PROVIDING a great treat to NBA fans, both conference finals exhibit the makings of six-game series’, at the least. In the West, the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder have so far traded wins and it is the same thus far (as at Saturday) in the match-up between the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat.

Backed by Dirk

Western Conference

IN Game One of the Western Conference Final, the Hall-of-Fame-bound Dirk Nowitzki put on a shooting clinic.

He not only made 12 of his 15 field goal attempts but he also shot an amazing 24 free throws without a miss, setting the new NBA play-off record which was 21 consecutive made by Paul Pierce in 2001. The Mavs came away 121-112 winners.

The second game of the series was not so pleasant for the Mavs as they did not account for a James Harden revitalisation. Coming off the bench ,he scored 23 integral points to ensure that power his team to a 106-100 victory.

In the game, coach Scott Brooks did something that a handful of coaches would not; play with four of his five starters on the bench for almost all of the fourth quarter the only exception being Thabo Sefolosha who came in after Nick Collison fouled out of the game.

A new hero emerged for the Mavs in the third game of the series in the form of Shawn Marion. He along with Nowinski top scored for the Mavs with 18 points, but unlike Game One it was Shawn who had the impressive field goal conversion 9-13 compared to Dirk’s 7 of 21.

Despite outscoring the Mavs 51-41 in the second half of the encounter the Thunder could not capitalise on the home court advantage.

Unexpected hero

Eastern Conference

WITH Derrick Rose and company dismissing the Heat 103-81 in the opening game of the Eastern Conference Finals, many began to wonder if the regular season trend of Bulls victories would continue.

D Rose and Luo Deng combined for 49 points while there was also commendable contribution from the Bulls bench while LeBron James and Dwyane Wade could only muster 33 points between them to shake up the talks of James and Wade being the best duo in the NBA.

Approaching Game Two, the South Beach-based franchise were aware that a 0-2 deficit could very well mean the end of the series and their opening half showed it. Similar to the series opener the Heat entered the half with 48 points but this time the Bulls could only manage 46. With their big men constantly getting into foul trouble, coach Erik Spoelstra decided to introduce franchise player Udonis Haslem to the game.

Haslem had not played a game since early in the season but it did not show on the court as he contributed 13 points off the bench as well as five rebounds and two assists. In addition to Haslem’s game-changing performance, James and Wade shook off their demons to combine for 53 points this time around.

On Sunday night, the Heat handed the Bulls their second-consecutive defeat for the first time since February with a 96-85 victory, taking a 2-1 lead in the series. The Heat Big Three combined for over 70 points with Chris Bosh leading the way with 34. With Game Three coming up tonight, it is now the Bulls who are in a must-win situation as a 3-1 deficit could mean lights out.

Editor’s Note: Results on Game Four of the Western Conference Finals were unavailable as at print time.