Mama Come Pick Me Up!

In a decisive win for the Heat over the Dallas Mavs in game 1 of the NBA Finals, 2 plays, while perhaps not influencing the final outcome directly stand out tonight. The first, was with 6 seconds left in the 3rd quarter with the Heat up by 1 … Lebron took the ball across halfcourt, ambling slowly to his right, and just when you might have thought he was out of time, turned, lifted and, ever so effortlessly, launched and sank a fadeaway 3 ball to put the Heat up 4 as the quarter ended. They would never trail from that point on, and you couldn’t have blamed the Mavs for calling home right there and saying, “mama, come pick me up!”

The second came as the game was winding down, and Dirk took the ball on the left wing. He got Bosh to bite on a pump fake and went around him, next sliding by Haslem who came over to help. Closing in on the rim, it looked like it might be a sure dunk. Until D Wade, playing killer Help-Defense showed up, meeting Dirk on his side of the key, elevating straight up and contesting the shot mightily, which almost looked like it might be blocked. Dirk got the shot off, but no question it was changed, and it was another Dallas miss on a night they were held to 37.3% from the field and their 2nd lowest point total of the playoffs.

No doubt about it, Dallas is a great team, and Dirk could explode for 40 on Thursday, but sorry – he’s not used to being challenged and contested by the likes of Bosh, Haslem and Wade – all on the same play. Not by OKC. Or any given night in the West. No sir.

And so it was an awesome team win tonight, to go up 1-0 at home, 92-84. An ugly first half as both teams struggled from the floor. Chalmers 3 point shooting (3/4 from beyond the arc for 12 points total) was a notable bright spot and nearly kept them in the first half.

The 2nd half saw things pick up, as Wade stepped it up and the D continued relentlessly. With 3:08 left, Wade knocked down a clutch 3. But Dyrk continued to answer. Then, with 2:48 remaining, James crossed half court on the dribble, hesitated for a second still well above the 3 point line, before suddenly exploding to the basket for a vicious jam with the foul – making the free throw sending the lead back up to 9. And that was the psychological finish.

For the record, with 1:22 remaining, Chalmers hit a pair of clutch free throws. Finally, with 1:08 on the clock, off a J Kidd miss, Wade (22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots), grabbed his 10th rebound, eluded a double team on the dribble as he advanced the ball up court, before drilling a no-look pass to Bosh filling the center lane in front of everyone, who took the ball in mid stride and jammed it through, definitively ending the game …

Lotta ball left no doubt. But this was a solid team win, and the Heat are better than they’ve been all season long and seemingly getting better with each series. Hard to see how Spo and Riles could be more satisfied with game 1 than with what they saw tonight …

Mama come pick me up!