The NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks is anyone’s series.

That’s the best prediction to offer now that a positively odd Game 4 has been played — and won — by the Dallas Mavericks, 86-83. The story lines spawned by Tuesday’s game and what is now shaping up as a classic NBA Final are too numerous to keep track of.

Dallas was pretty much done after Game 1, remember? After they lost Game 3, in which it seemed like they had so many things falling into place nearly all the “experts” declared this finals over (I’m guilty too).

Then came Game 4 — a game in which Dirk Nowitzki played suffering from a fever of 101 degrees and went a very pedestrian 6-of-19 from the field. A game in which the Heat -once again led in the fourth quarter, a game in which Dwyane Wade again, played like a superstar, a game in which Chris Bosh stepped up and played well and a game that featured Jason Kidd go 0-for-3 from the field and finish with three assists and four turnovers.

Blowout right? Well as Lee Corso would say, “not so fast my friends”.

Kidd was bad and Dirk was human but the rest of the Dallas Mavericks came to play.

Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 16 rebounds, including nine on the offensive boards. Jason Terry had 17 points and three steals. Shawn Marion had 16 points and four boards and little Jose Juan Barea had eight points and four assists.

For as much all around balance and teamwork Dallas showed, Miami was the polar opposite. Yes, Wade had another big game with a game-high 32 points with two assists, two steals, two blocks and six rebounds but the pressure to do nearly everything on the floor may have impacted his play in the final minute when he missed a free throw to tie the game and fumbled an inbounds pass with six seconds left.

The fumble resulted in a broken play and missed desperation 3-pointer to try and tie the game.

Chris Bosh also came to play with 24 points and six boards. The rest of Miami, though? Bueller? Bueller? They did nothing.

LeBron wasn’t Kobe, Magic, Scottie or Jordan — he just looked like an oversized point guard with no shot. Constantly passing the ball, totally passive on the court and generally out-of-sync, LeBron was flat. That would have been somewhat acceptable had anyone else wearing a Heat uniform showed up to play last night. Without Bosh or Wade, the Heat scored only 27 points.

The other mystery that really needs to be addressed is the coaching. I’m not an Erik Spoelstra basher. In fact, I think he got a bit too much criticism earlier in the season when the Heat stumbled out of the gate.

Throughout the playoffs, this Mavericks team has played in a somewhat deliberate fashion. You know they are going to make a serious push in the fourth quarter, you know who the offense is centered around, you know who will take the big shots. The whole world knows it will be Dirk Nowitzki.

In Game 2 it was Dirk and he delivered, in Game 3 it was Dirk and he missed but he still got a decent shot off, and yes a fallaway jump shot from the free throw line counts as a decent shot for Dirk.

I understand the the single coverage by Haslem on Dirk worked in Game 3. Still, that strategy has failed more often than it’s worked. Over the course of these playoffs, teams have let Dirk have the ball in single coverage late in games and the Mavericks are still playing basketball. Dirk may have had a fever but the Mavericks were still feeding him the ball down the stretch. He wasn’t hitting all his shots but he was getting to the free throw line where he is as good as anyone in NBA history.

The scene was set: Mavs led by one, 30 seconds left in the game, Dallas ball. Dirk gets the ball near the free throw line and holds the ball to run down the clock. Where’s the double team?

There was plenty of time for it to get there. It never came, because it was never called, and the result was a Nowitzki score. If you were Miami, wouldn’t you prefer almost anyone in the entire world taking a shot in that situation besides Nowitzki? Has he not proven himself yet? Is there some sort of question in Coach Spoelstra’s mind as to wether or not he’s got the guts to take and make a big shot?? Why on earth would Miami allow single coverage on the man who is currently owning the title of “big shot maker” in these playoffs?

Scottie Brooks who won Coach of The Year in the NBA for the 2009-2010 season had the same strategy in the Western Conference Finals and Dirk absolutely torched the Thunder. The Heat play better defense than the Thunder but Dirk is Dirk. He’s not going to be stopped that often. I can understand not doubling him the whole game because Dirk is a decent passer and he will catch on and start getting the ball in the hands of Kidd, Terry, or Barea and those guys can make you pay.

