Sports Betting Blog

If the Dallas Mavericks want to survive these playoffs, they better win game two. Because there is very little, actually there is only a 7% chance (if we take the past finals as a reference) for an underdog team to actually comeback from a 0-2 deficit and win the championship ring. Things are a little better for team with a 0-1 deficit. 73% of the teams that have won game one of the series has end up winning the Championship, so from this perspective there is still plenty of hope for the Mavericks to complete a good comeback.

But winning this second game is vital for the Mavericks. And heck, even for the sake of us who enjoy the sport regardless of which team wins, it’s hard to argue that a win at South Beach by the Mavericks could only make this series so much more exciting. The Mavericks would get back on the game, and the Miami Heat’s big three would have to keep on their rhythm in Dallas for the next two games.

One big factor here is going to be whether Dirk Nowitzki is going to be playing at his best. He suffered an injury on the middle finger of his left hand and has been using a splint since the finish of game 1. Some believe that it won’t affect his game, particularly because the injury was suffered in his non-shooting hand. But still, it might slow him down defensively, as he might take a little more caution when fighting for rebounds or guarding players on his left side.

Perhaps the main issue here is that the Dallas Mavericks are in a position they have yet to experiment all post-season long. After losing the opener of the NBA finals, ending a five-game road winning streak or being down in a series for the first time this postseason.

Thinks weren’t that great for the Dallas Mavericks on game one. Truth be said that the Heat managed to keep their shooting effectiveness to an unprecedented playoffs low and were a dominant force on the rebounds. Coach Rick Carlisle knows well that he can’t afford having Miami outrebound his team by 10. That was especially significant on the offensive end. The Heat picked-up 16 offensive boards; the Dallas Mavericks had 3.

Dallas, meanwhile, made a playoff-low 37.3 percent of its shots and got a measly 17 points from the bench. Terry scored 12, but all in the first half as he was smothered by LeBron James. Not even Jose Juan Barea, who had been a dominant force against the Western Conference teams, was as brilliant as his team needed him to be. It looks as if Barea couldn’t rise to the occasion.

It wasn’t their best game, but the Mavericks weren’t doing that bad either. Perhaps the biggest issue was holding on to the lead and having the strong finish needed to defeat the Heat at home. he Mavs led after the first and second quarters and were up by eight points in the third quarter. They weren’t really out of it until the final five minutes, when Dwyane Wade, James and Bosh put on the kind of show their fans wanted to see. And then it was too late. There was no coming back for game 1. The Maverick must find a way to get back on game 2, because if not, it’s going to be over too soon.