Jun/060
We Have A Series.
The thought coming into these Finals was that a two-man team couldn’t compete with a talented, versatile, offensively exceptional and defensively capable Mavericks team.
Apparently, a one-man team is the way to go.
Dwyane Wade played inspired basketball to bring the Heat back from a seemingly inescapable hole Tuesday, scoring 42 points with 13 rebounds, and doing so despite a bothersome left knee and late-game foul trouble.
And when it mattered most, his teammates followed his lead to put the Heat over the top in a stirring fourth-quarter comeback. The Heat avoided a three-game series deficit by overcoming a double-figure disadvantage in the fourth quarter to win 98-96 at AmericanAirlines Arena, now trailing the Mavs 2-1 in the series.
”I’ve seen Dwyane do that before,” Heat coach Pat Riley said. “There have been 10, 12, 13 games this year where we’ve been down double figures in the fourth quarter and we come back to win.
“It’s incredible the heart that he has. He just rises to the occasion. He kept it very simple at the end and kept making play after play after play.”
Wade scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, including a stretch of nine straight that started the Heat’s recovery from a 13-point deficit, the largest comeback in Heat postseason history. The last of those nine consecutive came with 3:36 remaining in the game, bringing the Heat to within three points, 91-88.
After Dirk Nowitzki hit a pair of free throws to extend the Mavericks lead to five, Shaquille O’Neal, who began the game determined but faded to score just 16 points, converted two free throws to give the Heat life once again.
USING WHAT WORKED
”I just went back to the way I used to shoot when I was a youngster, when I was a good player,” said O’Neal, who was 4 of 6 from the foul line for the game.
The Heat followed with a defensive stop and another Wade jumper to get within a point. And on the following Dallas possession, Udonis Haslem reached around Nowitzki for a steal and was fouled on the way to the basket. He hit two free throws, after missing his first four attempts, to give Miami a 94-93 advantage with 1:03 remaining.
But 30 seconds later, the score was tied again at 95-95. With another chance to take a lead, Wade was caught without his dribble and without a look at the basket.
Wade passed to Jason Williams, who found Gary Payton, who had yet to take a shot in the game. Payton passed up a three-pointer, dribbled inside the arc and hit a jump shot with 9.3 seconds that gave the Heat a 97-95 lead.
”We’re doing a pretty good job [against] their bench,” Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. “But that’s a shot that you’ll remember.”
Nowitzki, however, was fouled with 3.4 seconds remaining, giving the Mavericks a chance to tie the score again. After hitting the first, Nowitzki missed the second. Wade, whose 13 rebounds were a postseason career best, grabbed his final rebound of the game and was sent to the foul line with 1.4 left on the clock.
He also missed the second, giving the Mavs one second left to attempt to tie the score or win the game. But Nowitzki lobbed a pass for Josh Howard that was deflected by, who else, Wade, who was playing with five fouls from the 10:56 mark of the fourth quarter.
The clock expired, and the Heat’s season avoided life support. Through three quarters, it looked rather bleak.
Just like Game 2 in Dallas, O’Neal scored the first points of Tuesday’s Game 3 just 17 seconds into the game, an eight-foot turnaround shot before any double-team could crowd him. But by the 5:41 mark of the period, O’Neal already had more points Tuesday (six) than he did in all of Game 2.
The Heat’s first quarter, however, was littered with mistakes that kept the Heat from taking a larger lead. The Heat led 29-21 after the first period despite five turnovers.
The errors continued in the second quarter, as the Heat committed seven more turnovers, including three three-second violations on O’Neal. The Mavericks took advantage to tie the score at 40-40 with 4:32 remaining in the half.
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I will give some personal thoughts after work today. Do not have much time at this time. Make sure you check out the MiamiSportsDudes recap. He went to the game and should have some great thoughts.
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