Dallas Mavericks 2011 Finals Flashback: Dallas Wins Behind a Sick Dirk

Continuing the podcast series highlighting the 2011 Dallas Mavericks, we turn our attention to Game 4 and Dirk Nowitzki being sick.

On August 21st, Nick Angstadt (Mavs Moneyball) and myself started a podcast series on the Locked On Mavericks podcast where we would be highlighting the incredible run of the 2011 Dallas Mavericks.

In the first podcast of the series, we talked about the makeup of both the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat in 2011 and the path they took leading up to the 2011 Finals. You can listen to that preview podcast here.

Since then, we have recapped each of the games in the 2011 Finals breaking down the storylines and key plays of each game. We have also been joined by guests that had a first hand experience of the series and give insight on behind the scenes stories.

You can listen to the first three game recaps here.

With Miami up 2-1 and a sick Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas once again proves the test of adversity.

After missing the game winner in Game 3 over Udonis Haslem, Dirk Nowitzki would come into Game 4 with much bigger problems to worry about.

Being reported as a temperature of over 101, Nowitzki was more than sick as the talk around the team was about Nowitzki having flu-like symptoms. The worst possible timing for the Dallas Mavericks.

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As the game started, the sickness was in full effect as Nowitzki started off the game missing 10 of his first 11 shots. Despite the sick Dirk, Dallas rallied around their superstar and only went into halftime down by two points.

The second half was the same story, but Miami took another fourth quarter, double-digit lead where it looked to some they would be pulling away to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

But in the last 10 minutes of the game, Dallas would go on a 21-9 run that was capped off by another clutch possession with Nowitzki driving to the basket for the bucket. After a botched inbounds pass to Dwyane Wade, Dallas evened up the series.

As for LeBron James, he went 3-11 from the field with eight points in 46 minutes. He played in all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter and didn’t score a single point.

Dirk still finished as the team’s leading scorer with 21 while Marion and Terry followed behind in double-digits. You can see the full box score here.

Next: 5 Predictions for Dennis Smith Jr.'s Rookie Season

Check back in for Game 5 on Saturday where the Mavericks host their last game of the series at home.

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