I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that, if you were watching last night's Game 2 between the Mavs and the Heat, that you probably did what a lot of people did (including in Dallas, based on the overnight ratings ... at least until ... well, hang tight, until "Dirk" happened!!!, when 91 freaking percent of the televisions in use were, well, their viewers probably reacted exactly like me. Suh-weet!!!), and when Dwayne Wade hit a three to put Miami up 88-73 with a little over seven minutes to play, that you figured "screw it, it's over", and turned off the TV and called it a night.
And to be fair, with any other team save for the Knicks, I'd have probably done the same thing. (Yeah I know, I root for the Bucks more than the Knicks now, but come on -- Milwaukee is so god awful offensively that they couldn't rally from down 15 in seven minutes. They probably couldn't even score 15 points in seven minutes.)
But last night, for the third time in this postseason, the Mavericks rallied from a huge fourth quarter deficit -- ON THE ROAD! -- to stun the home team, and potenially grab control of the series.
They did it at Staples Center in game one, rallying from down 16 to beat the Lakers in game one. The Mavs went on to sweep the two time defending league champions (and three time defending Western Conference champions), effectively pulling the curtain down on a dynasty. They rallied from down 15 with barely 5 to play in Oklahoma City in game four to force overtime, then pulled away in the closing moments to effectively seal the series by going up 3-1, instead of going back to Dallas tied at two. (The Mavs also staged a fourth quarter rally in game 5 to win the series 4-1.)
And then last night, a final six and a half minutes that might have been the most dominant sequence any NBA team has pulled off since ... when? Boston's second quarter to close out the Lakers three years ago, when a two point Lakers lead turned into a 30 point deficit, as the Celtics owners quickly contacted numerous local roofing experts to check the ceiling for cracks due to the crowd noise?
From the moment that three went in (and that might have been one of the sweetest plays of the entire season, by the way -- LBJ roars down the lane, pitches out to Chalmers, who hits a wide open Wade in the corner for a three that the Heat thought sealed the game), until Dirk emphatically announced Dallas was "in it to win it" by spinning around Chris Bosh and slamming home the game winner with a second to play (as this blogger stood cheering, screaming, and damned near crying. I can't help it, Dallas is my adopted home. Beat The Heat!!!) That seven minute sequence was why the NBA is the best professional sports league in this country. If you couldn't get worked up watching the closing minutes of last night's contest, you don't have a pulse. (Or you hate basketball, which I refuse to believe is humanly possible.)
A lot of columnists have focused on the Heat's de facto celebration after that three went in. The Mavs players have flat out said that's what sparked the comeback, they were furious that LBJ and Wade dared to have a moment of fun in front of their bench. Hey, whatever works guys. If I was LBJ and Wade, I'd have done the same thing, I mean, against any other team, that shot is the dagger. That shot is Colonel Mustard, with the candlestick, in the conservatory. It's the kill shot.
Against this team? This is what it led to:
* a full timeout by Dallas. Gregg Doyle of sportsline.com posted before game two that the only way Dallas could get back into this series, is if Rick Carlisle was up to the challenge. The last seven minutes, he certainly was. Tyson Chandler and Jason Terry said after the game that Carlisle used the timeout to point out how p*ssed he was at the Wade / LBJ celebration. The Mavs that took the court coming out of that timeout were playing with passion and a purpose, and man did it show.
* after a couple misses by both teams, Jason Terry drains a midrange jumper. Lead down to 13.
* after a great lead-out pass by J Kidd, Terry hits an easy layup with a little under 6 to play. Lead down to 11.
* then, the most underrated play of the comeback. LBJ has a wide, wide open layup ... and misses everything. He short arms it. I'm going to guess he's done that maybe three times in his life, and not since junior high. Dallas gets the board, Kidd draws a foul, drains both, and the lead is down to 9.
* after another Heat miss (they're now 0 for 4 since the Dallas timeout), Shawn Marion takes it coast to coast to cut the lead to 7. The Mavs have cut the lead in half in less than 2 1/2 minutes. There's still 4:30 to go. It's a new ballgame.
* after two LBJ free throws that temporarily stops the momentum, in the words of Bill Raftery, "ONIONS!", as J Kidd drains a three pointer. The lead's down to 6.
* after a LBJ miss, Jason Terry drains another midrange jumper. It's now 90-86, there's three minutes to play, and Eric Spoelstra, sensing it slip away, calls timeout.
And it's at this point, that the most clutch player on the floor, takes over.
* Bosh tosses the ball in the general direction of Jimmy Buffett. Unfortunately for Bosh, Buffett is sitting on the front row, not even close to being inbounds. Down the court comes Dallas, and Dirk drills a jumper. 90-88.
* After LBJ bricks not one, not two, but three long jumpers (why in the hell is he settling for 25 footers? Drive the hoop you p*ssy!), Jason Terry steals the pass, hits Marion in transition, who delivers to Dirk, who lays it in with :57 to go. It's tied at 90! It's a 17-2 run, the only Miami points coming at the foul line! The Heat are now 0 for 11 since the timeout from the floor.
* Make that 0 for 12, as whatever the hell play Spoelstra called in the timeout, it was a disaster. Wade winds up taking an awful shot just inside the three point arch.
And it's at this point ... that things get crazy.
* Dirk gets the board, calmly dribbles up the court, stops and pops for three ... BANGO! You could probably hear me screaming two blocks away. That was (bill raftery voice) GRAPEFRUITS!
* And as huge as that was ... how epically clutch was "Super" Mario Chalmers coming back the other way, on a designed three coming out of the timeout? Epic. As I noted on Facebook, "of course Mario Chalmers hit a clutch three. We've never seen that before." Unlike the last time he drained a three with a potential championship on the line, however, I didn't immediately crawl into the fetal position and cry for five straight minutes. This time, I stormed off in search of another Budweiser.
* And then, the piece de resistance. The play-by-play doesn't do it justice. "Dirk Nowitzki hits driving layup". Uuh, yeah. After abusing Chris Bosh worse than Yi abused the folding chair in his infamous workout video. I mean, Bosh was frozen. It was so beautiful to watch. Even if you want Miami to win (and really, you'd have to be indwelt by Satan to be cheering for them at this point), that was one of those plays where you just have to pull a Pauler Abdul and start clapping like a baby seal. (For comparison's sake, it's like Tony Romo's bomb to Miles Austin to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead two years ago. As soon as he released it, I just started shaking my head and laughing. The throw was that perfect, the route was that perfect, it was just beautiful to watch. Even if it meant my team lost.)
And after Wade missed a "closer than it should have been" desperation heave, bam! The Mavs are back in it, the Heat are left to ponder an epic collapse, and the series shifts to Dallas for the next three nights.
And you know what made the comeback last night even more sweet? What didn't happen in the last 4:09 of the game. What specifically did not happen, you ask? Other than the Big Three of Miami scoring a single point?
There were zero, zip, nada fouls called in the final four minutes. Kudos to Joey Crawford and crew -- they let 'em play. This wasn't Game 3 of the 2006 Finals, when the Heat's comeback from down 13 was fueled solely and completely by the Mavs drawing phantom foul call after "uuh, that seems shady" foul call after "where? Where the f*ck was there any contact on that play, you dipf*ck?!?!" foul call.
Game 3 Sunday night. I can hardly wait. Oh, and Mr. Cuban, have a couple roofers on speed dial, you're gonna need them for the cracks in the AAC ceiling the crowd noise is going to give you Sunday night. Somehow, I'm guessing you won't mind ...
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