But in that final minute, showing Dirk a different look, a defense he hasn’t encountered all game would seem like a decent idea. Spring a double team on him and maybe he gets rattled and turns it over, maybe he passes and someone else misses a shot or maybe he makes another amazing play and it’s all for naught. There’s no way to know what will happen but it seems like single coverage in that circumstance is getting very predictable.

This is now a best-of-three series and a seven-game thriller seems plausible. Don’t be shocked if James comes out like a man possessed on Thursday. Players of his caliber tend to bounce back quite well from inexplicably poor showings such as his Game 4 showing. A healthy Dirk should mean a better Dirk but how much more can this guy do?

It’s going to come down to this Dallas supporting cast. If guys like Chandler, Marion, and Terry continue to play well and Kidd bounces back off his own stinker, Dallas playing it’s final home game will be very tough to beat. If those guys have off nights, though, Miami will probably eek out another tough win on the road.

The pressure to perform in Game 5 has shifted and it’s not really on Miami or Dallas anymore. It now rests on the broad shoulders of LeBron James. If he plays another soft game and Miami loses, legitimate questions will start to be asked.

Last season when he pulled a vanishing act in the Boston-Cleveland series, the excuse was his impending free-agency. On Sunday, when the Heat won but some thought LeBron played poorly, his excuse was that he was focused on defense. If the Heat lose on Thursday? Well then LeBron will need a whole new slew of excuses and I don’t know where he’ll find them.

DALLAS —
Mavericks 86, Heat 83 — Series tied 2-2

A switch in the starting lineup, then a switch of their defense.

The Dallas Mavericks pulled out all the tricks, and that allowed them to pull out an 86-83 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night to even the NBA finals at two games apiece.

Revived by a switch to a zone defense, the Mavericks held the Heat without a field goal for more than 7 minutes in the fourth quarter, rallying from five points down nearly midway through the period.

And on the court during that late run was DeShawn Stevenson, sent to the bench to start the game as Mavs coach Rick Carlisle changed his lineup. Known as a defensive player, Stevenson kept the Mavs close in the first half with 11 points, but was back to his traditional role down the stretch.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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.

By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

DALLAS (AP) – Those LeBron James dunks sure look great on highlight shows and commercials. They make good posters, too.

The Dallas Mavericks are getting sick of them.

The Mavericks’ turnovers are making it easy for James and the Miami Heat, something they know they have to clean up for any chance to win the NBA title.

“We have to eliminate a couple of the turnovers that lead to the quick points,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “It’s extremely difficult when you’re watching James go down the court and dunk the ball with his head over the rim. That makes it tough to win.”

Problem is, Dirk Nowitzki admits the turnovers won’t really stop against a Heat team that’s so good at forcing them.

“It’s just going to happen. They’re so fast, long, athletic,” Nowitzki said. “They do a good job swarming the ball once we put it down. We’re going to turn it over some. I already thought we cut it down from Game 2 to this one, so hopefully in Game 4 we can cut down a couple more and we’ll be OK.”

Nowitzki committed the last, and most costly of the miscues, a pass out of bounds with 30 seconds left in the Heat’s 88-86 victory Sunday in Game 3. And when searching for reasons for their 2-1 deficit, the Mavericks know exactly where to start.

“We have to take care of the ball against this team,” point guard Jason Kidd said. “Make or miss shots, you can’t just give these guys easy layups on the other end. That’s what they’re doing to us right now.”

Nowitzki, perhaps the dominant offensive player this postseason, had carried the Mavs again over the final 6 minutes, scoring their last 12 points to tie it at 86 with 1:40 remaining.

But after Chris Bosh’s jumper with 39 seconds left, Nowitzki got the ball near the top of the key but saw his lane close down, so he tried to pass to Shawn Marion along the sideline. He was off balance and the ball soared into the seats with 30 seconds to go.

