Miami also bettered Dallas' 9 for 22 from beyond the arc with 11 of 24.

The Mavericks will now head into Game 2, Thursday night, hoping to steal home-court advantage in their second opportunity.

**Game 2 will air on ABC, Thursday, June 2nd at 9pm ET.

Carlisle, Nowitzki, and Marion talk about the Mavs Game 1 loss as well as Dirk's injured finger.