Sports World Reacts to Mavericks’ Comeback Victory

Sports Illustrated: “With one or two exceptions, the Mavs defended the primary action beautifully. They fought through screens, denied the ball when necessary and (a really underrated thing) got some fantastic positional help defense from Nowitzki and Terry. This is the stuff you might not notice on first glance, if your eyes are on LeBron or Wade or Chris Bosh. But over and over, Nowitzki (guarding Udonis Haslem) and Terry (on Mario Chalmers) moved off their primary assignments to stifle the Heat’s first option. They did nothing really dramatic or unusual, but they were smart, and they committed just enough to give Miami pause — and not quite enough to leave Chalmers or Haslem disastrously open.”

Kurt Helin: Pro Basketball Talk: “Give Dallas credit — this is not their first massive comeback these playoffs. They are in the finals because they executed better at the end of games better than any team in the West. This is a veteran team that does not easily fluster and they started running a fantastic staggered screen for Jason Terry that the Heat could not stop. Dallas has shooters. Dallas has Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas earned this 95-93 Game 2 win with their 22-5 run to close the contest out.”

Dan Wetzel: Yahoo Sports: “Phi Slamma South Beach had rained down another 3-pointer, Dwyane Wade  this time. Miami was up 15, about to be up 2-0 in the NBA Finals, about to all but start the victory parade down here. Seven minutes and change remained and LeBron James came charging over to Wade, who was holding his post-release pose in the air in front of the Dallas Mavericks’ bench. Soon James was throwing jabs at Wade’s chest in celebration, and the entire Finals spun on the Heat’s preening.”

Kurt Helin: Pro Basketball Talk: “It became the hot topic Thursday night after the Dallas Mavericks evened the NBA finals 1-1 with a 95-93 win in Game 2 — how Miami’s celebration midway through the fourth quarter sparked Dallas’ comeback. If it did. Players were asked about it and it became the hot discussion on twitter.”

New York Times: “Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle praised German giant Dirk Nowitzki for playing through the pain barrier and leading his team to a 95-93 comeback win at the Miami Heat in Game Two of the NBA Finals on Thursday.”

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