The NBA fined Mark Cuban $250,000 for "several acts of misconduct" following game 5. That included yelling at a ref, glaring at David Stern, and cursing when answering media questions. Game 6: Miami at Dallas (June 20) It was a due-or-die game for the Mavs and they came out strong with the arena louder than it's been all season. Dallas scored the first 4 points and would hold a small lead over the next 5 minutes. Dallas led 12-10 with 7:15 to go and consecutive 3-pointers kicked off a 14-2 run to give Dallas a 26-12 lead with 2:55 left. Miami did score the next 6 points to pull within 18-26 with 1:20 remaining. Dallas led 30-23 after 1. Dirk Nowitzki had 11 points. But Miami had weathered the storm and opened the 2nd quarter with an 8-2 run, including 6 points by Dwyane Wade, to pull within 31-32 with 9:05 left. Dallas did answer by scoring the next 10 points to again take a double-digit lead at 42-31 with 4:40 to go. Miami scored the next 5 points, but Dallas then connected on consecutive buckets inside to go up 46-36 with 3:30 remaining. But Dallas would then go through a 3 1/2 minute scoring drought in shooting 0-7 FG and Miami took advantage by scoring 13 straight points, capped by a one-handed jam by Alonzo Mourning on the break, to take their first lead and go up 49-46 with 20 seconds left. Nowitzki's finger roll bounced in with a little over a second left. Miami led 49-48 a the half. Wade had 12 points in the 2nd quarter. Miami shot 7-10 FT in the 2nd while Dallas did not get to the line once and the Heat out-scored Dallas 26-18 in the quarter. A layup by Antoine Walker late in the shot clock opened the scoring in the 3rd quarter. A 3-pointer by Jason Terry tied the game at 51-51 with 10:55 to go. The teams traded 2 points (with Nowitzki getting 2 free throws for only the 4th and 5th free throw attempts for Dallas in the game). Miami then went on a 9-2 run, with 5 of the Heat's next 7 possessions involving trips to the line, to go up 62-55 with 6:55 remaining - Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, and Devin Harris all picked up their 4th foul during Miami's run. A layup by Mourning gave Miami a 68-59 lead with 1:50 left, but Dallas scored the next 7 points, with the surprising sparking coming from Marquis Daniels with 5 of those points, to pull within 66-68 with a minute to go. Miami was able to hang on to a small lead the rest of the quarter and led 71-68 after 3. Both teams went to the line 12 times in the 3rd quarter, but Dallas made 9 free throws while Miami made 6. Neither team shot well in the quarter with Miami shooting 8-21 FG and Dallas a very poor 5-19 FG. Wade opened the scoring for the 4th quarter with a Tim Duncan impersonation by banking in a 15-foot from the wing to give Miami a 5 point lead. Shaquille O'Neal picked up 2 quick fouls and sat with his 5th foul with 9:55 left. A jumper by Daniels and 2 free throws by Howard (which was also Miami's 5th team foul, putting them in the penalty) tied the game at 79-79 with 7:05 remaining. The teams traded misses (with Dallas missing on 2 quick 3-point attempts) and Udonis Haslem hit a jumper, Dallas missed another 3-point attempt, and Wade hit 2 free throws (as Howard joined Stackhouse with 5 fouls) to give Miami an 83-79 lead with 5:10 to go. Stackhouse then drove baseline for a layup [with a Mav finally attacking the basket]. Miami missed on 2 attempts, but Wade was fouled on the 3rd attempt and he hit 1-2 FT. Stackhouse missed a 3-point attempt at the shot clock buzzer and Wade found James Posey in the corner to give Miami an 87-81 lead with 3:45 remaining. Howard drove for a layup after a timeout and Stackhouse had a great block on a dunk attempt by Haslem and Dallas ran the other way and Terry missed a 5-footer, but Nowitzki got the rebound and was fouled. He hit the 2 fee throws to pull Dallas within 85-87 with 3 minutes left. Posey drove for a floater late in the shot clock. Nowitzki missed a 17-foot jumper. Wade missed badly, but Terry turned the ball over, but Dallas got the ball back with 1:45 to go when Posey was called for a double-dribble while trying to get control of the ball. Stackhouse drained an open 3-pointer in the corner to pull Dallas within 88-89 with 1:35 remaining. Jason Williams missed a 3-point attempt, but Haslem got the offensive rebound and a layup with 1:20 to go. Terry missed a 3-pointer late in the shot clock, but Erick Dampier got the offensive rebound and Dallas called timeout with 55 seconds left. Nowitzki passed back to an open Howard and he nailed the 17-footer with 42.4 seconds left to pull Dallas within 90-91. Wade was dribbling the ball and cleared out with his right arm, but some how Nowitzki was called for a foul, which sent Wade to the line with 26.2 seconds remaining. He hit both free throws to make it a 3 point game. After a timeout, Dallas ran a pick-and-roll with Nowitzki passing to Dampier and Dampier fumbled the ball and Wade got the loose ball and was intentioally fouled with 17.7 seconds left. And Wade hit both free throws to give Miami a 95-90 lead. Dallas used their last timeout. Terry missed a 3-point attempt, but Wade shoved (using his rear) Howard under the basket, giving Howard 2 free throws. And he made both with 11.5 seconds left. Wade was intentionally fouled with 10.3 seconds left. And Wade missed both, and Haslem and Posey grabbed the rebound, but were (bizarrely, though correctly) called for traveling as they fought each other for the ball. Dallas had the ball with a chance to tie the game and 9.1 seconds left. Terry brought the ball up and his 3-point attempt went in-and-out (not "I can't believe it didn't go in" in-and-out) and that was game. Miami won 95-92. Miami takes the series 4-2 and are the 2006 NBA Champions. It still hurts. I thought I was better today, but writing this while re-watching the last few minutes brought all the emotion back. It was a great season, but the Miami was the better team in the last 4 games as Dallas reverted back to their old style in being a jumpshooting team instead of attacking the basket. The Mavs got in the penalty with 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter, they then launched 3-point attempts on their next 3 possessions. It was a hard way to