NBA Finals - 40 Mavs Heat Game One Takeaways

40) If you miss the TNT crew, and are already dreading on spending the next four to seven games with Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, you are far from alone

39) ABC decided that in showing five jerseys in the opening sequence, that Jason Terry outranked Chris Bosh

38) In the first three minutes of this game, DeShawn Stevenson had more good moments than the last three weeks

37) No team inspires and participates in more early game rock fights than the Heat

36) To describe the first quarter as ragged would be an insult to rags

35) JJ Barea had LeBron James one-on-one and got a stop

34) Dallas shot 29% from the field in the first half and led, which is only possible when the opponent does that as well

33) The Mavs scored 12 points on threes in the first 13 minutes, and 8 points via any other method

32) The ABC/ESPN announcers give a lot of credit to basketball teams for doing any kind of basketball act, and if you play the "lot of credit" take a shot drinking game, you will die

31) The chance of us having a game where we don't have a discussion of the Heat's off-season antics is statistically insignificant

30) If you want to blame the NBA for the ragged first half from the ludicrously long break, feel free

29) For soul-crushing asides about the tragedies that various players are going through during actual real-live game action, you can't beat these announcers with a baseball bat until they are unconscious, though if you fantasize about that... um, perhaps I've said too much

28) Once again, the late-career renaissance of Shawn Marion is doing wonders for the Mavs

27) Brendan Haywood had his uncontested dunk blocked by the rim, and it didn't seem like he was surprised or unprepared for that moment

26) In JJ Barea, Chris Bosh finally found a guy whose shot he could block and be all kinds of tough on

25) If you aren't seeing much of a role for Peja Stojakovic in this series, you aren't alone

24) For most of the game, Marion was better than Dirk Nowitzki, which is never a good sign for Mavs Fan

23) The difference between LeBron James in this playoff and in past is that when he shoots a bad idea three this year, they go in anyway

22) At this point in his career, Juwan Howard should not be expected to get a shot off without it being blocked

21) There really isn't much purpose for the Heat to play the first three quarters, since the game will be crazy tight at that point anyway

20) James' make at the end of the third quarter was borderline inhuman, and becoming expected

19) It's a good thing these teams made some threes tonight, or this game would have been in the '60s

18) Absent a few early moments from Joel Anthony and a lot of dumb fouls from Tyson Chandler, no one would notice if neither of those teams started a real center

17) Just about every name player did something positive tonight, which is why the game didn't have a double-digit spread until late

16) Chandler is finding life (a lot) harder without Kendrick Perkins to abuse

15) Say this for the Heat stars: they don't seem to mind passing the ball, even to guys that don't share their pay grade

14) Jason Terry isn't a big enough star to draw a falling foul with 5:45 left in the game on the road

13) Udonis Haslem is living proof that you can, in fact, be too aggressive

12) The broadcast crew actually fellated Steve Javie, maybe because they were also afraid of getting an undeserved technical foul

11) Marion's three-point play in the block with four minutes left against Miller would have gotten you shivved in a prison game

10) Wade's shot block and three combo will be used by James haters to prove that he's still the Big Kahuna, as if such things matter to anyone but soap opera enthusiasts

9) Which is, of course, why James decided to top it with a fast-twitch dunk of rage that left the Mavs looking like statues

8) Dirk shooting is a heck of a lot better for Mavs Fan than Terry shooting

7) Give it up for Marion to not go into Hide Mode after the James slam; he made a stop on the next possession

6) Haslem's really not going to be able to thug up Dirk the way he did in the '06 Finals

5) How the Heat went from a team that could not protect a lead in the regular season to one that never gives one up is one of the more impressive switch moments in recent NBA history

4) Only Wade is smart enough to push for a fast break kill shot transition dunk late, rather than dribble around and give the Mavs a chance to reset

3) A Bosh dunk is quickly becoming the Heat's victory cigar moment... except, of course, for coup de grace alley oop moments that would be the subject of vengeance fouls in a more hard-edged age

2) Miami is now 9-0 at home in the playoffs, which means Dallas is doomed

1) We're just three more Heat wins away from the biggest case of It Ain't Bragging If You Back It Up in modern American sports history