DALLAS — For much of his career, Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki has been an enigma.

Despite his bountiful talent and deadly shooting touch, this 7-foot native of Wurzburg, Germany, has been considered soft, lacking a killer instinct.

He has won an MVP award but not the NBA Finals.

New Orleans Hornets fans will remember the infamous face-to-face confrontation with David West in the 2008 playoffs when West forcefully tapped two fingers on Nowitzki’s face and Nowitzki made no attempt at any sort of retribution.

New Orleans eliminated the Mavs in five games, which led Dallas to fire Avery Johnson as coach and bring in Rick Carlisle.

But now in these Finals, Nowitzki has transformed from marshmallow to granite, almost single-handedly leading Dallas to a pair of victories, one in Game 4 on Tuesday night with his body ravaged by flu symptoms, a sinus infection and a 101-degree fever.

He’s also playing with a torn tendon in his left middle finger.

And he scored the Mavs’ last 12 points in Game 3 only to see his team come up two short of a victory.

No one is questioning his toughness anymore.

“He’s one of the greatest ever,” said Carlisle. “He wants the ball and he wants the responsibility of winning and losing the game. We make every effort to put him in those situations.”

Nowitzki’s driving layup, with his injured left hand, in Game 2 was the difference between winning and losing, and his layup with his right hand with 14.4 seconds to go in Game 4 put Dallas ahead 84-81 in what would become an 86-83 victory.

When it became evident Tuesday that Nowitzki was under the weather, his teammates were unconcerned.

“We knew he was going to play,” said DeShawn Stevenson. “He’s a soldier. He’s our franchise player, and we go through him. Him being out there with a fever said a lot, in the Finals especially, with his finger messed up. He’s a tough player.”

Finally, Nowitzki is being described as “tough.”

“He’s a competitor,” said guard Jason Kidd. “He loves this time of the year. He’s a guy that plays with bumps and bruises and never complains. Just goes out there and does his job. That rubs off on everybody.”

Two days of relative rest left Nowitzki almost cured and ready for action in Game 5, a game the Mavs were treating as though it was the finale in the best-of-seven series.

“You don’t want to give them two chances to close it out at home, so this is our Game 7 and the last home game for this year in this building,” Nowitzki said at the Mavs’ Thursday morning shootaround at American Airlines Center. “It should be a great atmosphere, and hopefully we can pull it out.”

Nowitzki downplayed the significance of his own ailments and those of his teammates — Brendan Haywood’s strained right hip flexor, and a late-game calf problem for Shawn Marion in Game 4 — as results of the calendar.

Haywood was inactive Thursday night, as he was in Game 3.

“I’ve said it all series long,” Nowitzki said, “that I think everybody’s banged up at this point. It’s June. We’ve played eight, nine months of competitive basketball. We’ve got to grind it out. We’ve got a week left or something in this season and ultimately to win the NBA championship — which obviously you don’t get enough chances to play at this stage — we’ve got to forget all about this and just leave it all out there.”

CHECKING OUT COMMENTS: Heat guard Dwyane Wade said he thinks this week’s chatter from certain members of the Mavericks could provide a helpful assist and be the antidote LeBron James needs to fix his ailing game.

“He doesn’t need it,” Wade said, “but it adds fuel to the fire. We appreciate Dallas for that. Even if (James) had lost focus, he was going to get it back. But we appreciate the words that are coming out of their mouths.

“LeBron obviously wants to play better, but it’s not always about the scoring aspect. It’s just about playing better overall.”

James was held to eight points in Game 4, the first time in his career he’s failed to crack double figures in scoring in a postseason game, and the first time in any game since the 2007 season.

CLOSE GAMES: The last time the first four games of the NBA Finals were decided by less than 15 points was 1969, when the Celtics beat the Lakers in Bill Russell’s last Finals appearance. The average margin then was 12.

The average margin of victory in the first four games of this series is 3.8 points.

Jimmy Smith can be reached at jsmith@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3814.

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DALLAS – Led by eight fourth-quarter points from Jason Terry, including the game-clinching free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 86-83 to tie the NBA Finals at 2-2.

The Mavs were paced by 21 points from Dirk Nowitzki, but had four other players in double figures, including Terry’s 17.

Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 32 and Chris Bosh added 24 for the Heat.

LeBron James finished with just eight points and did not score in the fourth quarter.

Third quarter

The Miami Heat used an 8-1 run to close out the third quarter and lead the Dallas Mavericks 69-65 heading into the fourth.