end the season, but it was a great season [and I'll take this season any time over the misery of the 90s, despite the pain of this loss]. So congratulations to the Mavs for a wonderful season and getting farther than most anyone expected them to and hopefully the pain of watching a team win a championship on Dallas' floor will motivate the Mavs to be even better next season. And congratulations to the Miami Heat for coming back from 0-2 and winning the next 4 games to become the NBA Champions and to their new superstar who emerged from being a young star to picking up his team late in game 3 and carrying the Heat to the Championship. No surprise that Wade was named MVP of the Finals. I did stay through the ceremony - and it was painful, but something I've never had the opportunity to see before and you never know when such an opportunity will come again (sorry, Dad, for making you stay through that). The fans were not booing the Heat, they were booing David Stern. Before seeing this, I had said that it's terrible when they do the trophy ceremony on a road team's court instead of in the lockerroom, but now I say this is the way to do it as any fans of the winning team that attended the road game gets to enjoy the celebration as well. As for the game numbers, Dallas shot just 29% FG in the 2nd half. For the game, Miami shot 44.9% (35-78) FG including 2-18 3-pointers and Dallas shot 37% (34-92) FG including 5-22 3-pointers. It's simply very hard to win when you don't hit shots. No other reason for the loss than Dallas' poor shooting. Miami shot 23-37 FT and Dallas shot 19-23 FT. Miami out-rebounded Dallas 56-50, but Dallas had a slight edge with 16-14 offensive boards. Dallas did out-score Miami 44-32 in the paint. Miami had 19 turnovers and Dallas had 13 turnovers. It was the first time all season that Dallas lost 4 straight games. Once again, it was the Dwyane Wade shot. Wade had a game high 36 points, including 11 points in the 4th quarter, on 10-18 FG and 16-21 FT [just 2 less than Dallas shot as a team]. And he also had 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks, but did turn the ball over 5 times. Udonis Haslem stepped up and had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds including 4 offensive. Antoine Walker also had a double-double, but took a lot of bad shots - he did attack the basket some during the 3rd quarter where he scored 10 of Miami's 22 points in the quarter. Walker had 14 points including 6-17 FG and 0-6 3-pointers and 11 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal struggled with his shot and with foul problems and wasn't much of a factor in this game [and if you're keeping track, no Hack-a-Shaq in this game]. He had 9 points on 4-11 FG and 1-4 FT (and 1 more miss on a lane violation), but also had 12 rebounds. O'Neal played 24 minutes and had 5 fouls. Alonzo Mourning gave the Heat a spark during the game and he had 8 points including 3-4 FG, 6 rebounds, and 5 blocks in 12 minutes. Jason Williams and Gary Payton were the only Heat players to really have bad outings. Williams shot 1-7 3-pointers (the only shots he attempted), but did have 7 assists. Payton had 2 points on 1-3 FG, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers, including the bonehead play of the night where he was yelling at the ref instead staying with the play and Wade touch-passed back to Payton and it resulted in a turnover. Posey had 6 points and 5 rebounds in 13 minutes. Shandon Anderson played 2 1/2 minutes and had a turnover for his only stat. The real Dirk Nowitzki showed up for the first 3 quarters (though the Mavs drove me nuts when they completely went away from him after his strong start in the 1st quarter), but wasn't much of a factor in the 4th quarter. He only hit 2 free throws and missed 4 shots in the 4th quarter. For the game, Nowitzki led the team in points and rebounds with 29 points and 15 rebounds. Jason Terry was absolutely miserable in the 2nd half. After hitting a 3-pointer a minute into the 3rd quarter, he missed his last 11 shots of the game. Terry had 16 points on 7-25 FG and 2-11 3-pointers and 5 assists. Josh Howard struggled with his scoring, but was very active in other aspects of the game. Howard had 14 points (with 8 coming in the 4th quarter) including 5-16 FG, 12 rebounds, and 4 steals. He did have the funny moment of the night where early in the 3rd quarter (with Miami shooting free throws), Howard decided he didn't like a wrap he hand on his upper thigh and he pulled down his shorts (was wearing biker shorts underneath, though) and spent a little bit of time pulling off the wrap - and had a trio of courtside young ladies giggling. The surprise of the night was the spark that Marquis Daniels provided for the Mavs late in the 3rd quarter that helped get Dallas back in to the game after being down by 9 points. Daniels had 12 points on 4-6 FG and 4-5 FT and 2 offensive rebounds in 11 minutes. Jerry Stackhouse chipped in 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 17 minutes. The Mavs didn't get much from their centers. DeSagana Diop had 2 points and 4 rebounds in 14 minutes and Erick Dampier had 1 point and 8 rebounds in 21 minutes. Devin Harris had 6 points, 3 offensive rebounds, and 4 assists, but also turned the ball over 4 times. Adrian Griffin missed 2 shots and had 1 offensive rebound and 1 steal in 4 minutes. DJ Mbenga had no stats in 1 minute. Darrell Armstrong and Keith Van Horn did not play, coach's decision. I'm going to go blow my nose now and take a break from basketball over the weekend. Then it's back to basketball as the NBA Draft is Wednesday (at 6 pm Central on ESPN) and Dallas has the #28 and #58 draft picks. Quotes Pat Riley on what was in the bowl in their lockerroom: "The bowl was 120,0000 of these, that's all. And, you know, we sort of took on a slogan, a motto, for whatever you wish, but it really was about 15 guys just being strong. There was a lot of, you know, conjecture throughout the course of the year about our team, about the character, about certain players, it wouldn't work, the chemistry. And people don't know, they just don't know how much these guys really wanted it. And so we just kept piling them in, they're 25,000. I had a little wheel