The window of opportunity for winning a NBA title hasn’t closed for Dallas. But San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver and Utah are trying to do everything in their powers to keep that window shut.
The reigning Western Conference champions meet the Nuggets today as the league’s best and hottest team. Entering Saturday’s game, the Mavericks were 22-7 and had reeled off eight victories in a row. While the Mavs deserve some attention, they seem to be getting little.
Why? It all stems from the 2006 NBA Finals when they blew a 13-point lead with six minutes to go in Game 3 at Miami, up 2-0 in the series. They appeared on their way to a sweep. Had the Mavericks gone up 3-0, they almost certainly would have won the series. No NBA team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit.
But led by eventual Finals MVP Dwyane Wade’s 42 points and 13 rebounds, the Heat rallied to take Game 3. The Mavericks then unraveled, losing the last three games in one of the biggest collapses in Finals history.
When asked how often he thinks about the 2006 Finals, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said: “Really, all the time. That was the toughest loss, obviously, of my career. Sometimes you lay there at night and things go through your mind. What would have happened if you made that one free throw, or if you made that one stop.
“It’s definitely going to stay in the back of my mind. It’s actually going to push me and motivate me to actually get it done.”
It took some time but Dallas coach Avery Johnson has found some positives to look back on.
“It’s hard to find the positive when you hurt so bad,” Johnson said. “But at some point, you start to look at it. When you say Western Conference champions, that means a lot, but not at the time when you lose in the Finals.”
The good news for the Mavericks is that their key players from a season ago, Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, Devin Harris, Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop, are still around. Johnson, the 2006 NBA coach of the year, was re-signed to a five-year, $20 million deal. The Mavs also added some tough and experienced veterans in former Nuggets Greg Buckner, Devean George and Anthony Johnson.
“I really like all the new guys,” Nowitzki said. “They have a lot of experience.”
The Mavericks have the talent to win the West. And the NBA title. But so do Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and San Antonio. So do Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Phoenix. So do Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony and Denver. And so possibly do Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer and Utah.
While Dallas is leading the way right now, it’s a five-team West race to the Finals. It won’t be easy for Nowitzki and coach Johnson to win what they appeared to have in their grasp a few short months ago.
“We’re still young,” Nowitzki said. “The great thing is we kept all our main pieces that really got us into the Finals. We signed “The General” (Johnson) for a couple more years and we added some nice new pieces. We’ll see if our time has passed once the playoffs come around.”
Footnotes
Word is Sacramento is growing tired of Ron Artest’s poor attitude less than a year from acquiring him. Artest is on the trading block. … One Western Conference executive said: “Allen Iverson is doing what I was scared he would do, he’s giving up the rock. If he keeps giving up the rock like he does right now, how do you stop him?” … Earlier this season, then-Nuggets point guard Andre Miller said he thought he was the “seventh” most popular player on the team but couldn’t explain why. Because of his quiet nature and meat-and-potatoes type game, that assessment had merit. Expect several teams to call the Sixers about trying to obtain Miller for salary-cap space and draft picks, including Cleveland, Miami and Charlotte. … Philadelphia coach Maurice Cheeks and Seattle coach Bob Hill are on the hot seat. They’ve got to be looking over their shoulders. Former Sixers coach Larry Brown recently became a consultant for the 76ers and former SuperSonics coach Lenny Wilkens is being consulted by new ownership about every Seattle move. … With Houston center Yao Ming out at least six weeks with a leg injury and New Jersey Nets center Nenad Krstic out for the season with a knee injury, both teams are calling around the NBA for potential Band-Aid replacements. …
Former Colorado forward Chris Copeland hopes to be signed to an NBA Development League contract soon and placed on the league’s available player pool. Aiding Copeland’s NBADL dreams is that teams could have extra roster spots when NBA teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts Jan. 5. Copeland was going to play in Spain before suffering a broken foot while playing pickup ball with the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center in August.
Hodge playing well with 14ers
Julius Hodge had the ball with only seconds remaining and the score tied at 110. With a Jamaal Wilkes-type hitch in his shot, Hodge nailed a game-winning 17-footer at the buzzer to give the NBADL Colorado 14ers a wild win over the Anaheim Arsenal on Wednesday.
An ecstatic Hodge took off running toward the locker room. But before leaving the floor, he turned to the electrified fans at the Broomfield Event Center with his teammates to celebrate. He greeted some NBA scouts with a smile and hit his chest with a closed fist.
“He found a shot, but it wasn’t exactly how I drew it up,” 14ers coach Joe Wolf said. “I didn’t have the defender knocking the ball out of his hands and him gathering it at half court, but that’s basketball. And fortunately the shot went in for us.”
Said Hodge: “(The 14ers) is an opportunity for me to play. I’m honestly very happy here. It’s a good situation because I get to still be in Denver.”
After so much bad luck, Hodge deserved a positive night.
The former North Carolina State star played sparingly as a rookie last season and came close to being killed after being shot four times in a late-night drive-by shooting in April. The 6-foot-7, 210-pounder missed training camp with a foot infection and his contract wasn’t exercised by Denver for the 2007-08 season.
Against Anaheim, Hodge seemed to play nervously in the first half with Nuggets vice president of basketball operations Mark Warkentien watching, and he had six turnovers. But the Harlem, N.Y., native relaxed in the second half and finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench. He entered Friday’s game against Dakota averaging 12.7 points, 9.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds and expects to return to the Nuggets in early January. One possible option for the Nuggets is to bring him back when the team doesn’t have games between Jan. 15-18 so he can get some practices in.
“I will be meeting with George (Karl) about it soon,” Warkentien said. “Things have been kind of hectic around here. I got a chance to see him play the other night. We’ll talk to Julius and his agent and try to figure it out.”
Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-954-1098 or mspears@denverpost.com.
