Author: John Paulsen (Page 24 of 937)

Full disclosure: After Dwyane Wade hit a corner three to give the Heat a 15-point lead with 7:13 to play, I sat down at my computer to write the recap. I had a nice little angle about how Game 2 felt like a trip to the dentist. You’re dreading the entire experience knowing that it’s probably going to end with the dentist drilling into your teeth (a Heat win), because you like candy way too much (turnovers). But there’s a moment or two during the examination where you think you’re going to get a clean bill of health (Mavs go on a run). In the end, you have a couple of cavities and the dentist is pulling out the needle (a 2-0 series deficit) getting ready to do some serious drilling.

Well, the X-rays are in, and the resilient Mavs have just tied the series. After turning the ball over five times in the first minutes of the final period, leading to nine Miami fastbreak points, Dallas outscored the Heat 22-5 over the final seven minutes. Miami stopped running offense and the Mavs locked down defensively, forcing the ball into Udonis Haslem’s hands or forcing LeBron James and Wade into tough threes when they were up against the shot clock.

On the other end, Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion combined to score the first 13 points of the run before Dirk Nowitzki took over by scoring the final nine points for the Mavs. He hit a huge three to give the Mavs a 93-90 lead with 0:26 to play, but a miscommunication on the other end of the court enabled Mario Chalmers to tie the game up with a wide-open three. With time running down, Dirk then took the ball to the hole with a nifty move on Chris Bosh and scored the game-winning bucket with a left-handed kiss off the glass.

As Mike Breen said, it was one of the greatest comebacks in Finals history, and I almost compared it to a trip to the dentist.

The Dallas Mavericks had a real chance to win Game 1, but in the end, LeBron James and Co. were just too much. Dallas held Miami to 36% shooting from two-point range, but the Heat hit 11-of-24 from distance. If the Heat are going to shoot 40%+ from three-point range, it’s going to be very tough to beat them.

The Mavs’ bench was also a disappointment. Jason Terry (3-10), Peja Stojakovic (0-3) and J.J. Barea (1-8) combined to go 4-of-21 and Dallas lost by eight. And it’s not like the Heat forced them into a bunch of tough shots that they weren’t used to taking. These were all shots that Terry, Stojakovic and Barea had hit against the Blazers, Lakers and Thunder. The bottom line is that if Mario Chalmers (12 points) is matching Terry’s output, the Mavs are in big trouble.

Give credit to Miami’s Big 3, especially LeBron (24 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and Dwyane Wade (22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists), who combined to shoot 18-of-37 from the field. The rest of the Heat shot 13-of-43 (30%) from the field, so the duo stepped up when it had to.

With the news that Dirk Nowitzki (27 points, eight rebounds) has a torn tendon in his left hand, things are looking awfully grim for the Mavs. The good news is that it’s not in his shooting hand, but he’s probably going to be wearing a splint for the rest of the series, and that’s not going to help his game.

Game 2 is crucial for the Mavs if they hope to make this a series.