Nowitzki said he wanted to shoot it, but saw Dwyane Wade coming over and didn’t think he’d be able to get a good attempt off. Nowitzki said he saw Marion but his teammate left the corner, calling the play a “miscommunication.”

Given a last attempt after James’ missed 3-pointer, Nowitzki did shoot it on the final possession, but he was well defended by Udonis Haslem and the shot bounced off the rim just before the buzzer.

The Mavs know they are at a disadvantage physically against the Heat’s athletes, which makes their execution even more important. When the game gets into the full court, the Heat can beat the older Mavs players down the floor.

“We’ve got to eliminate a couple of the turnovers that lead to quick points,” Carlisle said.

Miami frequently capitalized when Dallas did mess up, such as late in the first quarter. The Mavericks should have had the last shot of the period and would have at most been down four points. Instead, J.J. Barea’s pass went out of bounds with 3.5 seconds left and the Heat hurried up the floor to get Mario Chalmers’ 36-foot heave for a 29-22 lead.

Carlisle said the Heat were the best team in the league during the regular season in converting steals into points. Dallas had six turnovers at halftime, but Miami scored 14 points off them, which Carlisle called “an inordinate number.”

“So it’s a good example of the importance of taking care of the ball,” Carlisle said.

Carlisle talked about the difficulty of playing from behind, and the way watching James soar for dunks his players created can become demoralizing. He said the Mavs had “one or two untimely turnovers” – but that’s all it takes to swing a game that was decided by two points.

Miami got 31 points off turnovers in Game 2, and Dallas was only able to rally in that game because it protected the ball down the stretch and turned it into a half-court contest, and the Heat kept missing jumpers.

But the Mavs would make things much easier on themselves if they didn’t spot the Heat so many free points, and force themselves to rely on comebacks.

“The big thing is we have had spots of turning the ball over and giving them opportunities,” Kidd said. “So we have to take care of the ball.”

Barea turned it over four times in 19 minutes off the bench Sunday, perhaps as damaging as his 2 for 8 shooting. Kidd also had four turnovers.

“Our overall game’s got to be better,” Carlisle said.

___

Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat drives on Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks in Game Three of the 2011 NBA Finals. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

With seconds left in the game, Maverick forward Dirk Nowitzki bounced a shot off the back of the rim that fell to earth. Miami pulled out the win 88–86 giving themselves a 2–1 lead in the best-of-seven finals.

“We were digging out of holes all night,” said Maverick Coach Rick Carlisle.

The Mavericks would trail by as much as 14 points in the second quarter, but final game stats indicated the Mavericks outscored the Heat in every quarter except the first, trailing 47–42 at the half. That 29–22 lead the Heat enjoyed in the first quarter was the killer for the Mavericks.

During the first half, the Mavericks were willing to take the short jump shots and the deep threes, as the Heat drove the lane and muscled for position under the bucket. That kind of play helped to rack up their points.

Time and time again Miami guard Dwayne Wade stole the ball or was fed the ball for a fierce successful drive to the bucket. Wade went 12–21 from the field, 2–4 3-pts range and 3–4 from the free-throw line, and concluded the game with 29-points.

Dirk Nowitzki drives for a shot attempt against Chris Bosh. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

LeBron James was not much of a scoring force, but scored 17 points, going 1–4 from the 3-point range and shooting 6–14 from the field and 4–4 from the line.

Dallas started strong in the first quarter and led 14–9 with 2:26 left, but a strong power-slam by James and turnovers by the Mavericks took the sizzle out of the Dallas bacon.

Offensive aggressiveness with every ball possession hurt the Heat the first half. Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra changed that at halftime. Wade continued to drive, but the other Heat players appeared less interested in driving with vigor, and looked for timely shots with good looks at the basket.

LeBron James goes up for a dunk in front of Jason Kidd in the second half. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

With 7:29 left in the third quarter, the Heat led the Mavericks 55–48. At the 4:36 mark the game was tied at 57 all. The end of quarter saw the Heat leading 67–64.

