Last night’s NBA contest between the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks demonstrated five specific principles of the modern pro game. One is that struggling teams will often put out a huge effort playing against a premier team. Another is that at home, this effort is intensified. A third is that defense will ultimately decide the fate of an NBA game in our current times much more than offense. The fourth is that all teams will make a run at some point during the game. The final precept that this seemingly meaningless regular season game brought forth is that elite teams will always find a way to win a game if they have the will.
And it is that will to excel, to never settle for good enough, and to dominate the opposition that is exemplified by this season’s edition of the Dallas Mavericks. After allowing the Bucks to post 58 points in the first half, and after falling behind by as many as 15 points deep into the third quarter, the Mavs reversed their fortunes and pocketed a road win 99-93. In so doing, they held Milwaukee to only 11 points in the 4th quarter, and did not allow a field goal for the last 7:06.
To the six minute mark of the 3rd quarter, the Mavs looked like a team that could afford, given their huge lead in the SW Division, to let the hungry Bucks take a morale-boosting home win. Playing without leading scorer Michael Redd, Milwaukee rode a physical Ruben Patterson, outside shooting by Mo Williams and Andrew Bogut’s rebounding (finished with 17). Dallas’ sixth man Jerry Stackhouse was having a difficult night, point guard Jason Terry’s shot wasn’t falling and Dirk Nowitzki was not getting the ball in the right spots to make an impact. But these Mavs are not the settling kind that they were under former coach Don Nelson.
Avery Johnson’s firm leadership was displayed at this lowest point, as with his team still trailing by ten at the 11:00 mark of the 4th, he inserted Devean George for the struggling Stack. George, who is turning out to be a steal for Dallas as an off-season free agent signing, immediately bolstered the fortunes of the team by running off seven points in ninety seconds, and his hustling defense set the tone for the other four Mavs on the floor. Though George had to leave the game with a knee injury soon after, his replacement Greg Buckner if anything turned up the defensive intensity that George brought to the game.
The remainder of the contest played out exactly as the respective season records of the teams would indicate. Dallas was able to find their offensive rhythm by running their plays through Nowitzki, and with a clearly out-of-his-element Brian Skinner having to come out to guard him, Dirk was money either by scoring or kicking out to wide open shooters. In the final minute, Nowitzki’s presence dictated the play that broke the Bucks’ back, as he was able to break a 93-93 tie by drawing a double-team, then passing to a wide-open Terry for the basket that ended Milwaukee’s hopes.
The Bucks were surely left stunned by such a display of total dominance coming down the stretch. This is what they and other NBA teams should aspire to however and going forward they should be able to draw a lesson from it. Great teams always have answers, be it inspired coaching, role players that can elevate their games, or just the dogged determination never to give up on a game that has little significance on the overall picture. Though anything can happen in the NBA playoffs, at least for this season the Dallas Mavericks have served notice that they are the dominant 900 pound gorilla that all other teams have to go through to win the championship in June.
