Fahrenheit 102

Scottie Pippen would not want to use tonight's game as evidence in the trial of LeBron vs. Jordan. Because while Dirk Nowitzki was battling a 102 degree fever, LeBron James went 3-11 from the field for a grand total of 8 points on a night in which all the Heat needed to prevail would have been some semblance of the artist known as "King James". The fact that Dallas could survive a, relatively speaking, poor night from Dirk and still come out on top goes to show that this baby ain't even close to over yet. Because I'll tell you right now there's about a 0% chance Dirk shoots 6-19 again with zero makes from downtown.

What more can you say about Dirk? The guys a warrior in every sense of the term, the exact kind of player you want leading a franchise, a true team player, the kind of guy you want your daughter to marry. He's battling 102 degree fevers and playing in NBA championships. I'm battling 102 fevers and calling in sick to ProSports. He knows this could well be his last chance to get the coveted ring, and will leave everything he has on the floor to ensure he gets it. He's the anti-LeBron. He could've bolted Dallas to form a glorified street-ball team somewhere, but the thought never even entered his mind. You can tell he's never been more focused on getting the job done.

Obviously, tonight's effort by Dirk doesn't quite matchup with Jordan's "Flu Game" in terms of battling illnesses, as MJ dropped 38 on Utah in Game 5 of the '97 Finals. But it's a helluva lot gutsier than Chris Bosh getting poked in the high early in Game 3 only to make the game-winning shot with 38 seconds still on the clock. The amount of coverage that garnered on SportsCenter was sickening. You'd think they were talking about Willis Reed in the present tense.

In essence, Game 5 is a winner-take-all game. While I'm positive Dallas can win one in Miami, I'm almost equally positive they couldn't sweep Game's 6 and 7. So Thursday night will surely determine who's hosting the Larry O'Brien trophy next week.