What an exciting NBA Finals it’s been so far. The Dallas Mavericks are now just one win away from closing out the Miami Heat and finally winning that elusive title that they’ve flirted with for so many years after closing out the Miami Heat in the fourth quarter of Game 5’s thrilling 112-103 win. It was the first of the five games played this series that either team eclipsed the 100-point mark. It wasn’t that the offenses have been atrocious or that the defense was lackluster last night, both teams just played and shot the ball quite well.
For Dallas, shots finally fell in bunches after some uncharacteristically poor shooting earlier in the series. The Mavericks shot 56 percent from the floor thanks in part to their torrid three-point shooting. Dallas was 13-of-19 (68 percent) from down town, punctuated by two late treys by Jason Kidd and Jason Terry that sealed the win.
Give credit to JJ Barea for chipping in 17 points, easily his best game of the series. Shawn Marion only scored 8 points on the evening, but his defensive effort was again solid. Marion also chipped in 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals in the win.
Late on Thursday evening following their Game 5 win, Barea and Marion joined Into The Night With Tony Bruno to talk about the big win. (Marion segment begins at 8:10 mark; Barea at 21:40 mark)
Transcription via: SportsRadioInterviews
Marion on having another fourth quarter rally:
“At the same time though we were up to start the fourth quarter. We knew they were going to make a little run, we just had to stand in and make our own run to close it out.”
Marion on If he saw LeBron James and Dwyane Wade mocking Dirk Nowitzki prior to the game:
“Not at all. Everybody, the media, just comes back and reports stuff like that. We don’t care about that.”Marion on whether or not he thinks the Mavericks are in the heads of the Heat:
“I don’t know if we’re in their head. No. We know what we’re capable of doing. We just go out there, stay persistent with what we want to do and what we accomplish, and go after it.”
Barea on the shooting percentage from three point range:
“I think we were due for some. I’m just glad and happy they went in tonight. When you play hard and you play with a lot of energy the basketball is going to go in at some point and it went in tonight.”
Barea on the Mavericks ability to close out game:
“We’re doing a great job closing out games. I think we have the players to do it. Jason Kidd with the ball, we’ve got Dirk, the best finisher I think in the game right now, Jason Terry is not scared to shoot it, and the important part is we’re getting stops. We’re getting stops in the last couple of minutes and that’s been big for us.”