We Meet Again

Nowitzki, left and Wade, right have already
 met once in the '06 NBA Finals.

We've seen this before. It has been five seasons since the Miami Heat won their first NBA title in franchise history, beating the Dallas Mavericks in six games. With Miami's thrilling come from behind win Thursday night in Chicago they have punched their ticket to the NBA Finals, setting up a much anticipated Finals rematch with Dirk Nowitzki's Mavericks. A lots changed since then along with their individual roads back to the NBA's biggest stage.

    Only two players remain on each team's roster that played in the '06 Finals. Nowitzki and guard Jason Terry off the bench both were on the losing end that year. All-Star Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem are the only remaining members on the Heat roster that hoisted the Larry O'Brien Trophy under then legendary head coach Pat Riley's watch.

    For Dallas it has been a long journey back to the top of the Western Conference. A year after losing in the Finals and blowing a 2-0 series lead, Nowitzki lead the Mavs to the best record throughout the NBA at 67-15. Dallas was the favorite to win the NBA title as Nowitzki won the Most Valuable Player Award that season for the first time in his career, ending former teammate Steve Nash's two-year reign of the award. He is the only European to win the award in its fifty-six year existence.

    There would only be disappointment to come, as Dallas became the first number one seed to be ousted from the postseason by a number eight seed. Don Nelson's Golden State Warriors made history by disposing of his former team in six games. After ten straight losing seasons in Dallas at the turn of the century a self-made billionaire by the name of Mark Cuban bought the franchise for a $285 million and changed the course of their future.

   Since Cuban's purchase of the team, the Mavericks have had eleven straight seasons of 50 wins of more, making the postseason every year. Now they find themselves only four wins away from their first NBA title and determined not to have it slip away once again.

    Over the years Dallas along with their superstar from Germany have been labeled as soft and not built to win a championship. This Mavericks squad has grown a different identity, using terms like gritty and resilient to describe them, words you wouldn't have even thought to say about a Mavs team, even a year ago.

    Their 2011 postseason run has been a true testament to that as Dallas blew a 23-point second half lead in a first-round game against the Portland Trail Blazers and went on to lose. A Maverick team of old would have crumbled and lost the series. Instead they reeled off seven straight postseason wins including a sweep of the two-time defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in the second-round.

    The streak ended with their first home playoff loss on the year at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. After the loss Dallas won three straight games, including a 15-point comeback in Game 4 of the series with just under five minutes left to play in regulation, advancing to their second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.

    Along with Nowitzki, it looks to be the final shot for future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd to win an NBA title. At 38, he will be making his third NBA Finals appearance and become the oldest players to start a Finals game.

Kidd, left and Nowitzki, right have put
together one last hurrah.

As for the most hated team in sports, the Miami Heat went into the season fully expecting to be in this exact spot, with the four hardest wins of the year still in front of them. The story has been well told as three superstar free agents were brought together by Riley to form a Super Team in South Beach. Heavily criticized more than any other sports team in recent memory, Miami had an eventful first season together.

    Before the coming together of this current group Wade first had to endure a fifteen win season along with three straight first-round exits before his second NBA Finals appearance.

    Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh knew joining forces would have its consequences, but hoped the reward would out weigh the risks. So far that seems to be the case. The Heat started off rather slowly still developing their team chemistry. Early injuries to Haslem and sharp shooter Mike Miller did not help, but it was just another speed bump in their long road back to the Finals.

    At one point during the season the Heat found their stride winning twenty-one of twenty-two games, becoming one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. Shortly there after the Heat would lose six of their last seven, with reports of players crying in the locker room afterward wondering if they made the right decision.

    Miami righted the ship winning eight of their final ten regular season games, including a 100-77 beating of the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. The Heat finished with the third best record in the NBA, capturing the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

    After playing three five game series against the Philadelphia 76ers, Celtics, and Chicago Bulls, Miami finds themselves back in the NBA Finals for the first since '06.

James still thinks about his
'07 Finals loss.

Oddly enough the only other time James appeared in the Finals, it was against another Texas team, as the San Antonio Spurs swept his Cleveland Cavaliers for their fourth NBA title under Greg Popovich.

It should be an exciting series with both teams playing so well and featuring some of the greatest players in NBA history but only one can be crowned champion. Will Miami finish the mission they set out on almost eight months ago? Or will James take another bullet from another Texas team with Nowitzki bringing home his first NBA championship?

    It all starts Tuesday night in South Beach.