DALLAS (Ticker) - It has been 35 years since the teams playing
for the NBA championship both are making their Finals debuts.
Coaching his third different team in the Finals, Pat Riley
begins a quest for his fifth NBA title and first since 1988 when
he leads the Miami Heat against the host Dallas Mavericks in
Thursday's series opener.
After taking over for Stan Van Gundy on December 12, Riley
guided the second-seeded Heat to playoff victories over the
Chicago Bulls and New Jersey Nets before eliminating 2004
champion the Detroit Pistons in six games.
Having depended on Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic
Johnson to carry the "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers to four
titles in the 1980s, Riley is hoping for the same kind of
production from Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade.
"When you get this far, .. you can't reinvent the wheel and
create a new offense or a new dynamic something to try to beat
somebody," Riley said. "You have to go with what it is that you
have and what got you here, and hope that you do it at a real
high level and take care of all the intangibles, which are the
effort areas."
O'Neal, who won three rings with the Lakers from 2000-2002, is
averaging 20 points and 9.6 rebounds while shooting 61 percent
(144-of-235) from the floor. He scored 28 points to lead Miami
in Friday's series clincher over Detroit.
Ranked seventh in playoff scoring average (26.2), Wade led Miami
in scoring the first five games against the Pistons. However,
he has been bothered by a sinus infection and dehydration.
Despite finishing with the second-best record in the Western
Conference, the Mavericks were seeded fourth and swept the
Memphis Grizzlies before ousting the defending champion San
Antonio Spurs in a seven-game classic.
Sparked by the play of Dirk Nowitzki - the league's
fourth-leading postseason scorer (28.4) - Dallas held off the
Phoenix Suns in six games to set up the first matchup of
first-time finalists since Milwaukee swept Washington in 1971.
"(Coach Avery Johnson) is pushing me to play more of an
all-around game, get some points in the paint, post up some
more, get some easy shots to the basket, drive a lot more, get
to the foul line and just play an all-around offensive game and
be in attack mode all the time and not just settle for jump
shots," Nowitzki said. "That's what he forced me to do."
The Mavericks have won all 25 games this season when Josh Howard
has scored at least 20 points. They also will be looking for
the 6-7 swingman to be a defensive force on Wade.
Dallas has won 10 of the last 12 encounters with Miami,
including a 112-76 rout here on February 9, which many Heat
players feel was their low point of the season.
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