| Terry And Finley To The Rescue Authored by Jonathan Wall - May 1, 2005 - 12:19 am
When Jason Terry came into the Mavericks organization this year, he came in with a lot of skepticism from Dallas critics for his "me first" play – on Saturday night Terry decided to squash all of those comments.
Under the bright lights of the playoffs, Jason Terry finally proved to the critics that he truly is one of the top players in the league, as he nailed the first clutch playoff shot of his illustrious career.
Terry has been everything the Mavericks have envisioned when he was brought into Dallas in the Antoine Walker trade over the summer. People said Terry couldn't be a point guard, but Don Nelson thought otherwise. Terry has shown he can be a point guard and run the sqaud in a role that he loves.
"(Don Nelson) totally turned around my career," Terry said a couple months back. "He had faith in me to play a position I hadn't played since college at Arizona and I really thank him for that."
With the clock winding down, Terry evened the series against the Rockets as he canned a 26 foot three point dagger in front of a Houston crowd that silenced the Toyota Center with 26 second remaining in the game, and gave the Mavericks a 94-90 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Terry carried the Mavericks in the second half with 24 points, while also hitting 5-7 from beyond the arc in a game that proved his worth to a Maverick team desperate of a clutch player. Terry's performance Saturday night and through the playoffs so far is drawing huge comparisons to the 2003 play of former Mavericks Nick Van Exel, who hit shot after shot in the playoffs, while making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
In one of the craziest turnarounds seen in the playoffs thus far, the Mavericks managed to take the series momentum away from the Mavericks and now head back home with an opportunity to all but end the Rocket's playoff hopes.
Terry wasn't the only Maverick who stepped up large Saturday, as Michael Finley proved that veteran presence is one the biggest advantages in the NBA Playoffs.
With only 1:36 remaining in the fourth quarter; Finley cut to the inside of the lane and pulled back for his patented fade-away jumper. The shot left Finley's hands and kissed of the rim before in fell in the basket and gave the Mavericks a 89-88 lead.
The Mavericks night was all about veterans as Dirk Nowitki had his third poor shooting performance in four games as he managed to hit only 4-14 shots from the field for 18 points.
Nowitzki may not have been a factor for the Mavericks but it really didn't matter, for the second game in a row, players stepped up and took the battle cry of head coach Avery Johnson to heart and played a game of runs to their second victory.
"We haven't gotten off to great starts," Johnson said. "We really just haven't put together a good game, a full game. We've played in spurts."
Spurts have been the name of the game for Dallas as the squad again took a 15-2 run in the third quarter and a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter and turned the tables of their entire game.
Dallas clearly hasn't been playing their best basketball, but the last two away wins have proved a lot about the character of the Dallas squad.
Sooner of later the team will put together a game where they click for a full 48 minutes, but until then, let's all just enjoy the greatness of the "Mavericks Spurt". |
