Nowitzki: Mavs just want to win

Photo by AP

LOS ANGELES—When the NBA Finals start in Miami on Tuesday (Wednesday morning in Manila), the Mavericks will become the latest team from Dallas to take on the so-called “Curse of the Crease” when they face the Heat in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.

For countless Dallas sports fans, the infamous jinx has cruelly dashed the title hopes of teams from the Texas city since the NHL’s Stars claimed their only Stanley Cup in 1999.

The Mavs have already ‘succumbed’ once to the curse and for only the second time since they were founded in 1980, they have reached the NBA finals where they will, once again, take on the Heat.

Five years ago, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks were seemingly on their way to their first championship rings after winning the first two games of the series at home and leading Miami by 13 points late in the third.

However, they lost that game along with the next three as Dwyane Wade took charge and Dallas had to wait five more seasons before booking their place in the 2010-11 championship series against the same opponents.

“It’s been a long stretch,” Nowitzki said after the Mavericks won the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals series, 4-1, over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“After the year we lost in the Finals, we came back, won almost 70 games, had a great season and lost in the first round (of the playoffs).”

It has certainly been a long wait for the Mavericks in their bid for NBA Championship glory since their formation as a franchise three decades ago.

German giant Nowitzki, the ninth overall pick at the 1998 Draft, joined the franchise from Milwaukee and, with Michael Finley and Steve Nash, formed a ‘Big Three’ that paved the way for the Mavericks to return to the playoffs in 2001.

Although Nash returned to the Phoenix Suns in 2004 and Finley was picked up off waivers by the San Antonio Spurs in 2005, the 7-foot Nowitzki has stayed on to help Dallas reach the postseason every year since.

“We’ve got a bunch of veterans who want to win and play off each other,” said Nowitzki.  “That’s what makes this group special, everybody sacrificing for each other.  We just want to win.”