These guys are unpredictable. No Kidding around.
5pm PST | ABC
Game 2 was a flat out shocker. I was watching the game with my boys Clipper Raj and Laker V. We were blown away by those talents in South Beach. I was proclaiming the series over with the Heat up by 15 in the 4th. I was also proclaiming this decade in the NBA over with the Heat about to win 6 titles. But then in their usually unpredictable way the Mavs came out of nowhere and won it.
It's gets even more unpredictable, so JUMP!
Unpredictable Mavs
Dirk Nowitzki's career arc defies reason and the Dallas Mavericks have been completely and utterly unpredictable the past decade. Check this out:
- 2001 NBA Playoffs: After a 10 year playoff drought hoops mastermind Don Nelson leads the Mavs to 2nd round of the playoffs after upsetting (sounds familiar to us Warriors fans, doesn't it?) the dirty and boring Karl Malone and John Stockton-led Utah Jazz.
- 2002 NBA Playoffs: The Mavs sweep Kevin Garnett's Timberwolves and get bounced out of the 2nd round largely due to their terrible interior defense against Chris Webber and the Sacramento Kings.
- 2003 NBA Playoffs: CWebb goes down in the 2nd round and the Mavs prevail over the Kings in 7 great games. Nellie's squad gets bounced in the Conference Finals by the eventual champs, the San Antonio Spurs.
- 2004 NBA Playoffs: The Kings take out the Mavs in the 1st round in 5 games.
- 2005 NBA Playoffs: In the 2004 offseason Mark Cuban decided to pay former Warrior "great" Erik Dampier big bucks and let eventual MVP Steve Nash depart to the Suns. Nash has the last laugh as the Mavs lose to the Suns in 6 games in the 2nd round.
- 2006 NBA Playoffs: Nash was the MVP again (joke x2), but Dirk went to the NBA Finals via a clutch 2nd round 7 game series against the San Antonio Spurs and a 6 game defeat of the Suns in the Conference Finals. The Mavs of course completely collapsed in the Finals against Dwyane Wade, the legendary Shaquille O'Neal (congrats on a fabulous career!), and the Miami Heat.
- 2007 NBA Playoffs: I think you all know what happened here. Too bad it was a fluke that never amounted to anything sustainable, thanks to Chris Mullin's post- WE BELIEVE incompetence (terrible draft picks, bust free agent signings, silly confidence in a future of Andris Biedrins and Monta Ellis at the cost of the present), Robert Rowell's lack of hoops common sense, and Chris Cohan's WE SUCK.
- 2008 NBA Playoffs: The Mavs lost in the 1st round to Chris Paul, Tyson Chandler, David West, and the New Orleans Hornets (we all thought they had next, but it wasn't so smooth in NOLA after that season).
- 2009 NBA Playoffs: As the 7th seed the Mavs knocked off the 2nd seed San Antonio Snores in 5 games, which was pretty remarkable. In the 2nd round they lost to the Denver Nuggets who looked like a Western Conference powerhouse for years to come (that didn't quite happen).
- 2010 NBA Playoffs: After an impressive 55 wins the Mavs lost in the 1st round to the San Antonio Spurs in 6 games, making a lot of people wonder if it was time for Cuban to just rebuild around someone other than Dirk and an aging Jason Kidd.
- 2011 NBA Playoffs: Many smart folks predicted the Mavs would lose in the 1st round to the Portland Trailblazers. I don't think anyone predicted they'd sweep the defending champion LA Lakers in Phil Jackson's last dance. The Oklahoma City Thunder are probably a few years away, so that wasn't so unpredictable. But that Finals Game 2 comeback- where did that come from?
Given this data I have no idea what's going to happen to this Mavs team in this series, let alone Game 3 tonight.
Prediction: You can't predict the unpredictable.