Mavericks win first NBA championship

MIAMI -- For Dirk Nowitzki, the resume is complete. He's an NBA champion.

For LeBron James, the agonizing wait continues for at least one more year.

Avenging what happened five years ago in perfect turnabout style, the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of these Finals in Miami, 105-95, last night -- celebrating on the Heat's home floor, just as Dwyane Wade and his team did to them in the 2006 title series.

"Tonight," Jason Terry said after leading Dallas with 27 points, "we got vindication."

"We worked so hard and so long for it," said Nowitzki, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds and was named MVP of the Finals. "The team has had an unbelievable ride."

J.J. Barea had 15 points and five assists and Jason Kidd nine points and eight assists as the Mavericks won four of the series' last five games.

James scored 21 points, Chris Bosh 19, Mario Chalmers 18 and Wade 17 for the Heat.

"It goes without saying," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "You're never really prepared for a moment like this . . . Neither team deserved this championship more than the other, but Dallas earned it."

Make no mistake: Miami lost the Finals, but the blame will be directed at James.

"It doesn't weigh on me," James said. "At all . . . It was a failure in '07 when we lost to the Spurs when I was in Cleveland. It's a failure now.

"It hurts. Of course. I'm not going to hang my head low. I know how much work as a team we put into it."

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert reveled in the moment on Twitter Saturday night. "Mavs NEVER stopped & now entire franchise gets rings," Gilbert wrote. "Old Lesson for all: There are NO SHORTCUTS. NONE."

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle joined a highly elite group, those with NBA titles as both a player and a head coach. Only 10 other men are on that list, including the presumably retired-for-good Phil Jackson, one of Carlisle's mentors in K.C. Jones, and Heat president Pat Riley -- who led Miami past Dallas in 2006, and was the mastermind behind what the Heat did last summer by getting James, Wade and Bosh on the same team.

Carlisle said Riley came down to congratulate the Mavericks after the game, showing "unbelievable class." "Their time will come," Carlisle said. "But now, it's our time.

"This is a true team. This is an old bunch. We don't run fast or jump high. These guys had each other's backs. We played the right way. We trusted the pass. This is a phenomenal thing for the city of Dallas."

Dallas took control in the second half after some wild back-and-forths in the opening two quarters. Miami took its last lead of the game -- and the season -- just 64 seconds into the second half, lost it 16 seconds later and chased the Mavericks the rest of the way.

They never caught them.

Nowitzki sealed it with 2:27 left, hitting a jumper near the Miami bench to put Dallas up 99-89, and some fans actually began leaving.

Nowitzki shot 9-for-27, and the Mavs still won. He was 1-for-12 in the first half, and they were still ahead 53-51 thanks largely to Terry's 19 points and 8-for-10 shooting.

Kidd, at 38 years old, got his first championship. Nowitzki got his first at 32, Terry at 33.

"I can't believe the journey," said Kidd, who lost two previous finals trips with the Nets. "The journey, the character of my teammates telling me they wanted to get me a championship. Tonight, they came out and played well. I came here twice, this being my third time, so the third time was the lucky charm."