The Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA championship on this day, 9 years ago. With Dirk Nowitzki having one of the best individual playoff runs in history, the Mavericks defeated an overwhelmingly favored Miami Heat team 4-2 in the NBA Finals after trailing 2-1 in the series.
The legendary forward from Germany averaged 26 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2 assists per game in the Finals’ series against the Heat being named the series’ MVP.
He ended up averaging 27.7 on 46% shooting percentage from the field and 48.8% from the three-point line in the 21 post-season games he played. He also added 8.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
Of course, Nowitzki wasn’t alone. Tyson Chandler was the perfect rim-protector, while Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and DeShawn Stevenson were extremely valuable for Dallas.
