NOV 1, 2011 - THE SEASON THAT WASNT

(with the Lockout at least a month away, NBA addicts are searching for anything to feed our craving. My outlet is to create the 2011-2012 NBA Season, at least the way I see it. Clearly, this tells you how much of a life I have.  Every night we will have a feature "Game of the Night" with the game recap of the night's intriguing most intriguing matchup. Yes its a fake season but its all we got as G Money said)

Game 1  Chicago @ Dallas- American Airlines Center

A sold-out AAC came to witness "Ring Night" as the 2011 NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks received their NBA championship rings. Cowboy greats Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, and Nate Newton were in the house as Dirk and Company received the hardware. The Chicago Bulls were the opposition and were not happy about being the "Ring Night" opponent despite their 62-20 record. There was a feel of disrespect among the players and they came out ready. Derrick Rose took advantage of the older, slower Jason Kidd scoring the game's first 8 points causing Rick Carisle to use an early timeout. The Mavericks responded with a 14-4 run fueled by Deshawn Stevenson 's three point shooting and defense. The first quarter set the tone as the the teams ended it tied at 24.  The second quarter began with Kyle Korver knocking down two quick three point field goals as part of a 11-5 run  but Dallas responded behind the Roddy Beaubois, now stepping into JJ Berea's role, to put on a 14-2 run of their own to lead by six.  Rose , re-entered the fray and quickly scored tweleve points in the quarter to finish with 20 in the first half as the Bulls led at the break  50-47.

The game remained closely contested through the third quarter. Carlos Boozer, fighting off early foul trouble, asserted himself against Dirk scoring seven of his 12 points during the third quarter. Noah still unable to find the touch offensively , grabbed six rebounds in the quarter and the Bulls led by six at the end of three  77-71. The fourth quarter began with a Dallas run fueled by the Beaubois. Rowdy Roddy dropped seven quick points , finishing with 20 off the bench as Dallas took a two point lead early in the fourth. Rose returned to hit two quick jump shots to put the Bulls back in front. The game see-sawed back and forth as the teams exchanged big shots and tough defense. Dirk had an off shooting night but hit a tough fallaway with a minute left to give the Mavericks a 95-94 lead.  Nowitzki finished with 23 points to lead the Mavericks but shot just 10-27 from the field. After a Rose turnover, the Mavericks appeared to have the game in hand when the wily veteran Kidd knocked in a three pointer with 39 seconds to play to extend the Mavs lead to four at 98-94.  Rose pushed the pace and found Korver for his fourth three to make it  98-97 Mavericks with 28 seconds left.  The Bulls elected to play the clock and trust their defense and they were rewarded when Jason Terry stepped out of bounds with 8 seconds left to play. After calling a timeout, the Bulls put the ball in the hands of the MVP . Rose exploded past Stevenson but his runner banged off the back rim but Joakim Noah was able to get a hand on it and guided it back in with 0.4 seconds left. Dallas was unable to get a shot off and the Bulls earned their first victory:

MVP VS MVP
Derrick Rose- 32 points, 7 assists,  12-22 fg

Dirk Nowitizki- 23 points, 9 reb   10-27 fg

The Other Guys
Kyle Korver  14 points , 5-7 fg, 4-5 3pt fg

Roddy Beaubois   20 points in 26 minutes

Other Scores

Houston   90, Utah  105

Oklahoma City  102, Los Angeles 110