barrel that I'd come in and then I'd dump a bunch in and then Shaq would dump some in, and we just kept building it up. And a lot of people think it's corny, I don't. That's what it's all about." Riley on being special for Mourning: "All of these guys. I mean, I watch, you know, GP and Zo, they're deserving. You know, Shandon Anderson, the veterans, Derek Anderson, the guys, Antoine Walker, you know, JWill, all of these guys that have been around. And they've had great years and been producers. But, you know, to be able to win a championship, it's very difficult to do it, but to make sure that they could, you know, end their careers knowing that one day, you know, when they lay their head down on the pillow, they never have to worry about this one again. This one has been taken care of." Riley on being drenched in previous celebrations and Wade: "Yes. I do remember those. Champagne baths were pretty common. But, from a coaching standpoint, my greatest concern and fear was that I wasn't going to have enough for these guys, or for him. And I don't think I've ever or we've ever depended on 2 players more or sort of built our offense around 2 players, and everybody accepted that. But he just took it to another level. He just took it to another level. You all witnessed it. You all watched it. You know, players like that are very hard to come by. And to watch them grow right in front of you, you know, he's making his legacy in his 3rd year. So, I mean, we're so blessed to have him." Riley on how this one compares to the others: "I said it and I mean it, I'd give up 6 of them for this 1. I just would have. I would have traded them all in for this one. Not that it's not disrespectful to any of them that I won. But after 18 years, and chasing, you know, you keep chasing it, you keep chasing it, you get tired. And so this gives me a sense of absolute freedom from having to chase it, desperately chase it. So it's very special." Riley on if there has been anyone he felt better with having the ball in the 4th quarter than Wade: "Not many, no. You knew Magic was always going to make the right play, get the ball to the right person, you know, be able to, you know, absolutely dictate the tempo of the game, and also make big plays. But, no, I've never had a player like this, I have not been around a player who can absolutely, you know, at times beat 5 guys, and then at the same time, make great plays to players. The biggest play of the game was when he found James Posey. You know, Pose hit, I think, the 3 in the corner. You know, he kept finding guys all night. I was waiting for one of them to hit a 3. We missed about 6 or 7 3s that were wide open, but I think we hit a couple when we needed them." Riley on coming back from 0-2: "You can't talk about this all year long [13-strong] and be this all year long and then when you get to some adversity is buckle. We went through it. In order to get the prize, you have to go through the fire and you've got to go through it over and over. And we went through it in tonight's game and I told them you're going to have to fight that off again, they're going to come back at you, they're going to keep coming back at you. But I think in the very end what, you know, what I had and what this team had was a team of established, strong, and settled players. And I think at the very end, that's what wins for you, you know, the experience, they're all established, they made plays when they had to make plays. And I felt, you know, a very settling calm in the last, you know, minute and a half of the game. I really felt like we were going to win it." Riley on what motivates: "You never know. All you do is you keep throwing things against the wall, you know, and some of it sticks and some of it doesn't. But, you know, we have a faith based team here. A lot of people don't understand what that means. It really is. You know, in order to summon the courage and have the perseverance that we've had, I mean, to be able to overcome a lot of things as individuals, your faith transcends all of that. and once they really started to believe in each other and believe in what we were doing, sometimes it didn't look pretty, but I just believe that at the very end, there was enough courage and perseverance on their part to get it done. And they proved that, and you can never take that away from them." Riley on the veterans following Wade: "Wouldn't you? All of those guys experienced the same thing for years and years, the ball kept coming to them, coming to them, coming to them, coming to them. And, no, I don't think they ever deferred to him. They have so much respect for him because they trusted him. And they trusted that he wasn't for himself only. They trusted that he was all about winning and that, you know, a team of veterans can turn over something to him that's valuable to them because, you know, they know he's going to deliver. So Dwyane is probably one of the most respected young players this game has had in a long time. And I think he proved a lot in the last 4 games, this sweep, the last 4 games." Shaquille O'Neal on his promise of winning the title: "I made that promise because of DWade. I knew he was a special player. You know, when I was making my transition from LA there was only really 2 places I wanted to go. And, you know, one of the places was in the same conference, I knew I really wouldn't get traded there. And the other place was Miami, because of DWade. You know, I know that being on a championship caliber team, you know, you've got to have a great 1-2 punch, and, you know, DWade is, you know, a fabulous player. I felt we could have got it done last year, I felt we could have got it done last year but, you know, we was, you know, just shorthanded. You know, we had to suffer a little bit. Then we regrouped and people doubted us all year, but, you know, we're a tight knit group. You know, a lot of people wanted to know what was in that little bowl in the lockerroom, it was a bunch of cards that said 15 strong, a bunch of pictures of us and our family, a bunch of pictures of us hanging together. And it was a very tight knit group. This was, you know, the real definition of, you know, team." O'Neal: "It feels good. I mean, I really didn't