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DALLAS — Throw this one into the “Obvious Observations of the Day” file, right next to pain hurts and death is not real good.
The Mavericks say they must give Dirk Nowitzki some late game help to avoid watching Miami celebrate a NBA championship at their expense for the second time in six years. Wow, stunning, huh?
“Dirk’s had a lot of opportunities and he’s gotten it done. Two out of three games, I have not. So he needs some help, and I’ll be there for the lending hand the rest of the way,” said Jason Terry.
“Right now they are loading up on Dirk, double-teaming him. We have to do a better job of getting opportunities and making things a little easier. I have to get more aggressive on the offense end,” said Tyson Chandler.
“Somebody else has to step up and help him on the offensive end,” said Jason Kidd.
Tonight in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, where the Heat can grab a suffocating 3-1 lead, might be a good time for the Mavs to do all this stepping up. While Nowitzki has been a basic one-man Nordic thunderbolt — he has scored virtually half of Dallas’ fourth quarter points in the three games (34 of 69) — he simply cannot do it alone.
Dwyane Wade has surged into the Miami forefront, but he has LeBron James behind him and there’s Chris Bosh behind James. Three is always better than one, unless you’re discussing consecutive jail sentences.
Wade has become the unquestioned leader, but James has become a clamp on Terry.
“It’s length. And it’s his strength, his ability to close out and still be in the area to contest,” Terry said of James’ effectiveness.
But the Miami defense has smoked virtually everyone not named Dirk.
“They do a good job on our shooters,” Nowitzki said. “Our ability to spread the floor and shoot is a big reason why we made it to the Finals. . . . But for some reason, they’re so long and athletic on the perimeter that they’re able to swarm me and my post-ups, and when we swing, swing they’re still athletic and quick enough to get to our shooters on the weak side and run them off, or at least contest them.”
James seems to have willingly accepted the facilitator role. Yesterday, he once again stressed how the ring’s the thing and whether he or Wade or Bosh or Bimbo Coles out of retirement emerges as the hero doesn’t matter.
“Anybody that knows me,” James said, “all I care about is the ‘W.’ No matter if I’m scoring. I’m not just a scoring guy. I’ve got a lot of points in my career. I have had some teammates who have given me great confidence and ability to go out there and score a lot of points. But I’ve done other things. I don’t have to score points to be effective.”
Witness Sunday’s 88-86 Game 3 victory. James snuffed Terry. James made the pass to a wide open Bosh for what proved to be the winning jumper.
“He’s playing both ends of the floor. They keep sticking him on Jet [Terry] in the fourth quarters, and he’s been doing a good job. Jet hasn’t really been a crunchtime, clutch player for us the way we need him to,” Nowitzki said. “Wade has been great in the fourth quarter, so LeBron is being more of a facilitator. It worked so far.”
It’s something the Mavs might want to try to emulate.
“This is a team game,” James said. “We understand as a team we have to play together to win. It’s not just about me.”
And for Dallas, it can’t just be about Nowitzki late.