A Perfect 10: Revisiting the Dallas Mavericks' incredible title run 10 years on
In November 2018, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was presented with the key to the City of Dallas in a fitting gesture to his outstanding achievements during a 20-year professional career with the Mavericks.
In a sports world driven by stats, and where careers are defined by the number of championships won by an athlete or a team, it’s almost impossible to reach a common conclusion. Sports stars always polarize opinion. But for the Dallas Mavericks, Nowitzki is undoubtedly the very best. Even better than Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, considered to be the best non-American to play in the NBA.
The 2010-11 NBA season was special for a variety of reasons. Derrick Rose came out of nowhere to win the NBA MVP, while LeBron James departed for South Beach to join the Miami Heat following a number of fruitless years in Cleveland. He joined Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to form the first modern super team in the NBA. Yes, the first.
Before Kevin Durant’s highly critical decision to join the 73-9 Golden State Warriors winning team back in 2016, LeBron James’ move to Miami garnered relentless media attention and was labeled as an easy route to the championship ring. But it didn’t turn out that way.
Dallas Mavericks' 2010-11 regular season
Unlike the Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks had a quiet trade window. Their hopes were pinned on Dirk Nowitzki and a squadron of former All-Stars who were past their prime. Dallas flew under the radar for most of the season, but at 57-25, it was still a decent return.
The Dallas Mavericks finished third in the Western Conference rankings behind the San Antonio Spurs and LA Lakers and above the up-and-coming Oklahoma City Thunder. Nowitzki clocked the most minutes for Dallas and led the offensive charts with 23.0 points per game. Veterans Jason Terry and Tyson Chandler also did their bit and became Robins to Nowitzki's Batman.
These are the Dallas Mavericks' top five performers from the 2010-11 regular season.
2011 Playoffs First Round: Fending off the Portland Trail Blazers
Dallas Mavericks’ first-round opponents in the 2011 NBA Playoffs were the skiddy Portland Trail Blazers, led by LaMarcus Aldridge, a player who was in the same category as Dirk Nowitzki. Both guys were considered a rare breed of players, re-defining their frontcourt positions with their uncanny shooting touch.
Dallas took the first two games behind Nowitzki's performances of 28 points and 33 points respectively. They looked well on course to win the series, but the ghost of the 2006 finals and the years of subsequent postseason failures came back to haunt the Mavs, who lost the subsequent two games.
The Dallas Mavericks had gained enough experience by then to not get bogged down by these losses. They got the ball rolling again and won Games 5 and 6 to advance to the Western Conference Semifinals.
Western Conference Semifinals: Taking on Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers
The LA and Dallas Mavericks met three times during the course of the 2010-11 regular season, with the former winning twice in those encounters. Better head-to-head records and impressive offensive ratings were not the only things making Purple and Gold the head-on favorite in this series. The Lakers were the two-time defending champions and were being led by the generational Kobe Bryant.
The Dallas Mavericks were also given their due leading up to the series, but no one expected what eventually transpired. The Mavs would go on to sweep the Lakers comfortably. The series brutally deviated from the normal course of action and unraveled careers, even forcing the then head coach Phil Jackson to retire.
In Game 1, Bryant shot the lights out and dropped 36 points, but the Mavs’ second unit outscored the Lakers 40-25. That turned out to be a difference-maker as Dallas edged out the Lakers 96-94 to take a one-game lead. In the next three games, Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion all played defense to shut down Kobe - who posted 23, 17 and 17 respectively.
Without Bryant firing on all cylinders, the LA Lakers just collapsed. A variety of reasons were considered for the Lakers' failure, including fatigue from deep playoff runs over several years and summer stints for superstars Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. All these factors may have sapped the Lakers' energy, but credit should be given where it is due. The Dallas Mavericks deserved to be in the Western Conference Finals.
Western Conference Finals: Overcoming the young and exciting Oklahoma City Thunder
In a recent face-to-face conversation with Draymond Green, Kevin Durant divulged into his early years in Oklahoma. The two-time NBA champion revealed that the fans and NBA pundits were all happy to see him and his Thunder team making waves and playing in the NBA Finals.
Durant didn’t hold back and said that he always played to win. He targeted the NBA ring every season, even during his initial years when he was the face of the Oklahoma City Thunder team that was the youngest in the NBA with an average age of 23.7 years.
But if the Thunder had legs, unwavering optimism and a pool of talent, the Dallas Mavericks had the experience. It made all the difference in the end as Dallas bullied its way into the championship round with a 4-1 win over OKC.
NBA Finals: Upsetting LeBron James and the Miami Heat
On paper, it was an unfair matchup. In LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat had players who could take the game into their own hands. Unsurprisingly and undeniably, and if pre-series trends and media discussions set the tone for what was to come, the Dallas Mavericks were the outright underdogs.
But amidst the unsettling odds, the Mavs found a moment of truth. That, perhaps, there was no way back for Dirk Nowitzki from this failure, although his status as the best European player to ever play in the NBA was already sealed.
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If you can find beauty in the story of underdogs and believe that dedication and hard work is a better combination than talent alone, then you would find the Dallas Mavericks' 2010-11 version as poetic in everything.
How was it possible to stop a team of LeBron, Wade and Bosh from sweeping you, let alone beating them? The odds were stacked further against the Mavs after the Heat’s 92-84 win in Game 1. But that eight-point deficit was the light of optimism in that gloom. After all, LeBron James and co. were expected to steamroll the Dallas Mavericks.
In Game 2, Dwyane Wade came into his own. For some period, he was a Goliath among men. Wade more than made up for James, who managed only 20 points in that outing. Wade’s imposing posture after that corner three that put the Heat up by 15 with seven minutes to go could still strike fear in the hearts of Mavs fans.
But the Dallas Mavericks refused to give up and, against all odds, ended the game on a 22-5 run that was capped off by Nowitzki’s game-clinching layup. Nowitzki’s dropped a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Marion, Chandler and Terry all touched the double-digit mark.
James’ struggles had no end but Wade, with his 29-point effort, still managed to lead the Heat to a 88-86 win in Game 3. But the Dallas Mavericks did not go away and tied the series 2-2 with a 86-83 win in Game 4.
Game 5 was pivotal in every sense. The winner would move to a 3-2 lead and would be one win away from clinching the championship.
Falling in line with the previous four games, Game 5 was again a punch-out encounter, as both teams exchanged blows with one another. With three minutes left and the game locked at 100-100, a certain Jason Terry showcased his clutch gene by assisting twice and scoring the three-pointer to give the Dallas Mavericks the win.
Game 6 was a career-defining occasion for Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. They repeated their heroics one final time to win the 2011 NBA Finals and clinch their first championship in the franchise's history. Against all odds.
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