have, you know, the type of Finals that I'm used to. But, you know, they were doubling and tripling. And, you know, DWade told me that, you know, if they were going to keep doing that then he was going to take over the series. As you can see, you know, he put up MVP type numbers. And he was very, very unselfish about it. You know, he still kept, you know, people involved. You know, he took the, you know, high percentage shots. And, you know, he's a great player, he's a great player." O'Neal on what changed from game 2 to game 3: "I think what changed is everybody was counting us out. Certain people up here was planning parade routes and all that stuff. And it was just, you know, we, you know, we knew that they just, you know, took care of business at home. And, you know, you know, we really didn't, you know, play our best games up here. But, you know, when we saw that and, you know, when we saw that they didn't, you know, give us the respect that we deserved, you know. And we just wanted to take it one game at a time, one game at a time. So, you know, it was 2-1 and 2-2 and 3-2 and - actually, you know, funny story. On June 8th Pat Riley told us we were going to win on June 20th. He told us that. He said, 'On June 20, I'm guaranteeing you guys going to win.'" O'Neal on Wade being tentative in game 2: "He wasn't tentative. You know, he was just trying to, you know, keep, you know, people involved. And, you know, it's our job to, you know, make him look good, and, you know, a lot of people didn't play well in game 2, including myself. But like I said, we knew that we were going home and we just had a chance to take care of business at home." O'Neal on if he was surprised Dallas didn't drive later in the game: "I don't think they could of drived. You know, Udonis was, you know, doing a great job on Dirk. I switched out on him, you know, a couple times. We were just, you know, trying to make them do something else. You know, we knew that Terry and Dirk were the options, so we were just trying to stay in front of them, just try to make them do something else. But, you know, Dwyane, you know, just took over the game. You know, Pose hit a couple shots and we just played good team ball. But, like I said, we've been known since the 8th that once this day came that we were going to win it." O'Neal on comparing Wade to Bryant: "I don't compare. You know, they're 2 different type of people, 2 different type players. I just know that, you know, Dwyane Wade is a great player. Very, very humble, you know, keeps everybody involved. And he's the reason why I came to Miami. You know, I don't, you know, I don't, you know, do comparing. You know, both of them are very, very hard to stop. You know, both of them are fabulous players. But, you know, this year, you know, Dwyane is the champion." O'Neal on belief in coming back from 0-2: "I believe, man. I just knew that we had to take care of business at home. And us being down 13 down, been doing that all year. You know that. We've been doing that all year. And, you know, we had to just get kicked around a little bit and just say, you know what, we're tired of getting kicked around and we just have to bring it back. So we were more used to that than any other team in the playoffs. And, you know, we just, you know, once we got that win, it was like, okay, we played a horrible game, but we beat these guys. Now we'll just play a better game. Game 4 was a little bit better and then game 5 started out a little slow, took it overtime and, you know, we was able to win game 5." Dwyane Wade on the comparisons to Jordan: "Well, first of all, you know, no comparisons to 1 of the greatest players, my greatest role model, you know, as an athlete. You know, besides my father at home, he was kind of like my second father because the guy that I watched and felt like I was a part of, you know, Michael Jordan. So the comparisons is flattering, but at the same time, I always stay away from them because there will never be another Jordan. But all I can do is continue to go out there and to play the way that I know how and, you know, hopefully when I'm done playing, that there can be someone sitting up here, y'all can mention my name with his, that would be good." Wade on putting the team on his back: "I don't want to say I put this team on my back. You know, we did it together. You know, like Coach said, like we've all been saying, it's been 15 strong. Now they gave me the opportunity by putting the ball in my hand, and my will, man, to prove people wrong, to not worry about what people say about me. When I came into the series, it was I can't shoot. I don't know where they got that from. So I proved to them I can shoot. And then after that, I proved to them that I can play. And that's all that I tried to do is prove the people wrong all the time." Wade: "Well, first of all, you know, we're a team that ever came out and complained about nothing that happened. We lost 30 games. We lost Shaq for 18 games early in the season - everybody forgets that. And we was a team that didn't have an identity and then we had a coaching change so we had to switch then. So we worked through a lot. But we all knew inside that this team was built for this, team was built for the playoffs, and we understood that. So that's what makes it sweet, because not at one moment did one of us not believe in each other, no matter if you've seen me and GP in the Chicago series go after each other for 15 seconds or see Posey, Udonis get thrown out in the 1st round. So what. We always stuck together. And when we went in the lockerroom, it was always 15 strong." Wade on about 3 minutes left on when he became aware that Posey was open in the corner: "Well, I knew he was open. You know, it was just about me seeing over the defense. I was telling Pose, you know, when they came out in the 2nd half, I kind of knew that they was going to try to get me off the ball. They had to try to do something different, so I told Pose to be ready to shoot and then shoot it every time - I told him and JWill the same thing. I told him and JWill the same thing. And Posey is a great shooter, the best shooter we have on this team. And, you know, he made a big shot for us, man, it put us up 87-81, I