The excitement was reserved for the final quarter. With 10;10 left in the game the score read 70 all. Three minutes later the Mavericks were down by 7.

Dallas Dirk Nowitzki scored only 2 points in the first quarter. He warmed in the second and third quarters for 19 points and caught fire in the fourth, scoring 12 straight points for the roaring Mavericks. Nowitzki ended the game with 34 points going 11–21 from the field, 3–5 3pts, and 9–9 from the line.

The game was tied up 9 times. The Heat had 27 fouls and the Mavericks had 14.

In the post-game interview Coach Spoelstra said, “We have to continue to be active. We had some breakdowns. Look, you have to give that team some credit. They have some shooters. They have a great quarterback who makes you pay for mistakes. They have the shooting. And Nowitzki obviously draws a lot of attention.”

Game 4 of the Finals will be Thursday in Dallas. Game time is 8 p.m. at the American Airlines Center.

Wear a strong belt because the action could put your britches in the wind.

DALLAS — As exciting as it is to watch Dirk Nowitzki make shot after shot in the NBA finals, the Dallas Mavericks don’t want to keep doing that.

Nowitzki needs help — from someone. Anyone.

The supporting cast that helped carry Nowitzki and the Mavericks into the NBA finals has shrivelled under the pressure of this stage, the defence of the Miami Heat or a little of both.

The Mavs trail 2-1 going into Game 4 on Tuesday night mainly because they aren’t scoring enough. Their average of 88.3 points per game is down 11.4 from the previous three rounds.

Nowitzki is contributing 28.3 points, almost exactly his post-season average coming in. The drop-off is everywhere else, especially among the three guys who are supposed to provide instant offence from the bench: Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Peja Stojakovic.

Terry’s slump hurts the most.

He and Nowitzki were among the league’s top fourth-quarter scoring tandems this season. The Heat threw that off with the surprise move of having 6-foot-8 LeBron James cover the 6-foot-2 Terry. He was shut out in the fourth quarters of Game 1 and 3, the ones Dallas lost.

Terry was a big part of the Mavericks’ winning rally in Game 2, scoring the first six points in a 22-5 surge and eight overall. In Game 3, when Nowitzki scored Dallas’ final 12 points, Terry went 0 for 4 in the fourth quarter, including a 21-footer with the game tied in the final minute.

“Jet (Terry’s nickname) hasn’t really been a crunch-time, clutch player for us the way we need him to,” Nowitzki said Monday. “We have to find a way to get Jet some freedom and get him off some movement, and he’s got to make some shots for us.”

Confidence is never a problem for Terry. This is a guy who got the finals trophy tattooed to his right biceps in October and vows to have it removed if the Mavs don’t win it all. On Monday he vowed that if he again gets the same shots he missed down the stretch in Game 3, “I bet I make them.”

Perhaps tempting fate, Terry also questioned whether James “can defend me like that for seven games” and claimed that first-round foe Portland played better defence than Miami. He also said that if Dallas can score 100 points, “they can’t beat us.”

“I’m going to tell you this: we will be there in Game 4,” Terry said. “I’m ready for the challenge.”

Miami is flustering Dallas with its combination of active, long-armed defenders who seem to always be in the right place at the right time. The Heat are always charging at shooters, making them fire quickly or opt to pass.

Centre Tyson Chandler said Miami’s style has made the Mavericks “timid.”

“Because they close out quick, guys second-guess their shots — is this a good shot? Should I drive?” he said. “We just have to make them pay. If we start knocking down shots, it loosens up everything.”

The Heat are giving the Mavs some chances. When two guys are covering Nowitzki, as usually happens, then someone else is open. Those guys are simply missing, perhaps because they’re anticipating a Miami player coming at them so they rush the shot.

“I think we still got a lot of open looks that we could’ve knocked down,” Barea said. “If we’d knocked down a few more, we would’ve won.”

Barea is the backup point guard who usually energizes the Dallas’ offence. He zips around the court, somehow getting to the rim despite being maybe 6 feet in high tops, or dishing to others when the defence swarms him.

