Mavs vs. Heat rematch next year?

This year’s Finals was awesome with 3 of the best players in the league, Dirk came out on top with his deeper Mavs team winning the championship.  If the Mavs can resign everyone (or close to everyone) they will the be favorites to come out of the West with the Thunder, Lakers, and Grizzlies giving them a good run for their money. 

Out east, the Bulls will be better but the Heat’s Big Three should be more comfortable playing together, Chalmers will be better, and Haslem and Miller will hopefully be healthier.  I like the Bulls a lot but I don’t think they matchup well with Miami.  Bosh kills Boozer, Noah can’t really score a ton against Joel Anthony and the other Heat centers, Wade gets his points, and LeBron can shut down Derrick Rose and then give the Bulls fits on offense.  Off the bench, the Bulls don’t really have a lot of scoring threats and Udonis Haslem neutralizes Taj Gibson (the Bull’s best bench player).  A playoff battle between Chicago and Miami next year should be even more competitive and could go seven games but I see the Heat winning.  I think the Bulls are kind of like a poor man’s Heat.  a Big Three (Rose, Deng, Boozer) with some solid defensive type guys in the rotation with Noah, Bogans, and Brewer who don’t really shoot that great and can’t create their own shot.  Then off the bench they have an active power forward who can score some, rebound some, and defend some (Gibson) who brings great energy, then a guy who can hurt the other team if his shot is on (Korver vs. Mike Miller & James Jones) but is a liability if he is cold.

I think the Mavs will still be deeper than the Heat next year, and Dirk will be a more polished player on offense than LeBron and a better pure shooter than Wade.  But both teams are still better than the rest of the contenders. 

If they have a rematch next year I expect another good series that goes six or seven games.  If LeBron is the best guy on the court then the Heat will win.  If Dirk is the best guy on the court then the Mavs will win.  Bosh is a tough guy to guard for the Mavs so he will have another good series against them.  For Wade it will be about getting good shots within the flow of the game.  If LeBron, Wade, Bosh, and Chalmers can combine for 85 points a game against the Mavs next year then the Heat will win (LeBron at 25 or more, Wade with 25, Bosh with 20, and Chalmers with around 1 with some role players scoring a few points here and there). 

This year the Mavs role players really helped.  In the series final Jason Terry had a career game, Barea had his best game in the playoffs, Stevenson hit three 3 pointers off the bench in only 12 minutes in an incredibly efficient scoring output with the biggest shots of his career, and Brian Cardinal played the best 12 minutes of his life.  Then after a horrible first half, Dirk had a big second half with 18 points including 10 in the final frame.  Kidd played great with 9-8-4, Marion played another good game with 12 points and 4 boards, and Tyson Chandler chipped in with 5 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals including a monster alley-oop dunk from a Barea pass.  Those three guys aren’t getting any younger.  Even Mahinmi played well with a few points and rebounds including a buzzer beater jumper to end the 3rd quarter.  So basically the Mavs beat the Heat in game 6 with an EPIC game from Jason Terry off the bench, a VINTAGE second half from Dirk, very solid performances from 3 aging vets, plus they got the playoff performances of Barea’s, Stevenson’s, Cardinal’s, and Mahinmi’s lives.  Oh, and LeBron had an atrocious plus/minus, Wade was relatively quiet on offense with 6-16 shooting, and they only got 20 points off the bench.