believe, and, you know, we took it from there. This Dallas, give them a lot of credit, this is a good team, they will be back again, no question about it. We wanted it and we took it." Wade on being written off after being down 0-2 giving motivation: "No question. It was very motivating. I think in game 2, you know, Coach before the game showed us an article that was written - I'm not going to say who it was written by - but showed an article and it said 'Unworthy Opponents.' We was unworthy to be playing against this team after 1 game, blew my mind, blew our team's mind. And I always kept that in mind. Still got that article. But, you know, this team played great at home the first 2 games but we took it to the chin and went back home. And I think that game 3 when we came back down 13 really showed that we deserved this and we deserved to be here. And we took it from there, you know, making history. Winning 4 games in a row, it's not easy, but we did it. So, you know, it's just sweet." Wade on watching Jordan growing up in Chicago and dreaming of becoming him: "Well, I'm a big dreamer. I think you've got to dream in life to know what you want. And I remember, you know, when the Bulls won their 1st championship, sitting at home on my floor watching the games. And then Jordan did his shot, famous shot. I went right in the backyard, turned the lights on and tried to do it myself - I couldn't do it then, I didn't have no athletic ability, I was young. But every time I've seen Jordan, Pippen, you know, my favorite players do anything, I always tried to go in the backyard and act like I was 1, a part of the team or 2, playing against them guys. So, like I said, I've been a big dreamer all my life. I'm going to continue to be a big dreamer. And, I mean, the Bulls was a special team and I'm just happy that, you know, I can sit up here and talk about them now." Wade on if kids are going to do the same thing with him now: "I don't think, I don't think I had any moves like that. I don't think I did nothing special like that in the series. But, I mean, you know, it's, you know, to me it's still crazy when I walk around and I see people wearing my jersey, people wearing my shoes, people having a demand for wanting Wade stuff, it's still truly a blessing and still weird to me. But, you know, I'm sure some kids will go in the backyard and try to be like me, and that's great. But it's one kid that really does it, and that's my son at home. And, you know, I see him do it every day. He want to be Dwyane Wade, and, you know, it's just great, man." Wade on the bowl with the cards in it: "Well, it started off very small, you know, something he just threw in the middle of the floor early on, and we didn't understand at first what he was saying until he explained it. He said, you know, this is what it's all about. And he walked around and gave everyone a card. He said, it's 15 strong, walk around with this card because it's a lot of doubters out there and you guys got to prove them wrong and the only way you can do this is to stick together. And every game he put more and more and more. And it just, it just got bigger and our belief just got stronger and stronger in each other. So, you know, Coach Riley, everyone knows, is one of the best motivational speakers to ever live, and he motivated this team many of times, you know, to help us go out there and bring the national Championship, world Championship, to Miami. So, I can't wait to get to Miami, man. Man." Wade: "Not really because, like I said, this team always believed. You know, you don't get a Gary Payton to come down here, you don't get an Alonzo Mourning to come back, you don't get an Antoine Walker to come down here. After we had a good team last year, if it wasn't a belief, if guys didn't want to take their roles - everyone has a role: I have a role, Shaq has a role, Antoine has a role, and everyone accepted their roles. And that's the reason we're sitting here today smiling, feeling good with champagne all over us." Udonis Haslem: "All my life I have never been given anything and this is the same situation. And the team, nobody ever gave us anything this year. We lost the first couple of games and no one gave us a chance, but we kept fighting and stuck together." Haslem: "Man, I'm just trying to hold my tears back. I've been crying for the last 15 minutes. I love all these guys and we just kept fighting when nobody gave us a chance." Haslem: "I never doubted this team. One thing this team is we always learn from our mistakes. We've come back, we've been tough, and we've been doing it all season and I knew we would learn from some of the mistakes that we made and come back." Haslem on Nowitzki: "He's a key factor to their team. And coach Riley gave me the liberty to try and not help as much and try to focus on stopping Dirk. And that made my job a whole lot easier." Haslem: "Dwyane and Shaq lead the way and everybody else carry their load right here, and that's 15 strong." Haslem on why he's crying: "Cause, man, nobody never gave me nothing, man, never. Coming out of college, they never game me nothing. They never gave me nothing when I came into the league. They never gave me a chance against Dirk. They never gave this team a change, man. And we just continued to fight. I'm just so happy." James Posey on the team coming together: "Just accepting your role and going out there and doing the best you can and that's what we did. It took us a minute, but we stuck together and we worked together. Everybody did what they needed to do to get us this far here." Posey: "Like I said, it's all about winning. So whatever I could do to help this team win that's what I do. Like I said, I tried to do the best I could, regardless of whatever, I did the best I could." Posey on winning the Championship: "You've seen it on TV. I've seen it on TV, all the celebration going on, the bubbly is spraying everywhere. Everybody here is just excited and happy because this is our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is to win it all, to be a champion. It's official now." Posey on Miami's defense: "Everybody did a good job. We tag teamed on them. We just made them work for everything and that's key. It got us to this