Per Boston Herald:
Just a few weeks ago, we were all talking about J.J. Barea because we learned he was dating Miss Universe 2006, the lovely Zuleyka Rivera.
Now, we’re talking about his skills on the basketball court.
Barea, like Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, is playing his best basketball of the season. The difference, of course, is that we expect Dirk and Jet to be among the Mavericks’ best players.
But J.J.? C’mon, get serious.
We’re talking about a 5-10 backup point guard who rarely plays more than 20 minutes a game. These days, Barea is one of the key reasons the Mavs are three wins from reaching the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history.
He scored 21 points in 16 scintillating minutes against Oklahoma City in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. He scored 12 consecutive points during a four-minute stretch on layups, jumpers and 3-pointers as the Mavs stretched their lead from 92-81 to 104-89 with about seven minutes left.
How improbable is that?
J.J. (bleeping) Barea. Go figure. If we hadn’t seen it, none of us would believe it.
If you think about it, though, Barea’s Game 1 performance wasn’t much different from the string of terrific performances he had in the Mavs’ improbable four-game sweep of the Lakers.
Barea averaged 11.5 points with 22 assists and four turnovers, primarily against Derek Fisher and Steve Blake.
He scored a playoff career-high 22 points against the Lakers in Game 4. FYI: He scored at least 20 points just five times this season.
The Lakers matchup favored Barea, and so does the Oklahoma City matchup because the Thunder’s backup point guard, Eric Maynor, doesn’t overwhelm him physically like Portland’s point guards did in the Mavs’ first playoff series.
Still, let’s not lose sight of Barea’s biggest contribution: He makes sure 38-year-old Jason Kidd is rested for crunch time.
With Barea playing so well, coach Rick Carlisle doesn’t have to stretch Kidd’s minutes, which means Kidd’s fresh enough to guard Kobe Bryant or Russell Westbrook — even Kevin Durant — for four or five minutes at the end of halves or games.
Barea often plays the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Carlisle can play Barea liberally, because the five-year veteran, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, has found a perfect rhythm to his game.
He’s mastered the high pick-and-roll, especially with Dirk.
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