With the way the NBA Finals have unfolded, who needs the NFL anyway?
In consecutive games, Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Bosh nailed huge open jumpers for the eventual winning teams, shots their teammates freed them to take with Clinton Portis-style blitz pickups — er, we mean, picks.
In Game 2, Tyson Chandler blew up Bosh, leaving Nowitzki to knock down a game-tying 3-pointer, and on Sunday in Game 3, Udonis Haslem did the same to Nowitzki, opening the door for Bosh’s baseline game-winner.
Maybe the locked out NBA players could run drills for locked out NFL players once the finals are over.
And the picks-turned-blocks aren’t the only instances in which the hardwood has started to look like the gridiron.
It’s as if the Heat have begun to take on the persona of the Pittsburgh Steelers on defense. As the series has progressed, Miami’s ruthless double-teaming has had the same effect as a blitz-heavy defense, to the point where simply the threat of an on-rushing defender can force an errant pass, as Nowitzki can attest after a cross-court heave into the seats late in the fourth quarter Sunday.
And if the Heat are the Steelers, then LeBron James is Troy Polamalu, always lurking on the back side, ready to pounce on the slightest mistake. At this point, a fast-break dunk might as well be a pick-six.
Not to be left out, the Mavericks’ defense, which is solid but also seems to lack the crucial ability to generate easy points, has its own NFL feel, too — sort of like the turnover-bare Redskins under Gregg Williams.
