Dallas Mavericks Flashback: Mother’s Day Gift of 2011

In honor of Mother’s Day this year, we reflect on one of the greatest Mother’s Days in Dallas Mavericks history, during the 2011 championship run.

Mother’s Day is one of the most important holidays of the year and one that should be celebrated by all. Whether your relationship with your mother is good or not so great, none of us would be here without our mothers.

I know personally I am thankful for my mother every single day. She took care of me, loved me, and taught me how to be passionate about the things I care about. One of those things just so happens to be Dallas Mavericks basketball.

The greatest season in Mavs basketball history was undoubtedly the 2010-2011 season which brought us our one and only title for the franchise. A great regular season and one of the most magnificent championship runs in the playoffs brought joy to Mavericks fans everywhere and a vast majority of basketball fans period.

Many people forget that possibly the best game of the year, nearly the most satisfying win in franchise history, and my personal pick for greatest game ever played at the American Airlines Center, all happened on Mother’s Day in 2011.

The Mavericks were facing off against one of our bitter rivals in the Los Angeles Lakers where things had never seemed to go our way. However, this year was going to be different because we had just put the dagger in the heart of every Lakers fan only two days earlier by taking a commanding 3-0 series lead over Kobe Bryant and his squad.

Amazingly, people across the country were still saying if ever there was a time for someone to come back from a 3-0 series deficit, it was right now with the incredible, 2-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers against a Dallas Mavericks squad that could never seem to get over the hump.

Dallas as a whole needed to prove that they were made of something and this was their opportunity. The Lakers, although looking defeated before the game, were not about to give up this opportunity, especially being the higher seed in the matchup.

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LA started off fairly strong with their attack, letting Kobe take over and score 13 points in the first 12 minutes. The Mavericks held a slim lead at 27-23 and a fired up Kobe that couldn’t seem to miss. The one bright side seemed to be that Dallas was hitting the deep ball going 4-7 from behind the arc. Little did they know how much of a trend that would be.

The 2nd quarter was the defining moment when Dallas outscored the Lakers 36-16 and grabbed a 24-point lead heading to the half. Dallas went 6-7 from the three-point line and could not seem to miss.

Dallas ran away with the game in the 2nd half demolishing the Lakers to the tune of a 122-86 victory. Finally the Mavericks were being considered a legitimate threat and the Los Angeles Lakers got to see just what a fired up Dallas team was capable of.

Jason Terry led the game with 32 points while Barea had 22, Peja Stojakovic had 21, and Dirk with 17.

Some of the most notable stats from the game include going 20-32 from behind the arc, shooting 60% from the field, and ejections from both Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum after cheap shots on Dirk Nowitzki and J.J. Barea, respectively. My favorite stat of the whole contest, however, was the Dallas bench scored 86 points in the game while the entire Lakers team also had 86.

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Mother’s Day will always be a special holiday and one that should be remembered by everyone around the world. But, for those Mavericks fans who had the privilege of watching this wonderful game in 2011, it just means a little bit more.