Mavs show their depth, teamwork in title clincher

MIAMI (AP) - When Dirk Nowitzki couldn’t get anything to fall, Jason Terry couldn’t miss.

When Tyson Chandler got in foul trouble, Ian Mahinmi went in and hit two memorable baskets.

When DeShawn Stevenson replaced Shawn Marion as the defensive stopper, he turned three quick steals into 3-pointers.

The Dallas Mavericks closed out the NBA finals on Sunday night the way they got there _ as a team, with everybody from the biggest star to the least-heralded reserve finding a way to contribute.

Sound hokey? Well, remember the sacrifice one individual among this group made for the benefit of the greater good: Mark Cuban stayed silent for more than six weeks.

“We came together for a common goal and we stayed together throughout the entire season, no matter what happened, no matter what anyone threw at us,” Chandler said. “Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry have been out catalysts all season. But, that being said, we’re a team, a full team. They’re able to lean on us and we’re able to lean on them in time of need.”

Now that they’ve won it all, it’s easy for guys to say they saw this coming “the moment they traded for me,” as Chandler said, or “from Day 1,” as Stevenson said.

But when Terry says he “knew it in training camp,” he also can back it up. He felt so confident that in October he got a tattoo of the championship trophy on his right biceps and vowed to have it removed if this team didn’t win it all.

As Stevenson hollered across the locker room Sunday night, Terry gets to keep it now.

“I knew with this group of guys, and a healthy Caron Butler, that we had the team to do it,” Terry said, glossing over the fact Butler went down with a knee injury on New Year's Day; he was their second-leading scorer at the time and he never returned, yet they won the title anyway.

“I mean, (Miami) had three pieces, but we have 14 or 15. With that kind of confidence in each other _ the system, the coaching staff _ we just believed,” Terry continued. “This team has the heart the size of Texas.”

Nowitzki was the main reason the Mavs got to the brink of a title, pulling out their first two victories by leading fourth-quarter comebacks against the Heat as well as injury (a torn tendon in the tip of his left middle finger) and illness (a sinus infection that left him with a 101-degree fever). He scored the go-ahead basket in their third win.

But in Game 6, Nowitzki missed 11 of his first 12 shots. He had only three points at halftime and Dallas was ahead anyway.

He made his first shot of the second half and began to find a groove. He went 8 of 15 over the last two quarters, scoring 18 points, but he was basically a complementary scorer to Terry, who had 27 points. Dallas won 105-95, ending the series in six games.

“I couldn’t get in a rhythm today for some reason,” Nowitzki said. “The team carried me all night long. (Terry) came out aggressive. I’ve got to give it up to the fellows. They were unbelievable tonight.”

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