In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks crashed the party on one of the most iconic bands in NBA history en route to their only championship.

Former Mavs’ guard Jason “The Jet” Terry relived the team’s postseason run from 15 years ago on a recent Bleacher Report podcast, and he had some thoughts on the Miami Heat team that included LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The 19-year NBA veteran said the Mavericks used the preseason hype created by Miami’s “Big 3” as motivation when they faced off in the Finals.  

“These guys, I guess they called them the ‘Heatles’ or something. They were doing victory tours before they even played one game. You’ve never seen that type of energy from a team that hadn’t accomplished anything,” Terry said.

“So, as we watched that play out that summer when they were putting it together, that was all the motivation we all needed. If we happen to show up and play against them in the Finals, we’re going to see who comes out on top.”

Terry recounted the first two games of the series, saying the Mavs dug deep to pull out a 95-93 win in Game 2 after watching Wade and James celebrate earlier in the contest. When the series moved back to Miami for a potential clincher for Dallas, “The Jet” said he organized a group outfit to help galvanize his teammates.  

“There there would be no game seven. I’ll tell you that. Not from this group.  I’d played in three or four game sevens already myself at this point in my career, and understanding that anything [can happen]. So when you have the opportunity to put the kill shot in, you have to go for the dagger,” Terry said.

“And our mentality was we’re going to all come dressed in black. It’s going to be black suits, black shoes, black everything. We’re going to treat this like a funeral, and it’s not going to be ours.”

After Dirk Nowitzki got off to a slow start, Terry and DeShawn Stevenson provided the Mavericks with a boost off the bench. The Mavs’ all-time leading scorer found his rhythm in the second half, however, and the rest is history.

“The road was shaky, but I came in, and DeShawn Stevenson hit some big shots to kind of stabilize us and buy Dirk some time to get over the emotions of the game,” Terry said.

“And then in the second half, he turned it on quick, and it was over after that.”