Dallas gets first blood in the NBA Finals

Dirk was 4/14 from the field for 16 points. Josh Howard was 3/14 from the field for 10 points. But in the end, it didn't matter, as Dallas pulled out the stops defensively for a 90-80 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

With the score at 70-68 heading into the final frame, Dallas tightened up their D and held Miami to only 12 4th quarter points. Tey had built up an 82-72 lead and looked to be ready to bump it up to 12 when Jason Terry's dunk/layup missed, and 7-0 Miami run cut it down to a 3-point game, but it would get no closer. For more 4th quarter goodness, Give Me The Rock liveblogged it.

Despite the missed layup for Terry, he carried them offensively in Game 1, with 32 points on 13/18 shooting, including 4/7 from downtown. They also got a nice contribution off the bench from Jerry Stackhouse, who had 13.

For Miami, the story was missed FT and no help from the bench. On the FT part, only two Heat players took trips to the line, and they were Shaq (1/9) and Dwyane Wade (6/10). 7/19, 36.8%. That right there was more than the final margin. Off the bench, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning, and James Posey combined for 2 points in 49 minutes. And those 2 came from James Posey, who was 1/3 from the field. Uh yeah Shaq, looks like you're going to need a lot more than 17 points and 7 rebounds to win games here.

On a final note, I said my only complaint about the NBA Finals was that they were on ABC instead of ESPN, and apparently someone else agrees with me. From The Mighty MJD:

And I’d also like mention real quickly… if any of you find yourselves concerned about tuning in to the games early to catch some of ABC’s pre-game show… just don’t. Use that time to do something a little more informative and intelling, like heading to a nearby truckstop and reading the things that drunk truckers have scribbled on the urine-stained walls.

And on that note, Game 2 will be Sunday night in Dallas. Let's hope for a little more well-played game.