But in this series he’s made only 5 of 23 shots, 1 of 8 on three-pointers. He’s gone from scoring 8.9 pointers per playoff game to 4.3.

“The ball is going to start going down,” Barea said. “I’m going to stay aggressive, play my game, keep doing what brought me here.”

Then there’s Stojakovic.

Dallas signed him around midseason in hopes he could be another weapon off the bench. He got into shape and had some great moments late in the season and early in the post-season, such as going 6 for 6 on three-pointers when the Mavericks polished off a sweep of the Lakers.

This series, he’s been a lost cause — making only 1 of 5 shots (0 for 4 on three-pointers) and repeatedly getting beaten on defence. His average has plummeted from 8.8 points to 0.7.

“I think our ability to spread the floor and shoot is a big reason why we made it to the finals,” Nowitzki said. “We just looked at the film. We had some opportunities. … And if we get those opportunities, we got to make the most out of it.”

The Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — The backup for the Dallas Mavericks’ backup center got into quick foul trouble in Game 3 of the NBA finals against the Miami Heat.

With 7-foot Brendan Haywood out because of a strained right hip flexor, Ian Mahinmi came off the bench with 2:25 left in the first quarter. He played only 5 1/2 minutes before going to the bench with three fouls and didn’t return until 1:23 remained in the third quarter.

He got his fourth foul only 6 seconds later, and his fifth foul in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, and didn’t play any more.

The game was tied 22-all late in the first quarter before LeBron James got by Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion, then had a powerful one-handed slam dunk over Mahinmi. That was the first of 12 straight points by the Heat, who went on to an 88-86 victory for a 2-1 series lead.

With Haywood out, it was important for starting center Tyson Chandler to stay out of foul trouble. He did, with only two fouls in 40 minutes. Chandler scored five points and 11 rebounds.

Mahinmi played eight minutes, two more than he had combined in his three appearances the Mavericks’ first 17 playoff games. He made two free throws, missed his only shot and had one rebounds to go with his five fouls.

—

BOSH BONKED: Heat forward Chris Bosh found himself in the air sandwiched between two Dallas players. Then he wound up in a heap on the floor in obvious pain.

When Mavericks guard Jason Kidd reached back trying to defend Bosh, he appeared to scrape across the right side of Bosh’s head and near his eye.

As play continued, and the Mavericks hit a 3-pointer for a 14-9 lead 4 1/2 minutes into the game, Bosh remained on the court with his hands covering his face. He stayed that way even after play was stopped before being tended to by trainers.

After the timeout, Bosh remained in the game and apparently was OK. He quickly drove to the basket, even though he missed the layup.

Even though he had another tough shooting night, Bosh made the game-winning 16-footer with 39 seconds left in the game. He finished 7 of 18 from the field with 18 points. He shot only 27 percent (9 of 34) in the first two games of the series

—

SECOND TIME AROUND: When the Dallas Mavericks last played an NBA finals game at home five years ago, the only current players on that roster were Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry.

In that 2006 series, also against the Miami Heat, the Mavericks hosted the first two games at home. They won both to take a 2-0 series lead before losing all three games in Miami and then the Game 6 clincher in Dallas.

“Our goal was to win it all since the last couple of years,” Nowitzki said.

Nowitzki scored 34 points in Game 3, but his 16-footer at the buzzer came up short.

While Nowitzki has spent all 13 of his NBA seasons in Dallas, 12-season vet Terry has been with the Mavericks only seven years. Terry describes their relationship now as “brotherly,” though he was in a unique situation with the big German first arrived.

“It’s something that has grown, through our tough times we have grown closer together,” Terry said. “Obviously when I first came here, I was supposed to be the one replacing his best friend, Steve Nash. A lot was made of that. All in all, we’ve come and grown together.

“Obviously, our chemistry on the court while we’re playing is tremendous. It’s what fuels this team, and then off the court, it’s genuine. We’re always honest and upfront with each other. And that’s why I say it’s like a brothership.”

