In a second half--33 points, 9-of-13 from the floor, 3-of-3 from 3-point range, 12-of-12 from the free-throw line, eight rebounds--that will surely go down as one of the greatest in NBA playoff history, Dirk not only willed his team to victory in Game 5, he pushed the Mavs within 48 minutes of the NBA Finals, the closest they've been since 1988. Not only that--and, yeah, we're getting ahead of ourselves--but if the Mavs close out the Suns in Saturday's Game 6 or Monday's Game 7 and the Miami Heat finish off the Detroit Pistons, Dallas will have home-court advantage in the finals against a Heat team it destroyed at the American Airlines Center back in February. So, thanks to Dirk, get your parade maps out. --Richie Whitt