Dirk Nowitzki needs scoring help and he knows teammate Jason Terry has yet to deliver in the NBA Finals.Terry, the Dallas Mavericks' charismatic sixth man who likes to bust out his arms like airplane wings after he makes 3-pointers and prides himself on cold-blooded shooting in the clutch, has found little breathing room with Miami Heat forward LeBron James shutting him out of the late-game offense.
"They keep sticking him [James] on Jet in the fourth quarters and he's been doing a good job," Nowitzki said. "Jet hasn't really been a crunch-time, clutch player for us the way we need him to."
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Terry is a combined 0-of-7 in the fourth quarters of the Mavericks' two losses in the NBA Finals.
"They know to take me out of the fourth quarter, which they didn't do in Game 2," Terry said of the Heat's choice to turn to James defensively, "then they got a good chance."
Added Terry: "Let's see if [James] can defend me like that for seven games."
During the regular season, Nowitzki and Terry ranked at the top of the league with James and Dwyane Wade as the best fourth-quarter scoring duo. Nowitzki has held up his end, but the 6-foot-2 Terry has struggled in late-game situations throughout the postseason and mightily so against the 6-foot-8 James.
In the final 4:14 of Game 3, Terry missed a 3-point attempt, botched a driving layup and couldn't hit a go-ahead jumper from the baseline with 58.9 seconds to play.
"I had two opportunities," Terry said. "One in the corner for 3, LeBron closed out. The other one in the right corner, LeBron closed out again, didn't get enough air under it.
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Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=6632035
This is why you need elite players to get that championship. No one locks down Melo or Nowitski.
Someone please inform Terry that Lebron needs to defend him for only 4 games. Thanks 