Nowtizki's Flu Game

While it wasn't exactly Jordan's Flu Game, this was another memorable game in what is turning into a historic playoffs for Dirk Nowtizki. It should never again be said that Dirk does not show up in big games or that he chokes in big situations (I have been guilty of this in the past, though my brother has not). Here are some random notes from game 4:

• Nowtizki missed a free throw. And yes, that is worth a bullet point. He is now 163/174 in the playoffs and 33/34 in the finals.
• Only six Dallas players scored last night. Funny that going into the series the main reason that people did pick Dallas was because they are so deep and have so many players who can put the ball in the basket.
• On the topic of teams being deep, all four of the Miami bench players who saw the floor finished with + in +/- and all five starters finished with -. What a big difference a semi-healthy Haslem and Mike Miller are. They went from having by far the worst bench in of all playoff teams to now having one of the deeper squads.
• Outside of Dwayne Wade, Mario Chalmers looked like the 2nd best Heat player on the floor yesterday. He was aggressive with the ball and attacked the paint instead of playing the perimeter, played great D and caused turnovers, and made good decisions which led to 6 assists in just 29 minutes. Since hitting the game tying 3 pointer with Kansas in the NCAA championship game, Chalmers has looked like he relishes the spotlight and big games. While I do love players like this and it is great to always have one on the the team, this leads to my next point.
• Chalmers will undoubtedly get the X-factor tag placed on his name and be overpaid this off season. I can't wait to see the contract offers he gets. We could name these type of contracts after James Posey.
• Lebron James had his lowest point total in a playoff game in his career. He ended up going 3/11 for 8 points. Yes, he had a very bad game and has not been playing amazing in the finals, but no, this is not proof of him choking and not performing in the clutch. Did we already forget how they got to the Finals? Besides this game Lebron has not played a bad Finals. Sorry he is not forcing shots when his teammate Dwayne Wade is being covered by the likes of Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. Last time I checked averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and being an absolute menace on defense is a pretty good thing.
• The MVP of last nights game was Dallas's zone defense. Carlisle implemented it perfectly as he waited until the end of the game to use it. The Heat's offense looked lost and did not know how to respond. They were left taking contested jumpers with little time left on the shot clock and got no easy baskets at the rim. They went 1/9 in the final 7:23, and in a stretch of one minute between 5:16 and 4:18 left in the game had 3 of their 13 total turnovers. Also, wasn't it great when the Heat took a timeout and Dallas went back to man-man? This almost assuredly messed up the play that Spoelstra had just drawn up. Dallas went right back to the zone after that possession.
• Another part of the game Carlisle did a great job of controlling last night was only playing a 7 man rotation, but still getting players rest. Only Chandler was forced to play over 40 minutes as Haywood was obviously not up to the task.
• This can not entirely be Haywoods fault, but it is not too often you can see a player be on the court for just 3 minutes but have a -10 in +/-.
• I realize this oversimplifies basketball, but it really consists of three things: offense, defense, and rebounding. Please, do no confuse rebounding with defense. Kevin Love and Al Jefferson are perfect examples of players who excel at rebounding but are absolutely terrible at defense. It is hard to find examples of players who excel at defense but are horrible at rebounding, but as a team, that is just what Dallas is doing (the Celtics did this all the time). They are forcing Miami into hard shots and then turning to looking at the ball instead of finding somebody to box out. The only one who had an excuse last night was Nowitzki, who looked like he could hardly move and had to box out the extra athletic Joel Anthony. Dirk still ended up with 11 rebounds. If Dallas boxed out and kept Miami off the offensive boards it would not of been a close game. Wade, who led all guards in the regular season in offensive boards with 1.6 a game, is killing Dallas with easy put back dunks. He has gotten 3 a game so far in the Finals.
• I have to agree with Van Gundy, something NEEDS to be done about the flopping in the NBA. They need to start penalizing players and suspending them when they flop. Lebron James' flop in the first half, when he acted as if a NFL player had just hit him, led to 3 easy points via a tech on a Mavs coach and the two free throws. When the total difference in the last 3 games is 7 points, every point matters. You can't fault the players (except when Lebron is winking after flopping); at this point it is whatever it takes to win. If the ref is going to make the call, are you really not going to flop for the integrity of the game? The NBA needs to come down hard on this.
• What did Corey Brewer do to Carlisle? As Wade continues to abuse the Mavs, averaging 29.8 points while shooting .588 shooting, why not throw your best wing defender at him? I realize Carlisle wants to spread the floor, but at what cost? Especially when Barea is not hitting open 3s anyway. They could easily put Terry and Brewer in the back court at the same time. They could hide Terry, who Wade has been abusing, on whoever is playing point for the Heat and have Brewer cover Wade.