—

WILKENS WINS: Lenny Wilkens, one of only three people inducted to the Hall of Fame as both a player and coach, was honored with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.

The award is given by the National Basketball Coaches Association, of which Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is the president, and named for the longtime Detroit Pistons coach.

Carlisle made the presentation at a press conference before the game that was attended by Wilkens’ friend, Heat president Pat Riley.

Wilkens is second in victories among NBA coaches and is the only person on the list of top 50 players and top 10 coaches. The point guard coached the Seattle SuperSonics to their lone NBA title in 1979.

He also spent 17 years as president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, with Carlisle saying he was a mentor to many coaches.

John Wooden and Bill Sharman are the others with dual Hall of Fame inductions. Wilkens was actually inducted a third time last summer when the 1992 Dream Team was enshrined. He was an assistant to Daly on that team.

—

HEAT SIX MONTHS AGO: After Miami’s only game in Dallas during the regular season the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Heat held a players-only meeting. They had fallen 106-95, their fourth loss in five games, and were a disappointing 9-8 overall.

“It’s tough because I know the potential of this team, the vision I had when this team was put together,” Dwyane Wade said that night, when finally arriving in the interview room with James about 45 minutes after the game.

Well, the Heat won 12 in a row after that and 21 of 22.

And they’re back in Dallas for the NBA finals, and with a 2-1 series lead going into Game 4 on Tuesday night.

—

FREE THROWS: During one timeout before halftime, a video was shown that included a montage of several Dallas sports standouts prompting the crowd with the Mavericks’ slogan “The Time Is Now.” Included were NFL career rushing leader Emmitt Smith and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, who who three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, Texas Rangers president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and Mike Modano, who won a Stanley Cup with the Stars. … Just before starting introductions, Mavericks fans cheered loudly when on the overhead video screen a man holding a sign that red “Mavs – Do It For Cleveland Too” was shown. … Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has probably watched more than he wanted the last six or seven minutes of Game 2, when Miami blew a 15-point lead and lost. “Quite a few. Quite a few,” he said when asked how many, without getting specific. … As he does often before Mavericks games, owner Mark Cuban was on the main court about three hours before tipoff of Game 3 of the NBA finals shooting jumpers and free throws. … This is the 12th time the Mavericks have split the first two games of a best-of-7 playoff series. They went on to win six of the previous 11 series.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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.

Storming back from a 15-point deficit to win Game 2 against the Miami Heat on Thursday night has put the Dallas Mavericks in a familiar position they enjoyed five years ago in the NBA Finals.

Again, they are entering Game 3 with momentum.

But the Mavericks are hoping tonight’s outcome won’t be the same as in 2006, when they blew a 13-point lead against the Heat in the final 6:34 of Game 3 and lost.

Dallas didn’t recover, and lost the series, dropping the final four games after holding a 2-0 lead.

This time, the series is tied at one game each.

The lone Mavericks’ holdovers from the 2006 team are Dirk Nowitzki and guard Jason Terry.

“We know what we have to do to come out and be successful,’’ Terry said. “We’re coming home. This is a homecoming for us. We really want to come out early on in the game. We feel good about ourselves.’’

In this year’s Game 2, the Mavericks outscored the Heat 22-5 in the final 6:19 to take a 95-93 victory in Miami. But the stakes are much higher for Game 3 in Dallas.

All 11 times the NBA Finals have been tied at one game each, the Game 3 winner has won the championship.

“I think we’re a veteran team; we just can’t let up,’’ Nowitzki said. “We’re not good enough to just relax. We need to play with an edge at all times in every game.’’

The Heat has spent the past two days evaluating their collapse. Backup guard Mario Chalmers made the Heat’s lone field goal in the final 7:14, and the Mavericks scored on 10 of their final 11 possessions. Nowitzki scored the Mavericks’ final nine points, including the winning a layup with three seconds remaining.

