The Mavericks only shot 37.3% from the floor and they were outrebounded 46-36 by the Heat last night, but it wasn’t until they got beat 49-40 in the second half that they faded away.  Dirk Nowitzki led the way for the Mavericks last night with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.  Shawn Marion filled up the stat sheet with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.  Jason Terry only shot 3 of 10 from the floor as he finished up with 12 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist off the bench.  The Mavericks are now down 1-0 to the Heat in the NBA Finals.

The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat have thrashed every team they have played so far in the post season.  The Mavericks have been doing it with offense while the Heat have been doing it with defense.  Here is a look at the matchups in a fairly even NBA Finals:

POINT GUARD:  Jason Kidd is one of the best point guards of all time.  But, he has never won an NBA Championship through no fault of his own.  He is just a shadow of the player he used to be.  He has played in 15 games (all starts) during the playoffs and he is averaging 34.7 minutes, 9.9 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Kidd is still much better than Mike Bibby though.

Mike Bibby has not done much of anything for the Heat so far in the playoffs.  He has played in 15 games (all starts) for the Heat so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 21.9 minutes, 3.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.  Bibby appears to be running on fumes right now for the Heat.

EDGE:  MAVERICKS

SHOOTING GUARD:  DeShawn Stevenson doesn’t play or do much for the Mavericks.  He has played in 15 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 15.3 minutes, 3.5 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He does play decent defense but he’s going to have his hands full with D-Wade.

Dwyane Wade wasn’t at his best against the Bulls due to his shoulder giving him some problems.  D-Wade has played in 15 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far and he is averaging 39.6 minutes, 23.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  The Heat need Wade to have a big series if they are going to beat the Mavericks.

EDGE:  HEAT

SMALL FORWARD:  Shawn Marion isn’t the player he used to be even a couple of years ago, so he’s going to have his hands full with LeBron James.  Marion has played in 15 games (all starts) so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 31.7 minutes, 11.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Marion will have to make sure that he makes James work hard on the defensive end of the court.

LeBron James has really been clutch for the Heat so far in the playoffs.  They will need that to continue if they are going to win the NBA Championship.  James has played in 15 games (all starts) for the Heat in the playoffs and he is averaging 44.0 minutes, 26.0 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  James will be looking to get the Big Monkey off his back in this series.

EDGE:  HEAT

POWER FORWARD:  This is going to be the matchup to watch in this series.  Dirk Nowitzki vs. Chris Bosh.  Nowitzki has been one of the warriors of the NBA for quite some time.  But, he has not won an NBA Finals as of yet.  Nowitzki has played in 15 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 38.9 minutes, 28.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.  Nowitzki is shooting the lights out from everywhere on the court so far in the playoffs as he is hitting 51.7% from the floor, 51.6% from 3-point range and 93% from the free throw line.  He is conjuring up images of Larry Bird.

Chris Bosh has been pretty solid in the playoffs for the Heat.  He has played in 15 games (all starts) for the Heat so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 39.9 minutes, 18.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  He hasn’t been consistent though as he is running hot and cold in the playoffs.  The Heat need a big series out of Bosh, especially on defense.

EDGE:  MAVERICKS

CENTER:  Tyson Chandler is the classic tough guy in the paint as he’s always seems to be around the basket.  Chandler has played in 15 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 30.4 minutes, 7.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  The Mavericks need Chandler to play big on both ends of the court if they are going to win this series.

Joel Anthony is only on the court to play defense and rebound.  He has played in 15 games (7 starts) for the Heat so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 30.1 minutes, 3.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  Anthony is a One Trick Pony.

EDGE:  MAVERICKS

BENCH:  The Mavericks’ bench brings a lot of offensive firepower to the basketball court when they are on it.  It all starts with Jason Terry.  Terry has played in 15 games (0 starts) off the bench for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 32.6 minutes, 17.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Terry is shooting a very hot 46.3% from three-point range in the playoffs.  Backup point guard J.J. Barea has given the Mavs a nice jolt off the bench.  Barea has played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 17.5 minutes, 8.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.  Small forward Peja Stojakovic is also a sparkplug off the bench for the Mavericks.  He has played in 15 games so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 8.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Center Brendan Haywood is a legit power player when he’s on the court.  Haywood has played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 16.6 minutes, 3.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  SG/SF Corey Brewer could be a secret weapon in this series as his strength is on defense.  Brewer has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 3.8 minutes, 1.5 points, 0.3 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.

The Miami Heat don’t use the bench much.  PG Mario Chalmers will likely be the one exception for the Heat as he will likely play around half of each game.  Chalmers has played in 15 games (0 starts) so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 22.5 minutes, 6.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Small forward James Jones P.T. has been sporadic for the Heat in the playoffs.  Jones has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 22.7 minutes, 6.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  Power forward Udonis Haslem has given the Heat a spark in the playoffs after sitting out most of this year due to injury.  Haslem has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Heat in the playoffs and he is averaging 19.0 minutes, 3.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  SF/SG Mike Miller hasn’t played that much in the playoffs for the Heat.  Miller has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Heat so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 10.1 minutes, 2.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas might get some action in this series.  He has played in 9 games (8 starts) for the Heat so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 11.6 minutes, 3.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.

