By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Alba Berlin touched a miracle on Saturday night, but Dallas Mavericks at the end prevailed (89-84). It wasn’t an easy night for the Mavs in Germany with Dirk Nowitzki scoring just 8 points on 3/9 shots. However, the German superstar made two free throws which sealed the final outcome in the last minute.
Vince Carter, Darren Collison and Chris Kaman had 14 points each, Shawn Marion added 12 points and 11 rebounds, but Alba, a team participating via wild card in Euroleague, stayed into the game until the last minute, behind 20 points of former NCAA champion as a member of North Carolina, Deon Thompson.
It has to be noted that the season has already started in German league for Alba, while that was just the first preseason game for Dallas. It has also to be said that Alba is considered by far the weakest European team participating in NBA Europe Live and nobody expected this game to be so competitive. Plus, Mavs’ Rodrigue Beaubois injured his ankle in the third quarter and that made the mood of Dallas even heavier.
Before the game Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu and NBA commissioner David Stern gave a joint press conference, with both of them emphasizing the importance of Germany as an emerging basketball market. It’s not a secret that Alba, which made it just to the German league’s play offs quarterfinals last season, got the Euroleague wildcard due to the German’s market importance in future growth of the competitions.