THE DALLAS MAVERICKS WIN THEIR FIRST NBA TITLE!!!

Back in 2006, the Dallas Mavericks were up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. Despite the advantage, they lost that series by losing the next 4 games. It was heartbreaking and an experience they wouldn't forget. Now, five years later, the Dallas Mavericks were back in the NBA Finals and just one win away from redemption.

Game 6 was tonight as the Mavs were up 3-2 in the series and were looking to close it out now rather than in a game 7 which would favor the Heat. Dirk Nowitzki was a clutch man throughout but had trouble in the 1st half finding the basket. Jason Terry and company, however, managed to fill that hole quite nicely. Terry scored 19 first half points and finished the game 27 points, which was the most by anyone in game 6. JJ Barea also contributed with 15 points and Shawn Marion had 12. Dirk would get it going in the 2nd half and would end playing well in the 4th yet again. He would finish with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The 4th quarter came and the Mavericks continued to play well. They had a solid lead near the end and didn't let it go. The Mavericks win game 6, 105-95, and win their first NBA Championship in franchise history.

The title means so much to everyone on the team and for the city of Dallas, itself. The big man Dirk finally gets his ring after 13 years in the NBA. He was already a future Hall of Famer but now his career was complete. He was not the only one, however, to complete a career tonight. Jason Kidd had spent 19 seasons in the NBA and was in the NBA Finals twice before this carrying the Nets to two NBA Finals only to lose to the Lakers and the Spurs. He finally gets a ring of his own, ironically with the team he first started out with. Jason Terry, at the age of 33, got his ring after getting a trophy tattoo on his right arm and saying LeBron couldn't guard him for a whole series. Man was he right.

A bunch of others can look back on their careers with satisfaction like Shawn Marion, JJ Barea, and Tyson Chandler. You also have to feel happy for the often outspoken owner of the Mavericks, Mark Cuban, who didn't say much in this postseason but sure did enjoy it celebrating with his players on the bench as the time ran out in game 6. Rick Carlisle, the head coach, must receive a bunch of the credit as well as he coached a great series and a great postseason for that matter. This title was truly a team effort from the players to management.

Where there are winners, there are losers. The Miami Heat sure did impress me by getting to the NBA Finals this year. I admit I didn't think they would get this far. What may be remembered just as much as the Mavericks winning is the Triple Heat losing and how they lost. They continuously flopped in the 4th quarter with LeBron James getting most of that late game criticism. The media couldn't help but notice LeBron's failure considering all the criticism he attracted by making the Decision last year. Even Dan Gilbert poked at King James a bit saying "Old Lesson for all: There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE." on Twitter. There is no doubt in my mind that the Triple Heat will win a few titles but this wasn't their year. It was the Mavericks' year.

The Mavs had an incredible run this postseason. They first struggled with the Trail Blazers but eventually got by them. They then swept the defending champs, the Lakers, to get to the Conference Finals. There they defeated the Thunder to get to the NBA Finals where they just beat the Heat, 4-2. It was an amazing run indeed that had a focused Dirk that didn't settle for anything less than a title. After tonight's win, he was a bit emotional afterward and almost didn't come back out after the Mavs had won it all. But he did appear for his curtain call and raised that NBA Title along with his NBA Finals MVP Trophy. As great as Dirk was this postseason, this was a true team effort in which everyone had a part and everyone fulfilled their roles. Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks on their first NBA Championship; as a team and as a city.