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| The Dallas Mavericks are now the NBA Western Conference Champions |
The Dallas Mavericks have booked a spot in the NBA Finals after making another late-game surge to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 100-96 in Dallas.
The victory completed a 4-1 Western Conference Finals series victory. The Mavericks will play either Miami or Chicago in the NBA Finals. Miami is currently leading that series 3-1.
Dirk Nowitzki powered hit a crucial three-pointer with 1:14 remaining and team-mate Shawn Marion followed it up with a basket and a foul, resulting in a three-point play. The Mavericks wiped away a six-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining.
Dallas ended the game on a 14-4 scoring run and came back twice from eight-point deficits in the final minutes to win.
The comeback win was a mirror image of their game-four comeback win, the Mavs came back from 15 points behind with five minutes left to win in overtime.
Dallas has not won an NBA title in its franchise history and nor have any of the team’s current players for other clubs.
Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry were part of the only Dallas team to reach the NBA Finals series in 2006. They led Miami 2-0 in that series, but ended up losing to the Heat in six games. This year the two teams may well come up against each other again in the Finals but Dallas will be hoping for a different result.
Nowitzki and Marion both scored 26 points and both delivered when it counted in the fourth quarter.
Nowitzki scored nine points in the final quarter, and Marion had 15. J.J. Barea added 14 off the bench, Terry scored 12 points and Jason Kidd had 10 assists and seven rebounds.
The Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook scored 31 points as he tried to send the series back to Oklahoma City, but he also had two key turnovers late in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant and James Harden finished with 23 points apiece for Oklahoma City, who lost three games in a row for just the second time this season.
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