Gaming News - June 2006

Redwood City, CA (June 7, 2006) - EA today announced that the Dallas Mavericks will capture their first NBA championship by defeating the Miami Heat in seven games in after an NBA Live videogame simulation of the NBA Finals.

From EA:

Using NBA LIVE to predict the winner of the NBA Finals, Dallas will win its first NBA title in franchise history after forward Dirk Nowitzki grabs an offensive rebound and scores on a dunk to give the Mavericks a series-clinching 90-88 win over the Heat in Game 7.

Nowitzki was named Finals MVP after averaging 25.3 points and 10 rebounds a game in the series. In the decisive seventh game Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points and 11 rebounds but it was his heroics on the team’s final possession that won the championship. It was his second game-winning shot of the series. Teammate Jerry Stackhouse chipped in with 18 points.

Miami guard Dwyane Wade had 29 points and nine assists and forward Antoine Walker scored 19 points and pulled down five rebounds in a losing effort in Game 7.

After splitting the first two game of the series in Dallas, the Mavericks won games three and four against the Heat on their home court to go up three games to one before Miami came storming back. Shaquille O’Neal had a series-high 28 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to propel the Heat to an 87-84 victory in Game 6 that forced a seventh game. Miami also won the fifth game 93-81 after Walker hit six-of-10 three-pointers for a team-high 22 points.

The teams split the first two games of the series with Dallas winning the opener 97-90 and Miami taking Game 2 with a 101-97 overtime win. Dallas won the third game, 93-90, and the fourth game, 102-101 in overtime, after Nowitzki hit a game-winning shot as time expired.