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NBA Finals Blog: Mavericks vs. Heat, Game 4 and the Stackhouse suspension

If you’re a Mavericks fan, Game 4 on Thursday was certianly an unmitigated disaster.  I still believe the Mavericks are going to win the series, but perhaps it was a bit premature…

• …to start talking about parade routes, plans, and activities.
• … for owner Mark Cuban to not only go on the David Letterman show and declare that the Mavericks win will, but doing so not in a Dirk, JET, or Howard jersey but in a Pittsburgh Steelers football jersey.  Yes, the Ben Roethlisberger jersey he was sporting was relevant, given that he was born in Pittsburgh and Big Ben had just smashed up his face in a motorcycle accident.  And yes, you have to give props to your roots.  But the Mavericks put him on Letterman, so you gotta wear a Mavericks jersey, if any, you know?
• … for everyone in Dallas to be talking sweep and talking about how below average the Miami Heat were.
• … for many Dallas fans to hope for some losses, so that they could clinch at home.  I doubt they wanted the Mavericks to lose while looking so feeble.

I felt going in that as long as the Mavericks won one out of three games in Miami, they would be in good shape coming back to Dallas.  That still stands — but they’ve made it difficult by losing a solid lead in the last 6 minutes of Game 3 and getting blown out of Game 4.  And the NBA has added another level of difficulty by continuing with their sudden trend of doling out penalties to the Mavericks that are more harsh than historically and logically warranted:

• Reggie Evans, knowing exactly what he was doing, reaches up at Chris Kaman and takes a generous grab and squeeze at his most personal of regions.  He is fined by the NBA.  Jason Terry, during a scrum where he felt he was being gang-tackled, punches upward, which is in the generous region of Michael Finley’s most personal of regions.  He is suspended by the NBA for a game.
• The NBA suspends DJ Mbenga for going into the crowds to make sure Avery Johnson’s wife was OK.  He was not in uniform for the game.  He is suspended for 6 games.
• Jerry Stackhouse is hit by Shaquille O’Neal, his nose requiring stitches.  Shaquille O’Neal has elbowed Dirk Nowitzki multiple times in the face in this series.  Shaquille O’Neal swings his elbows when crowded.  Jerry Stackhouse takes a hard foul on Shaquille O’Neal, where Shaq is unharmed and most parties admit after the game it was a good, hard, NBA foul.  O’Neal hasn’t even been called for personal fouls on each instance.  Stackhouse is suspended for a game.

The Mavericks are stlil in position to bounce back strongly and take control of the series back.  They had a tough loss against Phoenix and was able to bounce back.  The Mavericks’ confidence is bruised, but not irreperably so.  The Mavericks need to be agressive, take the ball to the rim and not settle for jump shots (the Mavericks were 3-22 from behind the line).  Take advantage of the Heat’s lack of depth by getting their players in foul trouble.

The Mavericks were able to win the San Antonio series despite Jason Terry losing a game to suspension.  They can do the same here.

A Dallas fan working a barbershop on NBC’s news just said it well (dispensing that well-known barbershop wisdom): “I don’t believe in jinxes.  I believe in the Mavericks.”

Fri June 16th, 2006 9:13 pm

Filed under Dallas Mavericks