Category: NBA Finals (Page 55 of 58)

Miami 98, Dallas 74 (series tied, 2-2)
Flashing back to the middle of the third quarter of Game 3, with the Mavericks up 13, had you told me that the series would be tied 2-2 by Thursday night, I would have told you that you were nuts. But here we are, on Thursday night, and the series is tied. Dwayne Wade shrugged off a sore knee to score 36 points on 13-23 shooting, while Shaq posted 17 points and 13 rebounds. The Mavericks played awful, shooting a miserable 32% from the field and 3-22 (14%) from long range. Game 5 is pivotal. If the Heat can hold serve, the pressure is back on the Mavs to win two straight at home. If the Mavs can bounce back and win Game 5, they’ll just have to win one of two at home to win the title. One thing’s for certain: the momentum has definitely shifted in Miami’s favor.

Here’s a little bit of injury news that was lost in the Heat’s victory Tuesday night.

Before they wheeled him away on the back of a cart, Dwyane Wade grabbed both handrails to steady himself as he climbed up the stairs to the interview podium.

When he finished speaking, he limped away — although calling it a limp would actually be understating things about as much as anyone could understate them.

Put it this way: Wade could barely walk Wednesday, a day after Shaquille O’Neal took a charge, fell backward and rolled into Wade’s left knee, buckling it.

That’s right, he could barely walk.

“It’s very stiff and very sore,” Wade said. “So the only thing I can continue to do is what I’m ordered to do, and that’s a lot of icing and [stimulation] all day. I’m confident in my training staff that they’ll get me as close as I can be to 100 percent by tomorrow night.

“So, you know, I’m hoping.”

Shaq has been trying to take charges throughout the playoffs and I’m not exactly sure why, though I suppose he’s trying to avoid foul trouble. He’s not the shot blocker he once was but he can still change shots. A 330+ pound man trying to draw a charge forces the ref to make a call and it usually goes against Shaq. Here’s a case of Shaq trying to do something he’s not very good at, and as he’s doing it, he lands on Dwayne Wade’s knee. That’s just great.

Miami 98, Dallas 96 (Mavs lead series, 2-1)
The Miami Heat overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter and stole Game 3, keeping their title hopes alive in the process. Dwayne Wade had a huge game, scoring 42 points while grabbing 13 rebounds. Shaquille O’Neal was productive in his 37 minutes, tallying 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. It looked like Dallas’ speed was going to wear down the Heat once again, but the Mavs put it in cruise control too early, allowing Miami to fight back in the waning moments of the game to get the win. With Dirk Nowitzki on the line with two free throws to tie it up late in the fourth, it looked like the game was headed to overtime. But Nowitzki missed the second attempt and Miami survived to fight another day. The Mavs still have the advantage in the series, up 2-1 with home court advantage, but they need to at least play well in Game 4. They don’t have to win, but if Miami blows them out, it will give the Heat the confidence they need to win Game 5. Dallas needs to focus on what they came to Miami to do – win one game. If they live in the present, that goal is still attainable. If they get bogged down by what went wrong in Game 3, then they might get in their own kitchens, and that’s never a good thing.

Note: I didn’t like the play that the Mavs ran with a second to play. I don’t know why you would have your best offensive player taking the ball out of bounds without time to pass the ball back to him. If anything, use Nowitzki as a decoy, but don’t have him take the ball out of bounds, effectively eliminating him from the play.

The Heat play at home tonight down 2-0 to the Mavs. In reality, if Dallas wins any of the three games in Miami, they’ll just need to win either Game 6 or Game 7 (both at home) to clinch the title. If Miami wants any chance of winning the series, they must win tonight. A loss would put them down 3-0 and their chances on life support.

Everyone wants to point to Shaq’s output – 22 points and 13 rebounds – in the first two games, and say that he’s to blame for Miami’s lackluster performance. The truth is, he’s 10-16 (63%) from the field and has passed pretty well out of the constant double-teams headed his way. His teammates just haven’t hit their shots. Taking out Shaq’s stats, the rest of the Heat have made a dismal 53 of 132 (40%) from the field and 12 of 37 (32%) from long range, compared to their season averages of 45% and 35%, respectively. Considering that the Mavs have shot 46% from the field and 38% from the line, the Heat aren’t getting it done on the defensive end either. However, Shaq should average more than 6.5 rpg and has yet to block a shot in the series, so he needs to do a better job defensively.

I expect the Heat to put forth maximum effort to try to get back into this series. If the Mavs get up by 10 or more, we might see a meltdown. The game is tonight at 9 PM (ET) on ABC.