Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks
POWER FORWARD: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Chris Bosh
The greatest 7-foot jump shooter the game has ever seen — and possibly the best European basketball import — Dirk Nowitzki has always been one of the most difficult matchups in basketball. But this postseason, Nowitzki has been the most lethal offensive weapon, with a high release on his jumper that has made him virtually unstoppable. The former league MVP is averaging 28.4 points on 52 percent shooting in 15 games, including two 40-point outbursts in the Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City. Nowitzki has long been criticized for his inability to win the big game but is motivated to no longer be defined by past playoff failures — most notably his collapse in the 2006 NBA Finals against Miami. Dallas native Chris Bosh has been the least heralded of Miami’s Big Three, but he has grown more comfortable in his role as the season has progressed. He came up huge in the Eastern Conference finals against Chicago, as he averaged 23.2 points and topped 30 points twice.
ADVANTAGE: DALLAS
SMALL FORWARD: LeBron James vs. Shawn Marion
South Beach has not been complaining about LeBron James’s decision to take his talents to the Heat. Back in the NBA Finals for the first time since his overmatched Cleveland team was swept by San Antonio in 2007, James suddenly has a worthy supporting cast and is putting together perhaps the best postseason of his career. His numbers have been spectacular — 26 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.5 assists — but they still don’t capture how dominant the two-time MVP has been for Miami. He has provided crunch-time scoring while dusting off Boston and Chicago, helped erase concerns over the point guard position by being a playmaker, and he shut down MVP Derrick Rose in the conference finals with his suffocating defense. James realizes that he’ll need a championship ring or six before he can deliver on Scottie Pippen’s claims that he “may be the greatest player to ever play the game.” Shawn Marion has helped Dallas overcome Caron Butler’s knee injury by taking on role as defensive stopper while being an opportunistic scorer, as he did while scoring 26 points in Game 5 of the conference finals.
ADVANTAGE: MIAMI
SHOOTING GUARD: Dwyane Wade vs. DeShawn Stevenson
Dwyane Wade’s Finals exploits against Dallas have been well-documented, as he single-handedly led Miami to its first NBA championship and won MVP honors after averaging 39.3 points over the final four games of that series. He has waited five years to return to this stage, but knows that he won’t have to do most of the heavy lifting. He was dynamic in the first two rounds of the playoffs, before letting James take over against Chicago when he developed problems in his left shoulder, but he still had enough to lead Miami through that amazing comeback in the final minutes of the Game 5 clincher. DeShawn Stevenson has plenty of history with James and is on the floor strictly for his defensive intensity but Dallas will accept the occasional three-pointer.
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