Chandler Answers Call In Game Two

For the Dallas Mavericks’ Tyson Chandler, the 36-or-so hours between Games 1 and 2 of the NBA Finals crawled by at the pace of molasses. Chandler was ready to redeem himself after a poor performance that saw the Mavs’ starting center grab a playoffs-low four rebounds and nine points over 33 minutes on the floor, a span shortened by some early foul trouble.

On Thursday, Chandler did just that, getting highly involved on both ends early and often, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds over 38 minutes in the Mavericks comeback Game Two victory.

"I just said, I don’t care what my stats end up, I’m just going to give everything I've got," Chandler said, per ESPN Dallas. "I'm going to leave it out on the floor, and there’s no way I’m walking out of this game with any disappointment. That was the longest day-and-a-half ever. I has happy to get back on this floor."

Chandler also played a crucial role in one of the most pivotal offensive plays down the stretch, setting the screen that freed Dirk Nowitzki to hit the go-ahead three-pointer to make it 103-100 with less than a minute left.

"Tyson has been our MVP defensively all season long," Nowitzki said afterward. "He's covered a lot of ground for us. We did a better job I thought of pick-and-roll coverage. He really stepped out there, impacted the ball. We were still able to recover back some and scramble."