Mavericks Play, Win Like Real Team Against Fragmented Miami

COMMENTARY | The Dallas Mavericks won Game 5 of the NBA Championship series, beating the Miami Heat 112-103. It was a blistering display of offense and defense by Dallas, especially at the end of the game when Jason Terry drained any remaining hope from the Heat's players with a three-point basket over LeBron James.

Sekou Smith gives us his take on Game 5 at NBA.com in an article titled "Mavs finally find the mark, push Heat to the brink."

The victory gives the Mavericks an unexpected 3-2 game lead in the battle against the Heat.

Why are the Mavericks winning when they were thought to be the weaker team?

Miami has the "Big Three:" LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. When they are playing well together, they are tough to beat because all three players have awesome skills. However, they often have trouble knowing who should take the lead and can become hesitant. Note James scored no points in the fourth quarter. This followed a poor showing in the fourth quarter of Game 4.

However, I believe the reason the Heat isn't handling Dallas is the Mavericks are a complete team. They work by passing and finding the open man. Their roles are well-defined, while the Miami players really haven't identified their "lead man." If the lead man isn't identified, how can you develop a cast?

For Dallas, that lead man is Dirk Nowitzki. He scores the most because he is the best shooter. However, he has an incredible supporting cast.

They can bring a full-court press with Jason Kidd and J.J. Barea. Further, these two players are deadly scorers, including from three-point range. As Miami is finding out, J.J. Barea is one of the most underrated players in the NBA.

However, Game 5 belonged to Jason Terry, "The Jet," who scored 21 points along with Nowitzki's 29 to add a "sixth-man" contribution an opponent usually cannot weather. In addition to his scoring, he presented some amazing defense.

Game 5 was simply a team effort by Dallas that Miami could not cope with because the team has, for some reason, reverted to individual thinking.

An announcer made a comment after last night's game and I thought it was brilliant. He said in essence the Heat shouldn't study the film of last night's game; the team should study the films of the season when its play was harmonious.

It's going to be hard for Miami to defeat Dallas no matter what happens or what film the team studies..

References:

NBA.com Website, Sekou Smith, "Mavs finally find the mark, push Heat to the brink"

You Tube Website, "Jason Terry 3 Pointer Over LeBron James Game 5 NBA Finals"