Written by Thomas | Thursday, June 9th, 2011

The biggest game of the National Basketball Association season will take place Thursday night, as the Dallas Mavericks host the Miami Heat. The two teams have split the first four games, with Miami winning games 1 and 3, and Dallas taking games 2 and 4. Neither team has been to the NBA Finals since 2006, when the Heat beat the Mavericks behind Dwyane Wade to take the title.

During the regular season, the Dallas Mavericks finished in second place in the Southwest Division, and tied with the Lakers for the second best record in the Western Conference. The Miami Heat won the Southwest Division by six games over the Orlando Magic. Miami finished with the second best record in the Eastern Conference; behind only the Chicago Bulls.

The Mavericks were led in the regular season, and have been led in the postseason by Dirk Nowitzki. The 7’0 forward scored 23 points per game, and scored 40+ in two of their postseason games. The Mavericks as a team scored 100.2 points per game during the regular season, while allowing 96. Tyson Chandler had one of his best seasons in the league this year for the Mavericks leading Dallas in rebounding, with just short of 10 per game. Jason Kidd, who is discussing retirement has also had a sensational season, as the team’s point guard. Jason Terry and Shawn Marion have been great role players for the Mavericks; both of whom are former stars.

The Miami Heat come into the game a little stunned by the end of the game four loss. As they did in game two, the Heat lost a lead in the fourth quarter and fell on the wrong side of the result. As the Heat were down 3 late in the game, Dwyane Wade fumbled a late pass away, only to get Mike Miller a desperation three-point attempt. The Heat were led in the regular season by LeBron James and his 26.7 points per game. James “checked out” of game four, and was held almost useless in the game four loss. Dwyane Wade is the emotional leader for the Heat, and the second leading scorer. Lastly, Chris Bosh has been a man child for the Heat this season; leading the team in rebounding. Miami scored 102.1 points per game and allowed 94.6 during the regular season.

This is expected to be an excellent game, with the home team as a very slight favorite. In game four, Dallas was favored by three points, and that is exactly what they won by. On Thursday, Dallas is listed at -1.5, so look for this game to be a very tight game. We like LeBron James to have a much better game five than he did on Tuesday night. WIth that, we are expecting the Miami Heat to win the game and cover the spread.

Regardless, Thursday is a game you must tune into, regardless who you end up betting on. It will be the final home game for Dallas, so you know the stadium will be rocking!

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