Being a Mavericks fan, I have always stood by my team, despite its shortcomings in the postseason.
Despite what the analysts say, the Mavericks haven’t choked every year in the playoffs. Getting beat by a better team is different then blowing a series you should easily win. However, the Mavericks have done both during the last 6 years, and the results are the same: no championship.
I have almost gotten used to the same old story. They play great in the regular season, and then they lack the toughness to win a seven-game series in the playoffs. This season was going to be different though. I mean if you keep making the playoffs, you are bound to make a run one, sooner or later.
After going up 2-0 on Portland, it looked like Dallas was a different team. Then, a desperate Trailblazers’ team took game three and needed game four as well. Dallas would build a 23-point lead late into the third quarter and looked poised to run away with the game. Then, the old Mavericks played the fourth quarter and quickly blew this large lead, and the series became tied a 2-2.
It was the same old Mavericks story.
But then something different happened in game five; the Mavericks exhibited some toughness and bounced back. Tyson Chandler showed that the Mavericks actually had an inside presence and could play tough down low. Dallas went on to win games five and six to knock out Portland.
They shocked their own fans. Dallas usually buckles and collapses, but not this season. This season, they have some toughness in them.
This toughness carried over into the L.A. series. After imploding in the final minute of the first half and starting off slow in the third quarter, the Mavericks found themselves down by 16 on Monday night.
The Lakers were on the way to an easy game one victory. Then, Dallas showed something I don’t ever remember seeing before. They showed they had the ability to come back from a large deficit and steal a game in the playoffs.
They did it with toughness. They made difficult shots and got stops on the defensive end. Jason Kidd played tough defense on Kobe in the final minute, allowing Dallas to build a two-point lead with three seconds left. Kobe has a good look, but missed it at the end.
Some ignorant people would say Kobe blew it or was not clutch here. That is foolish. Simply put, good players miss shots too.
Now, the series is nowhere close to being over, and I am too skeptical to believe that Dallas will win this series easily against L.A., because history shows me otherwise.
However, to win a championship, teams must battle to win 16 games, and Dallas is on the right track to having the toughness to take all 16.
