NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks

[King Taharqa]

(2) Miami Heat (57-24)

STARTING 5

PG #0 Mike Bibby

6'2 195 lbs

Arizona '98

8.6 PPG 3.4 APG 2.5 RPG 46.3 3PT%

SG #3 Dwayne "Flash" Wade

6'4 220 lbs

Marquette '03

25.6 PPG 4.5 APG 6.4 RPG 1.5 SPG 1.1 BPG 49.9 FG%

SF #6 LeBron "King" James

6'8 260 lbs

St. Vincent-St. Mary HS '03 (Akron, OH)

26.6 PPG 7.4 RPG 7.0 APG 1.6 SPG 51.1 FG%

PF #1 Chris Bosh

6'10 235 lbs

Georgia Tech '03

18.7 PPG 8.3 RPG 1.9 APG 81.5 FT%

C #50 Joel Anthony

6'9 245 lbs

UNLV '07

2.0 PPG 3.5 RPG 1.2 BPG

BENCH

PG-Mario Chalmers

SG-Mike Miller

SF-James Jones

PF/C-Udonis Haslem

C-Jamaal Magloire

C-Erick Dampier

C-Zydrunas Ilgauskas

HEAD COACH

Erik Spoelstra

[King Taharqa]

(3) Dallas Mavericks (57-25)

STARTING 5

PG #2 Jason Kidd

6'4 210 lbs

California '94

7.9 PPG 8.2 APG 4.4 RPG 1.7 SPG 34.0 3PT%

SG #92 DeShawn Stevenson

6'5 218 lbs

Washington Union HS '00 (Fresno, CA)

5.3 PPG 1.5 RPG 1.1 APG 37.8 3PT%

SF #0 Shawn Marion

6'7 228 lbs

UNLV '99

12.5 PPG 6.9 RPG 52.0 FG%

PF #41 Dirk Nowitzki

7'0 245 lbs

Germany '98

23.0 PPG 7.0 RPG 51.7 FG% 39.3 3PT% 89.2 FT%

C #6 Tyson Chandler

7'1 235 lbs

Dominguez HS '01 (Compton, CA)

10.1 PPG 9.4 RPG 1.1 BPG 65.4 FG%

BENCH

PG-Jose Juan Barea

SG-Jason Terry

SF-Peja Stojakovic

SF-Corey Brewer

PF-Brian Cardinal

C-Brendan Haywood

HEAD COACH

Rick Carlisle

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LeBron James has taken the Miami Heat back to the NBA Finals for the first time in 5 years. After everyone piled on the "NWO" early in the season and called King a "quitter" and "choke artist" they've run roughshed over the league this playoff. And James has established himself as the game's best clutch performer in 2011. This rematch of the '06 series will go the same way, except this time, LeBron will be the star of the show and not so much Wade. I like the Mavs and they have a very good team, but in the end outside of Dirk, they dont have a reliable 20 a night guy to counter LBJ/Wade/Bosh. Throw in Miami has homecourt and has faced better defenses than what the Mavs will present, I give this one 6 games. Get ready to hand the King his crown.

[Panthers128]

Mavericks will need to pour on the points to win. Don't imagine they'll have an answer for some of the Heat's weapons, but it won't matter if they can make it high scoring games and they play well down the stretch.

Interesting they'll be matched up again. Wade's not as good as he was then though and the Mavs should have an easier time in the paint. Hopefully the refs call the games fair, they prob won't though.

I was a huge Heat fan when the Hornets moved to NO. Really enjoyed the teams with Eddie Jones, Caron Butler, Wade, Odom, Grant, etc. The they got Shaq and I wasn't as interested in them then but still watched some of their games. After that they loaded the team up with thugs like Jason Williams and Antoine Walker so I absolutely loathed the team. Of course they win a championship as NBA history tends to show the team with the lowest amount of character will usually win it all.

These days they only have Wade and Haslem from those teams. Both excellent players in their own right. Haslem has come a long way.

Still I'd rather see the Mavs win. Jason Kidd has put a lot of work in without that championship and Dirk is playing prob the best ball of his career. In the grand scheme of things the Heat will likely win it next year. Hopefully the Mavs get it done.

[HeatCheck]

Reminder, it's a 2-3-2 format. Some people think that favors the "lower seeded" team if they get 1 of 2 on the road to open the series. I am not sure it makes that much of a difference.

I'm torn and might be letting my heart make this decision but I say Dallas in 6.

I think Dirk and Kidd finally get their rings.

[Kevin Greene]

This is a very tough call.

Ultimately, gotta go with home court and Maimi in 7.

Who's gonna be the Finals MVP??????????????????????????????????????

[King Taharqa]

Finals MVP will be LeBron James.

[HeatCheck]

MVP = Joel Anthony

[GritsRgreat]

I still hold a grudge against Jason Kidd for what he did to my Blue Devils way back when.

Heat Sweep!

[tarheelpride]

I dunno who's going to win. This will be a very close series and I think the Mavs bench will step up. I would rather see Dallas get a ring before LBJ, but i really don't have a horse in this race. I do see this series going the distance though. That's all I really want to see...a good series

[bLACKpANTHER]

I dont always coach in the NBA Finals..

but when I do.. I prefer Dirk Nowitzki

[Mvp2014]

Im going with the Heat, I'm not a hater. No one can stop LBJ and DW

[Kakarot]

I'm rooting for the Mavs. I think the Mavs ability to score in bunches will carry them over the Heat. Pulling for the homie Jason Terry to get that Finals MVP

[tarheelblue89]

This series is gonna be off the hook. I have no idea who's gonna win. I'm waiting for Dallas to fold and they haven't yet.

With that said, the King will finally take his throne and bring a title back to South Beach.

Heat in 5

[SOJA]

Miamis weakest link is point guard and Kidd is washed up- they match up well with Dallas by going small and letting bron guard dirk- Shawn Marion could give Mike Miller or James Jones trouble, but in the end the Mavs are going to miss Butler.

Miami has no excuse now, they've played tremendous basketball as of late, if they continue to play as they have the Mavs don't stand a chance