EDGE:  MAVERICKS

COACHING:  Rick Carlisle has done an excellent job of getting the most out of his roster.  He now has a 49-44 (52.7%) record during the playoffs as a head coach in the NBA, so he has learned from past mistakes. 

Erik Spoelstra has also done a great job of getting his Miami Heat to their peak performance.  He is now 16-11 (59.3%) during the playoffs in his career as a NBA head coach.

EDGE:  EVEN

PREDICTION:  I would not be shocked to see the Mavericks win this series.  But, I like the Heat to win over the Mavericks in six games.

The Mavericks outscored the Thunder 28-20 in the 4th quarter to surge to a rousing victory last night.  Dirk Nowitzki (26 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals) and Shawn Marion (26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocked shots) led the way for the Mavericks last night.  J.J. Barea added some zip off the bench with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal in 22 minutes on the floor.  Jason Terry only shot 3 of 9 from the floor but he still finished up with 12 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal in 31 minutes.  The Mavericks have closed out the Thunder 4-1 and they now await either the Heat or the Bulls in the NBA Finals.

The Mavericks got outrebounded 55-33 last night but they outscored the Thunder 11-4 in overtime and they made them pay for every mistake they made in the 4th quarter as well.  Dirk Nowitzki led the way with 40 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists for the Mavericks last night.  Jason Terry had another solid game off the bench with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 steals.  Jason Kidd pitched in with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals last night.  The Mavericks are now up 3-1 in this series.

The Mavericks jumped to a 27-12 after the first quarter and they never looked back.  They held the Thunder to 36.5% shooting from the floor and it was a big reason for the win last night.  Dirk Nowitzki had his first sub par game of this series as he only shot 7 of 21 from the floor while turning the ball over 7 times.  He still finished up with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.  Shawn Marion shot 9 of 13 from the floor and he filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.  Jason Kidd (13 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals) and Jason Terry (13 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists and 2 steals) also pitched in offensively for the Mavs last night.  Tyson Chandler did all of the dirty work as he finished up with 8 points, 15 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  The Mavericks are now up 2-1 in this series.

The Mavericks didn’t play any D last night as the Thunder shot 55.6% from the floor and it did them in.  Dirk Nowitzki had another huge game with 29 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists last night.  Tyson Chandler (15 points, 13 rebounds and 1 assist) and Jason Kidd (13 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals) also had solid games for the Mavs last night.  J.J. Barea pitched in with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in only 16 minutes on the floor.  This series is now tied up at 1 game apiece as it shifts to Oklahoma City.

The Mavericks shot 53.4% from the floor last night and that helped them outrun the Thunder last night.  Dirk Nowitzki shot 12 of 15 from the floor and 24 for 24 from the free throw last night as he led the way for the Mavs with 48 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocked shots.  Jason Terry (24 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot) and J.J. Barea (21 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in 16 minutes) also helped out with solid games off the bench for the Mavericks last night.  Shawn Marion filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.  The Mavericks are now up 1-0 in this series.

The Dallas Mavericks have been waiting around quite a while now to finally see who they are playing.  The well rested Mavericks (coming off a sweep of the defending champion Lakers) will be duking it out with the Oklahoma City Thunder who won a hard fought series against the Grizzlies (it went 7 games).  The matchups look pretty even overall in this series, so it could come down to which team has a star really rise up in this matchup.  Here is a look at the matchups in this series:

POINT GUARD:  Jason Kidd used to be one of the best point guards in all of basketball, but he’s running on fumes now.  Kidd has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 33.6 minutes, 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  The Mavericks will need Kidd to play good defense and to take his fair share of shots to make Russell Westbrook work at both ends of the basketball court.

Russell Westbrook is one of the best point guards in the league and he’s not shy about taking a lot of shots.  Westbrook has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 36.9 minutes, 23.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.3 steals.  The Thunder usually go as Westbrook goes, as they win most of the games he plays well in.

EDGE:  THUNDER

SHOOTING GUARD:  DeShawn Stevenson is a starter in name only as Jason Terry gets most of the minutes at this spot.  Stevenson has played in 10 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 12.8 minutes, 3.2 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.

Thabo Sefolosha is a defensive stopper for the Thunder and like Stevenson, he is a starter in name only as James Harden gets most of the P.T. here.  Sefolosha has played in 12 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far and he is averaging 20.3 minutes, 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.

EDGE:  EVEN

SMALL FORWARD:  Shawn Marion will have his hands full in this series dealing with Kevin Durant.  Marion has played in 10 games (all starts) in the playoffs and he is averaging 30.9 minutes, 9.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.  The Mavericks are going to need Marion to shoot the ball a little more than usual to make Durant work on the defensive end of the basketball court.

Kevin Durant is probably the best small forward in the NBA right now (sorry LeBron).  He has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 41.6 minutes, 28.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  If Durant goes off in this series, the Thunder are going to win it.

EDGE:  HUGE FOR THE THUNDER

POWER FORWARD:  Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best money players in the NBA.  He has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 38.1 minutes, 26.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.  Nowitzki has been on fire from three point range in the playoffs as he is 12 for 20 (60%) from that range. 

