Dallas Mavericks: 5 best Mavs moments of the last decade

5. The Jet’s dagger to seal Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals

This shot will always go down as one of the most important in franchise history. It marked the first moment the Dallas Mavericks truly took control of the series against the Miami Heat.

The Mavericks held a 105-101 lead over the first year iteration of the Heatles at home with just over 40 seconds remaining in the game. Jason Terry swings it over to Jason Kidd on the perimeter near the right corner. Kidd immediately swings it back.

Dirk Nowitzki comes over to Terry to either set a screen or ask for the ball. Terry has no intention of giving it up. He dribbles between his legs, takes a step forward, stares deep into the depths of LeBron James‘ soul, and drills a highly-contested three right in his grill.

The Mavericks now lead by seven points. There is only 33 seconds remaining. That’s the ball game. The Mavs will take a three games to two series lead to Miami for a potential closeout game. I think we all know what happens next.

It is only fitting that Terry found his way into the top five. He was the second most important Maverick during their contending years. The Jet will always be the Robin to Dirk’s Batman. He was the only Nowitzki teammate at the time who experienced the heartbreak of the 2006 Finals collapse.

The shot being in LeBron’s face was a sort of poetic justice. Terry remained confident and called out LeBron after James held him scoreless in the second half of the Game 1.

“We’ll see if he can do it for seven games.”

Well, Terry put his money where his mouth was. He outscored LeBron in the series. He came up with massive shot after massive shot over one of the greatest to ever play the game, and he’s a champion for it.

Next: A star is born