point and I think tonight when he [Nowitzki] was tired out there tonight and his shots weren't falling, we made him work for everything. That's all we did, we stuck with it, we kept playing." Gary Payton on what the most important thing Riley told them: "He just always told us to play together. Stay strong 15 strong, and we'd be champions. And that's what we did. Today he gave us great inspiration when he took his mother's chains and his daughter's chains and his 5 rings and they were all on one chain. And he said he'd give up all of his rings if we could get one, so come out and play like one. Don't be watching, leave it all out on the floor and that's what we did." Payton on winning the championship: "It feels great. It feels good. I've been working hard, for 16 years trying to get one and now I've got one. And this, it's beautiful. To have the opportunity to have this and hold this [the trophy] it feels great." Payton on if he's going to thing about his future: "No, I ain't going to think about anything. Thank you very much." Payton on if he thought he'd get another chance after 2004: "I don't know. We can't say that. We can't predict the future. I know that this was a good team and we came to pull together with each other. We can't think about what would have happened but it's all here now." Alonzo Mourning on drinking champagne and the kidney: "You know what, my doctors, he told me I can have a drink in moderation. And to tell you the truth, I haven't had a drink since 2000, since I was diagnosed. I gave it all up, cause I used to drink beers with my boys, but I haven't had a drink since then. I think he'll definitely, my doctor will give me a doctor's note for today. He'll give me note for today, a pass." Mourning on the hardest moment: "The darkest time was in 2000, October 3, 2000, making that announcement that I wouldn't be playing basketball again. You know, that was probably one of the darkest moments. And I was on such a high at that point in my life because we had just come back from Sidney, Australia and we won a gold medal and just traveled back for the birth of my daughter, you know, I was just on a high at that time, I was on top of the world. And it all just went, crashed down, you know, when I heard that news, you know." Mourning on forcing Dallas not to drive: "Defense. You know, withstanding their run. Because I knew, we knew as a team that they were going to make runs. They're at home. They had the crowd behind them, you know. And momentum changes in games like this, especially in closing games like this. And we had to sustain their run with getting stops, making defensive plays. And I think collectively, everybody just dug a little bit deeper, you know. And we got one of the greatest basketball players in this game now in Shaq and DWade. And we just relied on them to get us through. And then everyone just threw their little 2 cents in and contributed to this moment right here. You know, and it just took that, a collective effort, everybody just leaving it out there. And it becomes contagious. When you see one person out there doing what they have to do in order for the whole group to be successful, it filters out through all the guys, you know. And I knew that every second that I was out there, I was saying that, you know what, I mean, I'm going to leave every ounce of energy that I have. I'll worry about rest the rest of this summer right now. But, right now, every second that I'm out here, I'm going to give it all that I got so that we can experience a moment that we have been working so diligently the whole year for, you know, when everybody counted us out." Avery Johnson on if things started to get away when they started jacking up 3s: "Yeah, we were in a situation there where we came down and took 2 back to back 3s and missed both of them. And that kind of changed the momentum. But we still had a chance to win. I am just so proud of our team. Just before somebody asks, I'll just tell you that I just told them how much I love them, through thick and thin. I loved them during the 13 game winning streak, the 3 game losing streak in the regular season, this 4 game losing streak. I told them that I loved them, I think we've made a lot of progress this year. We got knocked out in the 1st round 2 years ago, 2nd round last year. We aimed high this year. And I told them that a lot of teams have to go through this. This is going to really hurt this summer, and I hope it makes them work out harder, it makes me a better coach, because I'm willing to try it again." Johnson on if it was a great season despite not winning the Championship: "Well, again, it depends on what you, you know, how you determine great. You know, for us, I would say a great season is actually winning it. But whatever the step below that is, you know, that's what we've done. When we took over, we talked about aiming high and winning a championship. We didn't talk about getting here. But this was a tremendous learning experience for our players and coaches. And you can't really get this good on the job experience like this until you're here. So we came up short. We know they don't give any awards for coming in 2nd, but we've provided, we provided an awful lot for the whole city of Dallas and our families and fans. And we don't have anything to necessarily be ashamed of." Johnson on Nowitzki in the 4th: "Well, we tried to get him the ball. You know, in that last play there, we really didn't, we didn't want Shaq in the play, but he got in the play. They were trying to trap him, just as much as we were trying to trap Wade, and get the ball out of his hands. But Dirk's a warrior. He tried. No excuses. Miami deserved to win. They've had an incredible year. Like I said early on, I don't think when the season started anybody picked Dallas and Miami to be in the Finals. So take your hats off to them. We've had a lot of highs and lows. You guys have seen me at my best and at my worst this series. I just think it's no excuses. They deserved to win. And we'll come back." Johnson on if Wade just had a will to win: "Yes, he did. And, you know, some of that stuff, you just can't teach, all right. When a player's making those kind of plays, it's really no tricky play. He's beating