In his 18th season, Dirk Nowitzki has reached the milestone of becoming the sixth all-time leading scorer in the history of the National Basketball Association.
This year marked the 15th time out of 16 years he has managed to help his team reach the NBA playoffs but one thing remains the same — the Dallas Mavericks have always been the underdog.
After losing by 38 points in game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, it felt as if someone had sucker-punched me in the stomach and there was no hope of catching my breath. Charles Barkley even said Dallas had a zero percent chance of winning game two (even though he never gives Dallas a chance).
Well, Rick Carlisle and his mad genius of a brain had other things in mind on Monday night hushing all the critics and proving once again that you can never count the Mavericks out.
.@dallasmavs: 4th team in NBA history to win Game 2 of a playoff series after losing Game 1 by 35 or more pic.twitter.com/bT4PvZevx1
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 19, 2016
Dallas had all the reasons in the world to just give up. Normally a team goes into the playoffs rested (some what) and healthy.
The Mavericks are far from that with no David Lee, Chandler Parsons or J.J. Barea. Devin Harris is fighting through a sore thumb and Deron Williams, who was listed as doubtful, started game 2 with a sports hernia.
The injured Williams started the game hot hitting his first four shots, three of them being three-pointers. He would play 26 minutes before allowing Raymond Felton to take things from there.
Felton has proven himself through the course of the season but if you told me that we would win game 2 because of Ray-Ray, I would have called you crazy. I then would have apologized because that is exactly what happened.
The 6’ 1” guard led the team with 21 points and also led the team in rebounds with 11.
Raymond Felton led the way for the Mavs tonight. pic.twitter.com/Ni23Fpm1S9
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 19, 2016
The win against OKC was another orchestrated performance by Carlisle who tallied his sixth win this season after losing the previous game by 20 or more points. In return, this was the 15th game this season the Thunder have lost when leading going into the fourth quarter.
According to ESPN, Dallas became the biggest underdog (-14) to win a playoff game in the last 20 season.
Mavs were 14-point underdogs, making tonight's win the biggest upset in an NBA postseason game in last 20 seasons. pic.twitter.com/KCsnsP72c6
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 19, 2016
Kevin Durant beat out Michael Jordan for the worst shooting percentage (21.2%) in a playoff game since the shot clock era began with a minimum of 30 FGA according to Elias Sports.
Worst FG Pct In Playoff Game – Minimum 30 FGA Shot Clock Era 2016 Kevin Durant 21.2%
1997 Michael Jordan 25.7 %
(via @EliasSports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 19, 2016
The win undoubtedly gave Maverick fans a sense of hope but the truth is that we will always remain as the underdog.
Basketball is a game of momentum and confidence, with the sucker-punch we delivered Monday night; it’s time for the Mavericks to take care of business as home-court advantage shifts their way.
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