Serge Ibaka is a power player, so he might have issues chasing Nowitzki around.  Ibaka has played in 12 games (all starts) so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 28.8 minutes, 9.6 points, 7.7 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 3.6 blocked shots per game.  The Thunder might use Ibaka on Marion with Durant playing Nowtizki on D.

EDGE:  MAVERICKS

CENTER:  Tyson Chandler’s main job is to rebound and play defense.  He has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Mavs during the playoffs so far and he is averaging 29.7 minutes, 6.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Chandler is set to slug it out under the basket with Kendrick Perkins in this series.

Kendrick Perkins has the same job description as Chandler.  The Thunder hope that Perkins will get down and dirty around the basket in this series.  Perkins has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 28.6 minutes, 4.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. 

EDGE:  VERY SLIGHT FOR THE MAVERICKS

BENCH:  The bench is a very important part of the Mavericks’ success.  Shooting guard Jason Terry has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mavs so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 32.3 minutes, 18.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He is shooting 22 of 44 (50%) from three point range so far in the playoffs as he has been an assassin from long range for the Mavericks.  Small forward Peja Stojakovic has also been a force offensively off the bench for the Mavericks in the playoffs.  He has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 24.3 minutes, 10.7 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.  He is shooting 24 for 52 (46.2%) from the three point line so far in the playoffs.  Point guard J.J. Barea will give Jason Kidd a break when he needs one.  Barea has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Mavericks so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 7.7 points, 1.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.  Backup center Brendan Haywood’s job will be to rebound and play D when he’s on the court.  Haywood has played in 10 games (0 starts) so far in the playoffs for the Mavericks and he averaged 17.5 minutes, 2.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  SG/SF Corey Brewer could also get some P.T. in this series because of his defense.  Brewer has played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Mavs so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 3.6 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.4 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game.

Shooting guard James Harden is the best player off the bench for the Thunder.  He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 31.3 minutes, 12.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  PF/C Nick Collison didn’t get a lot of P.T. during the regular season but he has stepped up during the playoffs for the Thunder.  Collison has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder during the playoffs so far  and he is averaging 23.1 minutes, 5.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Backup point guard Eric Maynor has been outstanding in the playoffs for the Thunder.  He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 12.8 minutes, 5.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  Daeqaun has been a long range shooter off the bench for the Thunder so far in the playoffs.  He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder so far in the playoffs and he is averaging 12.3 minutes, 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.1 assist per game.  Center Nazr Mohammed has been giving Kendrick Perkins a rest when he needs one.  He has played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Thunder in the playoffs and he is averaging 11.8 minutes, 2.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

EDGE:  SLIGHT FOR THE MAVERICKS

COACHING:  Rick Carlisle earned a lot of respect by having his team sweep the Lakers and Phil Jackson.  He now has a 45-43 (51.1%) record during the playoffs as he appears to be a late bloomer as a coach in the post-season.  Carlisle’s got his team rolling right now.

Scott Brooks helped his Thunder eek out a tough series against the Grizzlies.  Brooks is now 10-8 (55.6%) in his career during the playoffs. 

EDGE:  SLIGHT FOR MAVERICKS

PREDICTION:  As much as I want to pick the Mavericks in this series, I just can’t pull the trigger.  I like the Thunder to win this series in 7 games.

The Dallas Mavericks shot 60.3% from the floor today while also hitting 20 of 32 three-point shots (62.5%) in this game, which helps explain the beating they applied to the Lakers!  The Mavericks also played solid D as they held the Lakers to 37.8% shooting from the floor.  Jason Terry led the way for the Mavericks today with 32 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot.  Terry shot 11 of 14 from the floor and a stunning 9 of 10 from three point range today!.  J.J. Barea also had a solid game with 22 points, 1 rebound and 8 assists in 26 minutes off the bench.  He escaped major injury in the 4th quarter after Andrew Bynum elbowed him in the chest mid-air, which sent Barea crashing to the court.  Bynum was ejected just moments after Lamar Odom was kicked out of the game for a cheap shot on Dirk Nowitzki.  Peja Stojakovic was also amazing off the bench as he was 7 for 7 from the floor and a perfect 6 for 6 from behind the three-point line.  He finished up with 21 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals in 30 minutes on the floor.  Dirk Nowitzki didn’t have to carry the Mavs today as he finished up with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal.  The Mavericks will now rest up while the Grizzlies and Thunder beat up on each other.  The Mavericks pushed the Lakers around in sweeping them in this series!

Power Forward Dirk Nowitzki is completely dominated the Lakers in the second round of the playoffs.  Nowitzki has played in 3 games against the Lakers so far in this series and he is averaging 39.3 minutes, 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.  He is shooting great in this series from everywhere on the basketball court as he is hitting 56.1% from the floor (32 of 57), 70% from behind the three point line (7 of 10) and 92.9% from the free throw line (13 of 14) against the Lakers.  Nowitzki is also playing solid D on Pau Gasol.  Nowitzki has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Mavericks in the playoffs so far and he is averaging 38.9 minutes, 27.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.