double-teams, he's beating triple-teams. There's no tricks there. It's a straight isolation play. But he had a lot of will to win. You've seen a lot of players, like Jordan, a lot of players in history that have really had those type of performances. And we tried a lot of different things, but he just had a lot of desire to get it done." Johnson on how they build for next year: "You know, really, I didn't plan on giving this speech. So, I think more than anything, you know, you've got to try to keep your core together. Like I said, we've fought a lot of adversity, especially during these Finals. We've had a guy suspended, you know, Mark's gotten fined. We've had a lot of different, you know, things that happened throughout the course of these Finals. But our guys, they're fighters, all right. We've kind of shed that label of kind of being a soft team. I don't think you can be soft and try to fight through a lot of the stuff we did. We had a chance to win game 3, came up short. Had a chance to really win game 5 without Stack. And had a chance to win this game. But the ball didn't bounce our way, no excuses." Johnson on Daniels in the 3rd quarter: "Again, he gave us a big lift right there. You know, in that stretch, you know, his fiancee was in labor, so he got to the game late. And so what a valiant effort by Marquis tonight." Johnson on if felt that game 3 was the turning point in the series: "Well, Newy [reporter's name], that will be debatable. You know, we were up 12 and we didn't put a finish on it. And normally we play really well in the 4th quarter. And obviously we had of won that game, then we would be playing a game 7, had we lost these 3 games. So it will be something that we'll go back and look on, look at. Again, we shoot 37% from the field tonight. You know, we shoot over 40%, we probably have a chance to win this game. But, I go down with my guys. I'll try to get better this summer. They'll try to get better. But we've had an incredible year. And I think you guys have been really fair to us." Dirk Nowitzki on the 4th quarter: "Well, you know, I had a couple looks there, 2 or 3, that I should make. And then obviously once I drove, they really collapsed in the lane, and had to kick it out. But, so what can I say? I mean, it's a tough loss." Nowitzki on being up early: "Well, I thought, you know, we really sped the game up from the beginning and that's what really got us the lead. You know, we were pushing it. We were in transition, and that's really how we got the lead, not by going inside. We had good looks in transition and we got to the basket. And obviously once you play against their set defense, they are really, really good. And they just clog up the paint. They've got great shot blockers in there. And, you know, and then you're forced to shoot jumpers. So I thought we didn't do a good job defensively after that. Obviously to get in transition, you've got to get stops. And it wasn't good enough." Nowitzki on if Miami's Finals experience helped them: "Yeah, I mean, they made some adjustments. I thought once they got back home, and they were great, obviously Dwyane was great. After game 2, whatever, he was unstoppable. And, you know, he really, you know, really won them the Championship. You know, from game 3 when we were up 10, and he just took over since then. You know, he never let up. And he was great. So, yeah, they had some experience, we didn't. So obviously, I think a lot of good teams have to, you know, take tough losses and come back stronger next year." Nowitzki on using this as motivation for next season: "Well, it's tough right now. You know, you play your heart out for, whatever, 8, 9 months, every night and give it your best and play all the way til middle of June and then - you know, you make it to the Final, to the big stage, then go home. 2nd is tough. I mean, right now, it's a tough one to swallow. But I'm sure, you know, more time goes by, we can be proud of what we did this year. I think we had a heck of a year. Nobody really expected us to come out of the West. And we kept getting better and kept fighting. So we can be proud of what we did. But obviously right now, you know, the frustration is high. But, you know, once the summer gets along a little more, we can be proud of what we did." Nowitzki on what he proved to himself this season: "To myself? I mean, nothing really. I mean, try to do more of the same that I did in the regular season, and that's help the team win games. After, obviously, I had a disappointing playoff run last year and we got bounced in the 2nd round, I thought we did a lot better, obviously, this year. We made it to the Finals. But like I said, we go home frustrated right now." Nowitzki on if he thinks about 'what if': "Yeah, I mean, you always go back when some time goes by and you think about certain possessions, certain plays that could have gone either way, a couple bounces here or there. And obviously, yeah, that game 3 was big. I mean, we were up 10, we had the game under control with a couple minutes left, and if we win that, the series is probably pretty much over, and we just maybe were starting to celebrate too early or I don't know what happened. But we didn't execute and we didn't finish the game. You know, in the Finals you've got to play for 48 minutes and not for 43 or 44. So that was a tough loss and that really changed the whole momentum of the series, you know. After that, they got confidence. They played a lot better afterwards. Everybody kept making shots. And, yeah, if you look back at that game 3 loss, it was a momentum changer." Nowitzki on if their confidence was shaken by losing 3 in Miami: "I don't know, I think we were confident that we could win at home. We won 2 at the beginning of the series. And we won big games at home all season long. So I thought we were confident that we could win it. I looked in everybody's eyes yesterday after when we came home and today, and everybody felt good. And that's how we came out. I mean, we really came out firing from all angles. So I think we were confident enough to win it. But obviously, they closed the gap and kept it a close game, and then we just didn't have it in the 4th, didn't have enough to win." Nowitzki on