[bigboydan]

Mavericks-Heat Preview

PLAYOFF SERIES: NBA Finals; Mavericks lead 2-1.

ODDS: Miami -2, Total 190


TIME/TV: Thursday, 9:00 p.m. EDT (ABC)

The Miami Heat have admitted to playing poorly for almost all of the NBA finals. It was their performance over the span of half a quarter, however, that has them right back in the series.

Miami looks to build off its furious comeback at the end of Game 3 and tie the NBA finals at two games apiece as it hosts the Dallas Mavericks.

The Heat were outplayed in the first two games of this series in Dallas, losing both contests by a combined 24 points, and found themselves on the verge of going down 3-0 when they trailed the Mavs 89-76 with just under seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter on Tuesday.


But behind Dwayne Wade, the Heat mounted the second-largest fourth-quarter rally in NBA finals history, outscoring the Mavs 22-7 over the final 6:34 to come away with a 98-96 win.

``I said, 'I ain't going out like this,' Wade told his teammates.

Wade tied a career playoff-high with 42 points, with 15 coming in the final quarter - 12 during the game-ending spurt.

``As a team, we just came out and said this could be the season if they win this game,' Wade said. ``We came out, ran our offense to the crisp, locked down on defense and came back and won this game.'

Dallas had chances late, but Dirk Nowitzki blew an opportunity to tie the game when he missed one of two free throws with 3.4 seconds to go, and Wade knocked away his inbounds pass in the final second on an attempted alley-oop to Josh Howard.

Nowitzki, who finished with 30 points, was 25-of-27 from the line in the series, but could only make the first foul shot.

``We couldn't really get anything down the stretch on both ends of the floor,' Nowitzki said. ``We started to relax too early or celebrate. We didn't defend them like we did before and we couldn't get anything to drop.

``The only good thing is we're still up 2-1. ... Now we've got a series.'

Shaquille O'Neal had his best game of the finals for Miami with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also hit two clutch free throws during the epic comeback to pull the Heat within 93-90, and went 4-for-6 from the line after going 2-for-16 in the first two games in Dallas.

``We had 2 1/2 horrible games and now we can use this momentum and pick it up and just try to win four,' said O'Neal, who had a playoff career-low five points in Game 2. ``We still made a lot of silly mistakes. But, you know, we never gave up. We just kept playing, showed a lot of heart, a lot of intensity.

``We needed this one. Bad.'

Dallas' meltdown contributed to its first loss in 26 games this season when Howard scored 20 points, and the Mavs had also won their previous 11 contests when center Erick Dampier reached double figures. Howard had 21, but didn't score over the final 14:42, while Dampier had 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

``We didn't expect it to be easy, but we do feel we gave this game away,' said Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse, who was held to four points on 1-of-9 shooting Tuesday. ``We should've won this game, that's how we feel. We'll talk about being disappointed, but I don't think we'll be despondent.

``They've played their best ball. Maybe they feel they can play better, but we feel like we took a huge punch and only lost by two.'

Miami forward Udonis Haslem had a big Game 3 despite playing with a bruised left shoulder suffered in the second contest of the series. Haslem had eight points and 11 rebounds, including eight offensive, and made two huge free throws after stealing the ball and getting fouled to put the Heat ahead 94-93 with 1:03 remaining.

Haslem said his shoulder feels sore when he raises up to shoot or follow through, but Miami's comeback helped ease the pain.

``We needed this one, and were fortunate enough to get it. Now, we'll just move on to the next game. We can't get too high on our horse after winning just one game.'

Game 5 is Sunday in Miami.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Mavericks - 4th seed, Western Conference; beat Memphis Grizzlies 4-0, first round; beat San Antonio Spurs 4-3, semifinals; beat Phoenix Suns 4-2, finals. Heat - 2nd seed, Eastern Conference; beat Chicago Bulls 4-2, first round; beat New Jersey Nets 4-1, semifinals; beat Detroit Pistons 4-2, finals.

PROBABLE STARTERS: Mavericks - F Howard, F Nowitzki, C DeSagana Diop, G Adrian Griffin, G Jason Terry. Heat - F Antoine Walker, F Haslem, C O'Neal, G Jason Williams, G Wade.

PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Mavericks - Nowitzki, 27.8 ppg and 11.8 rpg; Terry, 4.1 apg. Heat - Wade, 27.0 ppg and 6.0 apg; O'Neal, 9.4 rpg.

[bigboydan]

It’s amazing how two shots have changed the possible outcome of the NBA Finals and at the same time, giving one team a glimmer of hope and the other possible doubt. Game 3 will be replayed from start to finish again and again, but at the end of the day, the final results came down to which team made their clutch shots on Tuesday.

With the game tied at 95-95, backup point guard Gary Payton hit arguably the biggest jumper of his career, giving Miami a 97-95 lead with nine seconds left in the game. The Glove’s field goal came at an opportune time, especially since it was just the second field goal made by him in the series.


Dallas wasn’t dead just yet, still holding an opportunity to tie or take the lead with seconds left. Dirk Nowitzki drove to the hole and was hacked by Udonis Haslem, earning two free throws. The All Star forward hit nothing but net on the first before watching the second come up short, along with his team’s chances of a four-game sweep over the Heat.

Nowitzki is a career 86 percent shooter from the charity stripe and finished Game 3 with a 10-of-12 performance from the line, yet it remains to be scene how much the miss on Tuesday will effect the rest of the series.

What if Payton doesn’t hit a wide-open jumper that he’s lately been missing or if Dirk sends the game into overtime with a make from the line? We could very well be talking about legendary Pat Riley and how he’s on the verge of getting swept for the third time in the finals.

Maybe Shaquille O’Neal gets ripped again for his inconsistencies or perhaps Dallas’ Erick Dampier gets praised for his efforts through the first three games.

Miami's Dwyane Wade is on path to hoist the Finals MVP. (AP Images)



Will Dallas be able to rally from blowing a 13-point lead in Game 3 or can Miami ride its hot hand, Dwyane Wade, to its first championship?

All those questions remain to be answered, but we do know that Wade is the real deal and his stock continues to soar in the playoffs. The former Marquette standout was incredible on both sides of the basket in Game 3, posting 42 points and 13 boards, while shooting 14-of-26 (54%) from the floor. Wade also broke up a key pass at the end of the game, which prevented an extra session.

Basketball is known as a game of runs and Miami saved its best sprint for last. The Heat outscored the Mavs 22-7 to close the game and held Dallas to only two field goals during this stretch. Wade proved his worth again, adding 10 of his 42 points in the game-ending run.

Books have listed Miami as a two-point favorite for Game 4, with the total hovering at 189 ½. The Heat are down 2-1 in the series and still face a must-win situation, yet the line has dropped for Thursday.

The combined 194 points in Game 3 jumped ‘over’ the closing total for the first time in this series. For the second straight game, both teams shot a combined 60 free throws. However, it was the Mavericks who joined the Heat with struggles from the FT line. Dallas shot 69 percent from the stripe, a far drop from their season average of 78 percent.

Despite the setback, Dallas managed to cover as a 4 ½-point road underdog against Miami. The Mavericks now own a perfect 3-0 against the spread mark in this series, plus they’ve covered eight straight games against the Heat.

A lot of basketball experts have often said, “A best-of-seven series doesn’t begin until one team wins on the road” or “A series doesn’t start until one club faces elimination.”

Dallas’ success on the road has been impressive in the playoffs to say the least. Avery Johnson’s club is 6-4 SU, but more importantly 9-1 ATS. If you toss out the 106-86 Game 4 loss to Phoenix in the conference finals, the Mavericks have dropped the three other games by a combined five points.

The Mavericks have only lost back-to-back once during the playoffs, coming in the second round to San Antonio, when point guard Jason Terry was suspended one game for punching Michael Finley, resulting in the second straight loss. After every other setback, Dallas owns a perfect 4-0 mark, including three wins on the road.

Enthusiastic gamblers did manage to cash tickets on the Heat in the first quarter and first half in Game 3, but Dallas followers chased and hit the Mavericks as one-point favorites in the final 24 minutes.

Game 4 is slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT, with ABC providing national coverage.

[Illusion]

I guess I should start capping this one since it starts in a few hours.

[bigboydan]

boy, did this line move big time. i now see dallas -1 at alot of places now.

[onlooker]

I guess I should start capping this one since it starts in a few hours.

Im done with Hoops until November. These playoffs have been brutal, and Im glad I about broke even durning them. I think I bet like 4 playoff games.