Dwyane Wade has 25 for Miami while Shawn Marion has 16 to lead the Mavs.

Chris Bosh has scored 22 for Miami but LeBron James has only eight.

Second quarter

Led by 16 points from forward Chris Bosh, the Miami Heat lead the Dallas Mavericks 47-45 at halftime.

The Mavericks are getting balanced scoring throughout their lineup, for a change, led by DeShawn Stevenson who has 11 off the bench, including three 3-point shots.

First quarter

Despite shooting just 29 percent from the field, the Miami Heat is tied with the Dallas Mavericks 21-21 after one quarter.

The Heat has shot nine free throws.

Jason Terry has seven points off the bench to lead Dallas, while Dwyane Wade has six for the Heat.

Pregame

Though he declined to confirm speculation in pregame comments, Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle apparently will change his starting lineup for Game 4 tonight, going with J.J. Barea at the starting two-guard in place of DeShawn Stevenson against the Miami Heat.

Stevenson has been ineffective offensively and the Mavs have struggled to find a scoring complement to forward Dirk Nowitzki.

Carlisle said he’d release his lineup 15 minutes before tip off, but Stevenson was telling reporters in the pre-game dressing room that Barea would start.

Brendan Haywood will be active tonight for the Mavs after missing Game 3 because of a hip flexor strain.

Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra said any Dallas lineup changes would not affect his starting lineup or rotation Tuesday night.

The Heat lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.

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Jun 7, 2011 – Dirk Nowitzki has written a textbook on comebacks throughout the NBA Playoffs, but for the first time the Dallas Mavericks need a series comeback in the 2011 NBA Finals. The Mavericks, after splitting two in South Beach, fell in Game 3 against the Miami Heat on Sunday, putting Dallas in a precarious position. One more Miami win in Big D in the next two games would give the Heat two chances to close out the championship at home.

In other words, Dallas can survive losing one of the three games scheduled in Texas, but it can’t drop two and reasonably hope to survive. That makes Game 4 on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET, ABC) critical, obviously. All Finals games are critical — it’s the Finals, after all! — but this is where the series hinges on dogfight or desperation.

The Heat defense proved too much to handle for every Maverick but Dirk in Game 3; Nowitzki had a marvelous second half, but got little offensive help and missed a potential game-typing jumper in the closing seconds to hand Miami the win. On the other end, Dallas has played solid defense itself, but has no long-term solution for Dwyane Wade, who has been a killer. DeShawn Stevenson is the preferred defender on Wade, but he’s a minus offensively against normal teams, let alone Miami. That leaves Jason Terry, J.J. Barea or Jason Kidd on Wade. Good luck.

Chris Bosh hit the Game 3 winner for Miami despite a poked eye; he said Monday he feels OK and his vision hasn’t been affected. Brendan Haywood, however, may miss action due to a hip injury. That malady opened the door for seldom-used Frenchman Ian Mahinmi, who suffered the indignity of being crushed by LeBron James on a dunk.

Be sure to see our 2011 NBA Finals hub for full series coverage. For more on the Heat, visit Peninsula Is Mightier. For more on the Mavericks, visit Mavs Moneyball and SB Nation Dallas.

Read More: Dirk Nowitzki (F – DAL), Dwyane Wade (G – MIA), Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks, Jun 7, 2011 9:00 PM EDT

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Read More: Tyson Chandler (C – DAL), Brendan Haywood (C – DAL), Ian Mahinmi (C – DAL), Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat

The Dallas Mavericks will likely be without reserve center Brendan Haywood when they play the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the 2011 NBA Finals on Sunday night. He is listed as a game-time decision with a strained hip flexor, but the team will prepare as though he will not see the court.

How will the Mavericks compensate if Haywood is unable to play? The 6-foot-11 Ian Mahinmi could see extensive time as Tyson Chandler’s backup, but he averaged less than nine minutes per game in the regular season and 3.1 points. In the postseason, he’s played in just three games.

The alternative is playing with a smaller lineup, but SB Nation Dallas points out what happened to the Mavericks when they did that in Game 2:

[...] the last stretch during which Dallas went without a center was the early part of the fourth quarter in Game two. They found the lead stretched from four to 15 points during those five minutes. They went back to Chandler and immediately began their comeback.

A smaller lineup or the untested Mahinmi, the Mavericks will need someone to step up on defense when Chandler is on the bench.

For full series coverage, check out our Heat vs. Mavericks hub. For more on the Heat, visit Peninsula Is Mightier. For more on the Mavericks, visit Mavs Moneyball and SB Nation Dallas.

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