“We’ve had a couple of days to think about it now,’’ Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said Saturday. “Obviously, we weren’t happy about the way the game ended. We came back to work yesterday and today to fix some of these things. There is not a good win in the playoffs, and there’s not a bad win. It’s black and white. It’s either a win or it’s a loss, and you have to move on.’’

The Mavericks are aiming to again force the Heat into taking tough shots — as they did in fourth quarter Thursday— rebound, and take advantage of Nowitzki’s scoring.

“We are coming out with that mindset like we had in Game 1,’’ Heat forward LeBron James said. “It starts defensively. We have to be in tune as close to 48 minutes as possible, especially versus this team, who shoots the ball extremely well, who plays extremely well, especially at home. But it’s a sense of urgency.

“That’s the only way we know how to play, when we feel like we’re desperate. It’s the only way we approach games.’’

On Saturday, the Heat again tried to downplay its celebration in front of the Mavericks’ bench after Dwyane Wade’s 3-pointer extended Miami’s lead to 15. Wade and James’ celebration fired up the Mavericks, sparking their decisive run.

“We have enthusiastic guys, excitable players,’’ Spoelstra said. “I would certainly rather have that than a bunch of zombies out there that don’t care about winning. But I’m more concerned about how we executed or had a lack of execution going down the stretch.’’

John Reid can be reached at [email protected] or 504.826.3407.

By Ma. Maureen Pascual on Jun 5, 2011 in Basketball, Sports, United States • No comments

So the Dallas Mavericks took notice. Then took offense.

While the Miami Heat started dancing early, the Mavericks enhanced their Comeback Kings reputation with one of the most stunning rallies in NBA Finals history, overcoming a 15-point deficit in the final 6:20 to pull out a 95-93 victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

With the Mavericks clearly motivated by the Heat’s premature giddiness, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry guided them to a remarkable revival, hitting a three-pointer with 26.7 seconds left to put the Mavericks ahead 93-90. Miami tied the score on Mario Chalmers’ three-pointer with 24.5 showing on a busted defense by the Mavericks.

Nowitzki rescued them again, spinning off of Chris Bosh and pushing in a soft, left-handed layup with 3.6 left.

That would be the same left hand that he has a torn tendon in his middle finger that required him to play with a splint.

So, who needs a splint now after the Mavericks got a split?

They certainly fractured the Heat’s hope of sweeping the first two games in Miami.

And so, the Mavericks leveled the best-of-seven NBA Finals 1-1 and now return to Dallas for the middle three games of the series knowing that they have a grand opportunity to be NBA champions for the first time within the next 10 days.

It was eerily similar to Game 3 in 2006, when the Mavericks blew a 13-point lead in the final seven minutes.

They liked being on the good side of the equation a lot better.

“If you’re going to win a championship, you’ve got to have the wherewithal to hang in when things are tough,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “All year, our guys have believed and tonight was another good example. They had to win the game and it wasn’t easy.”

And for the longest time, it looked like there was no hope of a happy ending.

When Dwyane Wade, who had 36 points, poured in a three-pointer from the corner right in front of the Mavericks’ bench with 7:14 to go, the Mavericks were down 88-73. Carlisle called a timeout and LeBron James threw some soft punches into Wade’s chest as the pair did a little dance heading to the Miami bench.

“They were emotional and excited,” said Brian Cardinal. “I don’t know if it ignited us. I’m sure it helped refocus everybody. You notice everything. That’s the beauty of having 15 guys on the bench. Everybody’s got an eyeball on something.

A 22-5 run later, the Mavericks had proven that they were well aware of the Heat’s antics.

Terry had eight points as the Mavericks crept back slowly. First, they got it to 88-81. Then it was 90-86.

Then Nowitzki hit a jump shot off a Terry feed. Suddenly, it was a two-point game and Nowitzki tied with a layup with 57.6 seconds left.

That set up his three-pointer. When Chalmers answered, the Mavericks were miffed.

“In our huddle, there were a lot of curse words,” Terry said. “That was my mistake. I left Chalmers wide open.”

But Nowitzki erased the mistake and the Mavericks were the ones who ended up dancing.

