Game 1 showed that defence is a key factor for success.
It was not a pretty game in the opener of the NBA Finals as the Miami Heat grabbed a 1-0 series lead . Yes, some of it was due to poor shooting but some of that poor shooting was due to some good old fashioned defence.
With apologies to people who love to see guys jumping, jamming and beating their chests, I like the old school defence that forces teams to show some ball movement, resiliency and tried-and-true toughness, you know, heart.
Both teams shot under 40 per cent and in the end, it came down to what it has many times in the playoffs for the Heat this season as their big players made plays when it counted. Chris Bosh played well early, LeBron James was steady all game and crunch time in the fourth quarter belonged to Dwayne Wade.
Dallas' leader throughout the playoffs, Dirk Nowitzki, was limited all night by the Miami defence. Nowitzki had his touches and scored when he saw single coverage but when he was forced to give the ball up thanks to double teams thrown at him by the Heat, he didn't get much help from his teammates as Miami's bench outscored Dallas reserves by the tune of 27-17.
According to some, Miami guarded Nowitzki similar to the way the Spurs did when they had to go past Dallas in their title seasons. But regardless, a collective 4 of 22 from a normally productive Mavs bench will make it tough for them to win.
To make matters worse for the Mavericks, Nowitzki revealed after the game that he had torn a tendon in his left (non-shooting) hand.
It will be interesting to see how Nowitzki reacts to the injury over the course of the rest of the series. When speaking with the media at practice on Wednesday before game two, Nowtizki said he is not worried about shooting but more the "other things". Some of those "other things" might include rebounding; putting the ball on the floor when driving to the hoop and the incidental contact that will cause some pain. It will be a mental battle for Nowitizki to overcome any pain and it may not have that big an impact.
Teams that win game one of the finals, win the title about 74 per cent of the time but while game one might be about feeling the opponent out like the early rounds of a championship fight, game two is about adjustments and now the ball is in Dallas court. There are some basic things the Mavericks can do, namely play harder. Miami's 16 offensive rebounds allowed them to have 13 more field goal attempts and when neither team is shooting well, extra shots mean the difference. That poor rebounding also forced Dallas to walk the ball up court and the pace of the game really didn't change and as a team that likes to take advantage of easy chances to score, the Mavs didn't get any.
So look for adjustments from Dallas. A loss in game two may seal the Mavericks fate. Simply put they can't lose game two as only one team since the 2-3-2 format has come back from being down 2-0, in fact only three teams in history have ever come back from 2-0 in the Finals.
