NBA Finals 2011: Can Dallas Mavericks vs Miami Heat Really End in Game 6?

The 2011 NBA Finals can end Sunday night if the Dallas Mavericks are able to pull off the impossible and win three straight postseason games over LeBron James', Dwyane Wade's and Chris Bosh's Miami Heat super team.

If the three stars of South Beach can muster up enough talent to win and tie the series, a Game 7 there will be.

Sure, it's not Boston Celtics vs L.A. Lakers, but this series has the star power and storylines to go the distance; it has to.

It began before the ball was even tipped. The rematch of 2006, a series that saw Nowitzki's Mavericks blow a 2-0 series lead to lose in six.

Or was it Wade's Heat team fooling referees into allowing him to shoot nearly 100 free throws in that series which ultimately proved too much for Dallas?

Either way you look at it, Miami won, and the series haunts Nowitzki and teammate Jason Terry to this day.

That was five years ago, and fortunately for Pat Riley's Heat team, LeBron James was not on the roster.

Whatever way these Finals conclude, Dallas in six seems too good to be true for NBA fans.

Could Dirk Nowitzki really go all "Dwyane Wade" on Miami five years later to overcome a 2-1 series deficit by winning three consecutive games including the clinching-game on the road in South Beach?

It seemed unlikely just one week ago, but that was before we all became witnesses to LeBron James, the bad LeBron James.

Odds are unless you are a Miami Heat fan, you are rooting for the Mavericks in this series. You don't care whether they win in six or seven, so long as the Heat lose.

It's "The Decision," the arrogance and the tired celebration after knocking out the Celtics in the second round that sticks out for most fans.

The fuel Miami adds to its own fire might just catch up with them in their most important series.

Though something tells me Miami is due for some momentum after coughing up two potential wins in Dallas.

If Miami could really close games, the series would have been over in four. Instead, Dallas has put on a fourth-quarter clinic in their three series wins.

However, the bottom line remains as follows. The Mavericks will have to beat the Heat at home in an elimination game with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James on the court.

Dallas will have to earn the franchise's first NBA title that's for sure.  

Patrick Clarke is a Featured Columnist for the Phoenix Suns and a student at Towson University.