Preview: Mavericks (29-22) at Heat (35-13)
Earl K. Sneed previews the defending champion Dallas Mavericks' Thursday night matchup against the Miami Heat in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.
Preview: Mavericks (29-22) at Heat (35-13)
MIAMI -- It was the scene of the Dallas Mavericks’ greatest moment in franchise history. Still, the Miami Heat’s American Airlines Arena invokes mixed emotions for NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki.
Thursday night, the defending champion Mavericks (29-22) return to the gym where they captured the franchise’s first title for the first time since last June’s championship run. But it’s the failed 2006 NBA Finals memories that now haunt Nowitzki as he leads his team in pursuit of back-to-back titles.
“2006 is part of who I am and part of who we are as a franchise,” Nowitzki said when looking back. “I think it made me a better player. You can’t totally forget about your past.”
He added: “All of that made me stronger. It made me a better closer down the stretch. It really helped me last year in the playoff run for us to become champs.”
Now, Nowitzki and the Mavericks will try to put 2006 and their championship-clinching 105-95 Game 6 victory on the Heat’s home floor out of their mind in order to concentrate on avenging a 105-94 thumping at home on Christmas Day in which the Dallas team trailed by as much as 35.
And after being on the downside of an Opening Day loss to the Heat, the Mavs will seek retribution in front of a nationally-televised audience.
“We’ve got to get ready to lace it up and come at them,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve got to think back to Christmas Day, because that was a miserable experience for us. That was really tough. I was watching some of it today. They played terrific and they were great that day and we weren’t. We’re going to have to play a lot better.”
The Mavericks will also try to build off back-to-back wins over the Houston Rockets before facing off with the reigning Eastern Conference champions. And with the statuses of starting center Brendan Haywood (sprained right knee) and reserve guard Delonte West (fractured right ring finger) still unknown, the likely short-handed Mavs will attempt to bring an end to the Heat’s 14-game home win streak.
Fortunately for the Mavs, however, they could be catching the Heat (35-13) at the perfect time after back-to-back road losses in Oklahoma City and Indiana by a combined 31 points. It’s the first time since the creation of the Heat’s Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh that Miami has suffered double-digit losses in consecutive games.
However, none of that will matter Thursday night, according to sixth man Jason Terry, when the two teams share bad memories on the same floor.
“The way they put a number on us (Christmas Day), you know, we don’t forget,” Terry explained. “We’ll see what happens, but I can only imagine, it’s gonna be fierce. You know, they’re coming off of two losses and we’ve still got that taste in our mouth from Opening Night.”
Note: The Mavericks will travel to Florida for a two-game road trip beginning with a return to Miami, the site of their NBA Finals Game 6 victory to capture the title, in a rematch of the championship series. The Mavs will also try to avenge a 105-94 home loss to the Heat on Christmas Day. That game will air Thursday night nationally on TNT at 7 p.m. CT.
The team returns to the American Airlines Center next Monday night when it plays host to the Los Angeles Clippers. The two teams are 1-1 in the season series with both winning on their own home floor. That game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).
