He was sick. A sinus infection left him coughing and wheezing, his temperature spiking to 101 degrees. At tip-off, he was still fatigued from hardly sleeping the night before.
Somehow, he managed the vitality to play Game 4 with the NBA finals.
And, like a flu-ridden Jordans in Game 5 of the 1997 finals, he still managed to lead his team to a pivotal victory.
Nowitzki struggled over the first three quarters, then willed himself and his awesome team at the conclusion. He scored 10 of his 21 points and grabbed five of his 11 rebounds within the final period, lifting the Dallas Mavericks to an 86-83 victory above the Miami Heat on Tuesday night that ties the NBA finals at two games.
This best-of-seven series is reduced to some best-of-three. Game 5 is Thursday night in Dallas, and you can ensure Nowitzki will probably be suited up again.
This victory guarantees the series will continue by using a sixth game in Miami on Sunday. Everyone in the ratings-hungry folks at ABC to basketball fans across the world are most likely rooting for any seventh game considering how everything's going-three straight games decided by three points or less, with story lines ranging from Nowitzki’s heroics to Dwyane Wade’s(notes) spectacular play towards shrinking confidence of LeBron James(notes).
Get started with Nowitzki, since what he’s doing is considered the most dramatic.
He already won Game 2 by scoring a final nine points in the 22-5 rally, making two of his final three baskets left-handed, even with torn a tendon on the tip of the middle finger in the last game and struggling to find the suitable kind of splint. He scored Dallas’ final 12 points within a Game 3 rally that emerged two points short.
Now there’s this effort, when Nowitzki went from making his first three shots to missing 10 of his next 11. He also missed an absolutely free throw the first time since Game 4 in the conference finals, ending a streak of 39 straight.
When his illness was revealed en route, his poor performance made sense.
When Dallas trailed 74-65 with 10:12 left, it also made sense that Miami would elevate 3-1, getting a lead that’s never been overcome from the finals and just been blown eight times in almost any round on the playoffs.
Nevertheless the Mavericks turned things around, outscoring heat 21-9 the other way. Nowitzki was 2 of 5 through the rally, including a right-handed layup that spun in over backboard with 14.4 seconds left, making all six of his free throws.
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Posted in: NBA Finals Game 5