It might not have been as big a win as the one which would come 10 days later, but without it, the championship might never have come.
After going down by 15 points with just over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals, the Mavs would launch one of the most stunning, legendary comebacks in Finals history, outscoring the Miami Heat 22-5 in 7:13 to win the game, 95-93, and tie the series at one game apiece heading back to Dallas. Five years later, it stands as perhaps the most improbable, significant victory in franchise history.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry did the scoring, Shawn Marion and Tyson Chandler did the defending, and Jason Kidd pulled all the strings. That title team had talent, balance, and an extremely high basketball IQ. But most importantly, that group had a collective belief that the game was never over until 0:00 showed on the scoreboard. The Mavericks erased double-digit leads against the Lakers and Thunder just to get to the Finals, and would do it again in Miami.
You have to remember the narrative. At this point Miami was still in its first season of the Big 3 Era, and many considered that group clear favorites in the series because of that talented trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. After taking Game 1, 92-84, the Heat were in prime position to assume complete control of the series and take the wind out of the underdog Mavs’ sails, after Dallas put together one of the stronger runs to the Finals in recent memory. At this point in time, Nowitzki was still considered nationally to be a player who couldn’t win the big one, and he and his teammates were just a bunch of old dudes giving it one last chance before they presumably hang ’em up without ever winning a ring.
If Miami takes a 2-0 lead, an enormous amount of pressure is placed on the Mavs’ shoulders to win Games 3 and 4, otherwise the series would basically be over. No team has ever come back from 3-0 down in a series in any round, nor has any recovered from a 3-1 Finals disadvantage. So this Game 2 meant everything for both teams, and Miami was going for the jugular. After Wade drained a corner 3 right in front of the Mavs’ bench with 7:13 to go to put his team up 88-73, he and James celebrated as if the game was in their hands. And, for all intents and purposes, they had won it. According to Inpredictable.com’s win probability model, the Heat had a 98.5 percent chance to win the game after that Wade dagger, and their chances would soon after climb to 99.2 percent after a Mavs miss on the enusing possession. Teams don’t just wake up and come back from 15 down on the road with only minutes remaining.
Until the Mavericks, that is.
Many diehards might recall exactly how the comeback happened, as well, many of those moments etched into their memories forever. Terry from the baseline, then Terry on a run-out layup. Heat timeout. Marion with a running layup, Kidd for 3, Terry with a pull-up. Heat timeout. Dirk with a mid-range jumper, then a fast-break layup off a steal. Heat timeout. Nowitzki for 3 in transition, off a pin-down screen from Chandler. Mavs lead 93-90. The crowd is silent; the Mavs’ bench and the entire city of Dallas is exploding. Heat use their final timeout — the team’s fourth in just seven minutes.
Mario Chalmers then ties the game with a 3-pointer from the corner, as Terry left him to float toward Wade.
But not to worry, because Nowitzki would respond with a driving layup — with his left hand, splint on his middle finger and all — with three seconds left. Wade’s prayer wouldn’t be answered, and, at 0:00, the Mavericks had the lead for just the second time all half. Timing is everything.
The Heat would answer the Mavs’ challenge three days later and win a dramatic Game 3, 88-86, but the Mavericks would take the next three in the series and win the organization’s first NBA championship.
Those three wins, however, might never have come had Dallas not pulled off the impossible on June 2.
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