The official prediction is Dallas in 6.
I like Dallas to win the opener and then win the all important game 5 at home and then Miami will wilt like most NBA teams do when faced with a close out and lose on their home court.
That will be nice imagery for the folks at ESPN to show the heat dejectedly walking off the court after their much heralded predictions of multiple championships before the season started.
When looking at the Mavs run through the playoffs, it has been pretty impressive. They were the popular pick by pundits to lose in the first round but won, swept the Lakers and took down OKC in 5. The funny thing about the Mavs run is that most people talk about the teams they beat and look at why those teams lost as opposed to why Dallas won. For instance with the Lakers, it is all about how Pau Gasol played poorly and so on, for OKC, it was about Kevin Durant not taking charge and Westbrook taking too many poor shots.
The reality is that Dallas is deep with an above at all positions and coming off the bench and of course they have the needed superstar in Dirk who can make the big shots when needed.
Looking at Miami, they have come together and are formidable. However, they have been fortunate that they have been able to pretty much avoid teams with strong frontline play. The Celtics would have been a bigger challenge had they kept Perkins but were able to dominate the series by using their stifling perimeter defense. Against they bulls, they cut off the head of the snake by handling Derrick Rose and the rest was history.
The Mavs will be able withstand the Heat's defensive pressure on the perimeter with their strong guard play. This will then open up the inside where the Heat's weakness will be exposed and the Mavs will exploit them from the inside out.
For the Heat, they will have their moments and The King will continue to shine but ultimately their lack of talent on the inside will defeat them.
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