“First of all, every team in the league does something when they go on a run, whether it’s chest bump or whatever,” said Wade of the celebratory moment. “They won the game, so obviously it did something. But that’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time. Don’t make anything about the celebration. It had nothing to do with the outcome of the game for us. Defensively, we had breakdowns.”

After Nowitzki’s lefty layup, the Heat had no timeouts left and got only a desperation three-pointer from Wade at the buzzer, which was off the mark, a rare miss on a night when he had 36 points.

“It was a turning point in the game,” Terry said of the Heat’s antics. “We said there’s no way we’re going out like this, with them dunking on us and stuff. It would have really been disheartening.”

Instead, it was a big show of heart for the Mavericks.

If the Dallas Mavericks are honest, they know it took nothing short of a basketball miracle to avoid a 2-0 deficit in the NBA Finals.

But sometimes, miracles happen. And when they do, you pay homage to the hoop gods by making sure you don’t waste said miracle.

That’s where the Mavericks find themselves during the longer, two-day break between Games 2 and 3. The Miami Heat may have awoken a sleeping monster when Dwyane Wade and LeBron James started celebrating a bit too early in Game 2, when they led by 15 points, but were outscored, 22-5, in the final 6:20.

And the No. 1 and No. 2 previously snoozing Mavericks were Jason Terry and Dirk Nowitzki.

In roughly the first 90 minutes of this series, they were 18-of-53 from the field, a lousy 34 percent.

In the 6-plus minutes at the end of Game 2, they were a combined 7-of-8 and led the shocking rally.

The Mavericks turned the ball over 20 times for 31 Miami points. It only seemed like every one of them came in the third quarter and early in the fourth when they were dropping almost out of sight.

Almost.

With their late-game revival, they came back to Dallas for Game 3 on Sunday full of life and knowing they have planted more than just a seed of doubt in the Heat players’ minds.

“We did not want to go home down 0-2,” Terry said. “It would put tremendous pressure on us. For the last five minutes, we really showed Maverick basketball, getting stops, getting out in transition, taking advantage of every opportunity that presented itself. There is no other way for us to play.”

Terry and Nowitzki provided 17 of the 22 points in the closing surge, perhaps signaling their strong-willed arrival into this series.

The last time the Mavericks had this sort of forceful show, they were rebounding from a meltdown of their own in Game 4 of the first round at Portland. That sent them on a seven-game winning streak.

This time, they don’t need that many. And they are keenly aware that they had to be extremely fortunate to win Game 2. When James parted the Mavericks’ defense and had a point-blank shot early in the Heat collapse and couldn’t convert, it was the sort of play where you could sense the Mavericks were on to something big.

“LeBron went down the middle, had a wide-open layup, I thought,” Nowitzki said. “Short-armed it a little. We were able to get that rebound and go. So you have to be a little lucky, but we kept on plugging.

“I thought we got really lucky.”

But luck counts. After that, it was a steady climb for the Mavericks to the victory that came when Nowitzki finished a lefty layup while getting around Chris Bosh.

“For a split second, I just played bad defense,” Bosh said. “You know, it cost us two points.”

And a commanding 2-0 lead.

There can be no overstating the difference the Mavericks felt flying home Friday with a 1-1 split in Miami as opposed to being in a 2-0 hole. The police-escorted drive to the Miami airport seemed faster. The plane they are borrowing from the Phoenix Suns felt bigger and better.

Everything tasted sweeter after Thursday night’s remarkable comeback.

“Best-of-5 series now,” said Shawn Marion, who had two superb games in Miami. “And we have three at home.”

But the Mavericks refuse to look at it like that.

“We’re not going to approach it as the next three,” Nowitzki said. “We’re going to approach the next one like it’s our last. You cannot get a split and get a huge emotional win in Game 2 and then go home and lose Game 3. As far as I’m concerned, the next one is the biggest game of them all.”

Copyright 2011 The

Lawrence Journal-World.

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
We strive to uphold our values for every story published.