NBA Finals - Dallas Mavericks One Win Away From Franchise's First Championship

Last night, the Dallas Mavericks took a giant step towards towards their first NBA championship with a 112-103 victory over the Miami Heat. With this victory, the Mavs take the lead in the best of 7 series for the first time as the teams head back to Miami with Dallas leading 3-2. It was Miami's first consecutive loss of the playoffs and gives the Mavericks a great opportunity to avenge their '06 finals loss against the Heat where they held a 2-0 lead before losing four on the spin. 

Once again the star of the show for Dallas was Dirk Nowitzki, scoring 29 points and 100% from the free throw line. The big German has been his team's driving force in the post season, rescuing them from large deficits with his impeccable shooting. Although he didn't have his best game of the series so far, his offensive play allowed Dallas to score over 100 points against arguably the best defensive team in the league. He was ably assisted by Jason Terry, JJ Barea & Tyson Chandler as the Mavs hit 13 3-pointers in game 5 and they now look like they have the belief to go and claim their first title.

After an awful game 4 by his standards, LeBron James came up with a triple-double, 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists but it was all to no avail. If Miami are going to win this series they're going to have to do it the hard way. They've had double figure leads coming down the stretch in each of the first four games but find themselves behind as they return home for the final two games, if necessary. Although LeBron stepped up his game last night, it has been Dwayne Wade who has been the main man for the Heat so far in these finals. He was poor in the conference finals against the Chicago Bulls, maybe too eager to impress against his hometown team, but has steeped it up magnificently against Dallas. Of the James-Wade-Bosh dream team Miami has at its disposal, Wade has been the one who has stepped up to the plate. They will need all three, especially James, to be on top of their game if they are going to turn this around.

Home court advantage can be crucial in games like these. Miami know this, Dallas knows this. The Heat have to win two games at home to be champions. They hadn't lost a home game in the playoffs until Dallas won game 4 of this series so they know how to win in front of their home fans.. The James-Wade-Bosh trio was assembled at the start of the season with the aim of bringing back the championship to south Florida. James has been here before and lost but Wade has been here before and won. The '06 finals mvp has the experience of winning a championship, of getting it done. But he can't do it all on his own.

So we head to Miami on Sunday. That elusive first championship is within the Mavericks grasp. Can they take it? They've already won in Miami so that should be a huge factor in their mindset. They've come back from the dead several times in the playoffs, and this series, so you can't question their mental strength. Nowitzki has been outstanding throughout the playoffs and no one could question that he, more than anyone else, deserves to come out on the winning side. Miami has held big leads in every game and then relinquished them and this is something they cannot let continue to happen. However, I've got a sneaky feeling that the real LeBron is going to show up in game 6. He was the big pre-season signing, the man that everyone was talking about. It's time to deliver. I for one hope that he does come up with a big game because I want to see a game 7.

Nowitzki comes up short despite a monumental effort, LeBron proves that he is the real deal, Wade mvp again. That's the way I see this going but who knows.


David Kearney is from Drogheda and is a massive sports fan. His favourites include football, boxing, tennis, nfl and basketball. Feel free to comment underneath, and who you think will lift the NBA Championship