Six Free Throws and the Weight of the Season
The preview of the Dallas/Golden State game that means everything.
by Ben Collins
Symbolism is overdone.
It’s overhyped. It’s completely infeasible 9/10ths of the time and a stretch most of the working 10%. We all want life to imitate those too-uplifting, cheery sports movies, but it usually never happens.
Usually.
But then I saw six free throws on Tuesday night that meant everything.
They meant a lead. Dirk Nowitzki’s first free throw of the fourth quarter tied the Dallas-Golden State game 112-112 with 48 seconds left and his second gave the Dallas Mavericks their first lead in eight game minutes.
They meant momentum. Dallas then forced a turnover and didn’t allow a basket in the last 3:21. Josh Howard went to the basket on the next possession and demonstrated what Dallas should have been doing all series long.
They meant a little bit of trust. For the first time all series, Dallas started deferring to the future MVP in the waning moments and Nowitzki, in turn responded. Four more free throws and a six-point Dallas lead to finish it off.
Oh, and those six free throws may have meant this 27-year-old German kid’s career.
Nowitzki will always be an all-World player solely from what his natural ability and agility at his height will bring him. But can an athlete ever fully recover from this? Four straight losses in the NBA Finals. A five-game first round loss to an eight-seed in the first round of the Playoffs in your MVP season.
But Nowitzki stepped to the free throw line and finished off his fifth and sixth free throws, his 29th and 30th point – all this after the final two minutes of playing his game and seeing that it led the Dallas Mavericks in an unstoppable 15-0 run — and made sure he’ll never have to worry about it.
And as those MVP chants started to resonated in the American Airlines Center once again, this time – through the triumph of a 67-win season and the adversity of a 3-1 series hole – it finally had the sound of validation.
Here was the reassurance Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks needed. This Golden State team was not too fast to bruise in the paint. This Warrior team was not unbeatable in Oakland. After two big threes, this team is not too chippy around the perimeter to shoot over or beat to the rim off the dribble. This arena is not too yellow, too yellow.
This team, all of a sudden, cannot close out games. This team, after one more ejection and one more foul-out from their two best players, is finally frustrated.
So when Dirk Nowitzki holds the ball at the top of the key and stares down whatever defender is swiping at his shooting hand, with this series, his reputation, his best shot at a championship and his career in the balance, this time he’ll go right to the basket.
Because those six free throws had to mean something.
—-
Or, like Russ, we’ll be talking about this well into the morning.
14 Responses to “Six Free Throws and the Weight of the Season”
May.3 at 10:55 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I still hope they lose. The only guy on Dallas I even feel bad for is Jerry Stackhouse.
May.3 at 11:38 pm
Drolfe says:
I’d feel bad for JET if they lose. And Dirk, actually.
May.4 at 12:38 am
Drolfe says:
..and they’re in trouble right now.
May.4 at 12:38 am
2G40 says:
Third quarter and Dirk has 4pts…it’s so laughable, it really is. This is why the mvp award should be given at the end of the season. Or the criteria for awarding the trophy should change. But hey, David Sterns only concern is putting people in the seats, and we all know what color they are. Notice I said people…and not fans!………………Kobe the best player in the league on a bad day. He’s real mvp, and everybody know’s it!
May.4 at 12:57 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Right. It’s racism. Good call.
May.4 at 1:19 am
2G40 says:
Hey, I’m just telling you what I see. You tell me who the best player in the league is? It damn sure ain’t Dirk…and it wasn’t Nash last year.
May.4 at 1:23 am
whooo! says:
CHOKERS!!!
May.4 at 1:25 am
whooo! says:
n what the hell was that jackass cuban sayin to the camera? get the hell off the court you bum. i wonder if he blows up the team now outta frustration.
May.4 at 1:44 am
2G40 says:
Note to SLAM editors; David Stern is sending Pinkerton agents to Dirk’s home to retrieve the mvp trophy, and award him with a new Bass Pro fishing rod……..:-)
May.4 at 2:00 am
thasam says:
What we saw tonight was one star who displayed heart and guts and one who didn’t. Baron Davis played most of the gmae with one leg and no one knew for sutre if he could come back, but I’m sure a lot of us knew that he would do whatever he could to get back into this game. And when he came out he labored and frankly looked as if he would a liability, especially on defense. But he kept coming, refused to quit, and even started to TAKE THE BALL TO THE BASKET!!!! I cannot emphasize this enough. He played like and MVP, and played like a champion, and left his heart out on the floor.
Then there was the man who may be voted MVP. There were moments that I didn’t know that Dirk was in the game. This game was Dallas’ for the taking in the 2nd and early in the 3rd. GState was missing layups and playing the halfcourt game Dallas wanted. And yet Dirk with two good legs and in complete health just didn’t seem to want it. He didn’t go out shooting 3 for 20. he basically quit, and when he qiut, the rest of the team followed suit. Stackhouse and Howard came to play in the first half, but in the second it seemed as if they were fed up with trying to cover for Dirk and challenged him to finally step up, and he failed misreably. Dirk is gonna face some serous questions about his heart after this one.
May.4 at 2:17 am
2G40 says:
Baron Davis = Willis Reed
May.4 at 2:45 am
» Golden State/Dallas Game 6 Game Notes - SLAM ONLINE says:
[…] So much pre-game stuff to touch on here and here. But why be so damn talkative? We’re here. […]
May.4 at 9:05 am
Sam Rubenstein says:
Ben, if the purpose of this post was to jinx Dirk, you did an amazing job.
May.4 at 7:02 pm
des says:
I feel bad for Josh Howard, Devin Harris, Stackhouse, and Diop. They were the ones that played with any heart!