when he felt the game was slipping away: "Well, you know, it's a close game, so in a close game, you never feel a game is slipping away. Obviously, you're right there. We had a couple great looks at the basket from 3 that could have gone in, a couple bounces here and there. So in a close game, you never feel the game slipping away. But obviously when it went up 5 then down the stretch, We kept on hustling though and we still had a shot to tie it. So it just didn't go in." Nowitzki on O'Neal: "Well, you know, everything starts with Shaq, really. I mean, the way he's dominant in the post, it opens up everything for the outside guys. I mean, if you don't double-team him, he's just going to walk you under the basket and score every time. So he kinds of makes you scramble and rotate all over the place, because he's still, you know, the most dominant player in this league. And obviously, you know, Dwyane was great, but everything starts with Shaq. But they're both unbelievable players and they showed it in the series." Jason Terry: "Tough to look back on it right now, but, like I said, we definitely gave it our all, man. And once again, I want to thank the organization and the fans, just for their effort - they gave it all they had. And we definitely left it all out there on the floor. Looking forward to next season, man, trying to get back to the same level, with the same group of guys, and take from this experience." Terry: "We had our chances, same as just about every game in this series, and we didn't capitalize. It's disheartening on one hand, and encouraging on another to know we were that close. Hopefully we keep everything intact. We'll get better, and we'll really use this off season to just get better, and take it to another level next year." Terry on his free agency: "That will take care of itself. This is a great organization, with great people, and I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I'm looking to be right back here next year." Terry on when momentum shifted in the series: "It really didn't. The momentum was in our favor in every game, with the exception of game 4. We still felt confident every time we stepped on the floor, and we had our chances time and time again. It's going to eat at us. It's like last year. Getting knocked out in the 2nd round was a learning experience. This year, we took it all the way to the Finals, and from here, we're just going to keep getting better. The good teams and the great players get stronger from defeat." Terry on if the close losses bothered him: "A loss is a loss is a loss. We had our opportunity, but it just wasn't our time. At the end, I have to take my hat off to the Miami Heat. They have a lot of veterans on that team, and this was there year. They played hard." Terry on the loss: "Oh, we're sick. If words could describe it, we're sick. Like I said, not disappointed in anyone's effort tonight. 1 through 12, we all had the focus, the intensity we need. The ball just didn't bounce our way tonight." Devin Harris: "They played great, you know, the last 4 games, you know. A lot of close games. You know, we didn't execute at lot at the end of games. And, you know, the ball just went their way some times." Harris: "I mean, it all came down to the 4th quarter. I mean, the first 3 quarters, I thought we played them pretty well. But, you know, they just made runs in those 4th quarters and we weren't able to recover. You know, Dwyane played great in those quarters and we scruggled to find a way to stop him." Harris on how much experience played a factor: "I don't know how much. They had a lot of 1st-timers on their team as well. I don't know how much you can put into that. We've been playing the playoffs for over a month now. It's hard to say how much of a factor it was." Harris on why they settled for jumpshots: "I really don't know what happened." Harris on what Johnson said after the game: "He didn't say much. He just said he wanted us to stay together as a team. Let it hurt so bad that you want to come back next year and step it up to another level." Harris: "There was a point where we really struggled to score. We found ways and we fought back. Give us credit for that. We even had a shot to tie it at the end, but it just didn't bounce our way." Adrian Griffin: "You know, give them credit. They played extremely poised throught the whole series. You know, they could of, you know, threw in the towel after being down 2 games, but - man, it's just, just being so close, it's just hard, it's just something that we have to deal with right now." Game 6: Miami Heat 95, Dallas Mavericks 92 at Dallas (June 20) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Miami 23 26 22 24 - 95 .550 .111 .449 .622 Dallas 30 18 20 24 - 92 .414 .227 .370 .826 Halftime: Miami 49-48 3rd Q: Miami 71-68 Technicals: Miami defensive 3 seconds 1:13 2nd Refs: Ed Rush, Danny Crawford, Steve Javie Attendance: 20,522 (sellout) IL: Wayne Simien (Mia), Josh Powell (Dal) Miami Heat REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Jason Williams 24 1-7 1-7 0-0 3 0-1 7 2 0 0 0 Dwyane Wade 33 10-18 0-0 16-21 36 3-10 5 5 4 4 3 Udonis Haslem 29 8-13 0-0 1-4 17 4-10 1 3 3 2 0 Antoine Walker 30 6-17 0-6 2-3 14 3-11 2 0 2 1 1 Shaquille O'Neal 24 4-11 0-0 1-4 9 3-12 1 2 5 0 1 James Posey 13 2-5 1-4 1-2 6 0-5 0 3 2 2 0 Alonzo Mourning 12 3-4 0-0 2-3 8 1-6 0 1 4 0 5 Gary Payton 12 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 0-1 2 2 3 0 0 Shandon Anderson 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 36 35-78 2-18 23-37 95 14-56 18 19 23 9 10 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 24 2-4 0-0 2-3 6 3-3 4 4 5 2 0 Jason Terry 31 7-25 2-11 0-0 16 0-1 5 2 1 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 35 10-22 1-2 8-8 29 3-15 2 1 5 0 2 Josh Howard 21 5-16 0-2 4-4 14 3-12 0 1 5 4 1 DeSagana Diop 14 1-3 0-0 0-1 2 0-4 1 0 3 0 2 Jerry Stackhouse 17 5-13 2-6 0-0 12 1-4 3 3 5 2 1 Erick Dampier 21 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 3-8 0 2 2 1 1 Marquis Daniels 11 4-6 0-1 4-5 12 2-2 1 0 2 0 0 Adrian Griffin 4 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 0 1 0 DJ Mbenga 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 36 34-92 5-22 19-23 92 16-50 16 13 28 12 7 patricia