Good Medicine

"Treating a fever includes several remedies,"  according to WebMd, "none more important than rest....The patient should remain in an air conditioned room to keep body temperature down and avoid strenuous physical activity until  fever subsides." For a player and team who have been labeled soft for the greater part of the past decade, strenuous physical activity is exactly what Dirk and the Mavs needed the night of the must-win Game 4.

On a night when Dirk's game was ice cold, for his standards at least, and his body temperature was a scolding 101 degrees, the Mavs found themselves once again down by a substantial margin in the waining minutes of a playoff game. How could this happen to the Mavs? The biggest game in franchise history and the greatest player in franchise history was sick...it just isn't fair!

However, with the help of his teammates and a vicious seven and a half minute "dog-it up" effort on defense where the Mavs held Miami to two points, Dirk and the Mavs found themselves up by one point with 17 seconds left.  Everyone who was watching the game knew what was coming next. Win or lose, the Mavs figured to ride the horse that had brought them this far despite Dirk's current 1 for 5 field goal mark thus far in the fourth quarter.

Dirk catches the ball at the top of the arc, right where had caught it in end-of-game situations in both Game 2 and 3, back to the basket, being guarded by the "Dirk Stopper" Udonis Haslem. It is as if Eric Spoelstra was playing doctor because single coverage was all the medicine Dirk needed to flip the switch. With the game hanging in the balance, it was suddenly Dirk's blood that was ice cold, not his game which consequently became boiling hot. As Dirk wheezed to catch his breath, his drive to the basket and right handed layup proved to be Miami's last.

"Common causes of becoming sick include...overworking the body or mind for an extended amount of time," reads WebMd, and for a man who has carried the yoke of this team not only through this year and playoff run, but through the 12 years of his time in Dallas, it is easy to see why Dirk had the fever last night. However, what should be taken away from Game 4 is not the fact that Dirk battled through a fever to hit what was essentially the game clinching shot, though impressive, what should be taken away is that the Mavs, as a team, just got one win closer to achieving their ultimate goal, and that my friends, is some good medicine.