Defense Was The Reason Dallas Won The NBA Championship

Now that the entire country is celebrating the Dallas Mavericks win over the Heat in the NBA Finals, let's all try and take a deep breath and realize what really happened.

Yes, LeBron James didn't play well.  But that wasn't the real reason for Dallas' win.

The Mavericks won this series with ferocious team defense. 

Miami had no room do anything inside.  They couldn't take it to the hoop because the Mavs were packing it in. 

Lebron said he couldn't do anything inside in this series and couldn't get to the foul line. Those were the things he did all season and throughout the playoffs.

They weren't letting James or Wade get by them and if they did, they didn't get any second chances.  Yeah...it looked real easy to drive on the Mavs in the living room but tell me how easy it is with Dirk (7 feet), Tyson Chandler (7-1) and Sean Marion (6-7) waiting back there for you.

There's a reason this team took out the defending champion Lakers in 4 straight.  They made Pau Gasol and Bynum look soft. 

Nearly every outside shot Miami took was contested.

Terry and Kidd were challenging every shot on perimeter.  Again, no second shots by Miami.  Dallas' zone was super effective because Miami couldn't hit outside shots.  They hit just 33% from 3-point land.  Zones don't get lifted if the offense can't hit 3's. 

Dallas very rarely let Miami get easy, fast break baskets.  Miami lived on this all season long and it wasn't there in this series.

When Miami tried to run, there were at least 3 Dallas players waiting for them.  Lebron came flying up the court and there were guys all around him.  Give Rick Carlisle credit for figuring out how to stop the Heat.  He totally took them out of their game.

Everyone will remember Dirk's clutch shots and LeBron's 4th quarter collapse, the Mavericks defense was the reason they won the NBA championship.