While many have been picking the Heat to win the championship, claiming that they are just too talented for the Mavs to keep up with, I've been a bit hesitant to agree.
While the Heat definitely have 3 of the 4 best players on the court each night (LeBron, Wade, Bosh vs. Nowitzki), the Mavs surpass the Heat in one aspect: team depth.
Simply put, I've felt all along that the Mav's depth could allow them to keep up with the Heat, even though the Mavs don't have the overall star power that the Heat possess.
But, just a few hours ago, I changed my mind. I am now convinced that the Heat will win this series.
And my reason has nothing to do with basketball.
It has everything to do with the idiotic comments Mavericks swingman DeShawn Stevenson made earlier today.
I am not sure if a player's bozo comments have ever been the reason for a team winning the NBA Finals, but if not, I am confident it is about to happen for the first time this year.
The day following the Mavericks 86-83 game four win in Dallas, Stevenson felt the need to say that LeBron "checked out" in game four.
For the record, LeBron did have an awful night, especially for LeBron standards. He scored 8 points, a career playoff-low, on 3-11 shooting in 46 minutes.
Stevenson went on to explain his meaning of "checked out", by saying that "Our defense was good, but at the same time [LeBron] wasn't in attack mode. We all know that LeBron can get to the basket and when he has his shot going, it's pretty tough to keep him from the free throw line...He's trying to find other guys and Dwyane Wade has it going, so I think he's deferring. At the same time, it's good for us. It's a positive for us."
First off, let me clarify what DeShawn is trying to say: LeBron has been playing passively.
Stevenson is right. LeBron has been a bit passive in his play, especially in last night's game. And as Stevenson hinted, a passive LeBron is clearly a good thing for the Mavericks because LeBron's game thrives on being aggressive. His aggressive basketball play is what makes him great, and without that, LeBron is simply not LeBron.
Not to mention, the Mavs had the Heat just where they wanted them after last night's game, with LeBron and the Heat feeling unsure of themselves.
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| I might end up eating my words, but here goes nothing: Heat will win the NBA Finals and LeBron will score 25+ in both game 5 and 6 |
After the Heat's 88-86 game three win on June 6, the Heat had to be on cloud nine. All the experts were saying the series was over, and the Heat probably felt the same.
But after losing game four, the Heat were brought back to reality. The Mavs proved to the world that the series is far from over, and that they are more than capable of winning it all.
So now I ask DeShawn Stevenson, how dumb can you be? Why make the comments you made?
Because of Stevenson's unnecessary comments, LeBron's passiveness is no longer a positive for the Mavs. I am confident LeBron will not play as passively as he did in game four for the rest of the NBA Finals.
Stevenson just lighted a fire that was not--but was in dire need of being--lit. This is what LeBron needed to turn around his performance, something to motivate him and get him angry.
LeBron just got that something, courtesy of DeShawn Stevenson.
I'm banking on LeBron having a huge game five tomorrow night and game six on June 12, thanks in large part to Stevenson's comments.
Now, I'm not big on predictions, but I'll give it a shot here anyway. Why not? Let's have some fun and make the rest of the series a bit more interesting (for myself anyway).
It's a best of 3 game series now that the series is deadlocked at 2-2. Whichever team wins two games first will be named the 2011 NBA Champion.
My prediction: Heat will win the next two games, with Lebron scoring 25+ in both game 5 and 6.
And if my prediction comes to fruition, one thing is for certain.
DeShawn Stevenson should receive the NBA Finals MVP.
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