I've mentioned The Basketball Karma Gods before in this here web log and have found it to be a pretty good indicator of future results. Most recently I said that Russell Westbrook's bitchyness would lead to a Thunder loss in the WCF and Carlos Boozer's rap would to lead to a Bulls loss in the ECF. Both Karma reads were correct.
I can't say that I knew about the now popular "LeBron and Wade Feigning Dirk Illness After Thursday Morning's pre-Game Shoot Around" before Game 5 tipped but when I saw it during the telecast I knew that it wasn't good for The Heat. The above video shows two Superstars making a dumb joke in the middle of the NBA Finals with the Series tied 2-2. BronWade are either:
1) using comedy to calm their nerves about a very important Game 5 later in the day
2) just being jerks and not focusing on Game 5 later in the day
Something tells me that Dirk hasn't thought or smiled at a joke since the playoffs began. I know that South Park has ruled that Germans are the most unfunny people in the world but I know I've seen Dirk joke around before and I know he will smile on the court. Just not in these playoffs. Steely-eyed unwavering determination (or maybe he's just still sick).
After re-watching the above video 9 times, I'm pretty certain that the answer on BronWade's joke is answer 2. The Larry O'Brien trophy isn't the main focus of their lives right now as basketball players in their absolute primes. They focus more or global icon status, sweet parties in South Beach, million dollar sponsorships and, of course, chicks. And this is why the Basketball Karma gods struck them down in Game 5.
Fellow Theta Chi Alum from The University of Purdue Brian Cardinal did his job filling in for Peja by throwing his body everywhere (therapusa chier, brother). T'was fun to watch! An attempted charge on Wade led to something called a "contusion" which I'm sure is just a smart word for "a bad bruise". This forced Wade to sit out many minutes of Game 5....which may have actually been a good thing, according to StatGeeks, since BronWadeBosh were a -14 last night when on the floor together. But it's tough to argue that Wade's absence didn't hurt the psyche of the Heat.
In LeBron's case I was thinking that he would come out in Game 5 with fury in an all out assault mode to prove "The Haters" wrong. He did notch a trip-dub becoming the 5th player in the last 25 years to attain this in a Finals loss. But Karma bit LeBron as well when it came to the 4th Quarter even though he tweeted "It's Now or Never" on the twatter:
Let's provide the trusty 4th Quarter comparison of Lebron v. Dirk in the Finals through Game 5:
James Nowitzki
Points: 11 52
FG: 4/16 13/27
FT: 3/3 27/27
REB: 10 15
Heck, even Jason Terry (with LBJ guarding him) has outscored LeBron 16-2 in the 4th Quarter of Games 4 and 5.
Karma most definitely caught up with the Heat. This is the logical conclusion, right? Speaking of logic, wasn't the world supposed to come to an end a few weeks back? I digress.
Game 5 was entertaining as all heck. Even Jeff Van Gundy called it "the best Finals game I've ever seen!!" which might be a bit of a stretch. The teams finally broke out of their offensive funks/getting dominated by awesome defense. Dirk scored 29 but it was really the small kids who made it happen for the Mavs. As TrueHoop points out:
"Jason Terry (21 points), JJ Barea (17) and Jason Kidd (13) each set series highs in points. According to Elias the trio of guards became the first set of teammates to each have 10 points, five assists and three 3-pointers in an NBA Finals game."
With 4:37 left in the game, the Mavs were down 4. They ended on a 17-4 run. The Mavs celebrated after their 3 point makes, much like the Heat prematurely celebrated in a Game 2 loss, and the craziest game of this Finals was in the books.
We are watching a superior team (Heat) lose to a pretty dang good team (Mavs). If the Heat can turn it on in Miami, they can still win the 'ship despite imperfect execution all throughout the season and the playoffs. Part of me wants them to figure it out and win in spite of themselves. But 98% of me loves the Mavs, their run, and the Dirk redemption tour of 2011. I can't wait for the articles that say "if the Mavs lose Game 6 it's over". Can't wait for Sunday.
