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The 2006 NBA Playoffs
Topic Started: Apr 23 2006, 12:40 PM (2,696 Views)
Tealey
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Western Conference Finals - Game 4

Dallas and Phoenix played last night, with the Mavs up 2-1 in the series.

Posted Image

"nba.com"
 
PHOENIX, May 30 (Ticker) -- Raja Bell returned and brought the Phoenix Suns back from the postseason brink.

Bell provided an emotional spark and the Suns rediscovered their rhythm in a thorough 106-86 beating of the Dallas Mavericks that evened the Western Conference finals at two games each.

Leandro Barbosa scored a playoff career-high 24 points and Steve Nash added 21 and seven assists for the second-seeded Suns, who reached triple figures for the first time since Game 1 and finally found a way to slow down Dirk Nowitzki.

The Suns have yet to lose with Bell and yet to win without him. He suffered a left calf strain in the fourth quarter of their Game 1 win and sat out losses in Games 2 and 3.

"You see what he means to us," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Nature has a way of healing warriors a lot quicker. Whatever we've needed all year, he's done it spiritually, physically, talent-wise, whatever. And he just stepped up again."

Feared to be out for the series, Bell started and also provided a lift. He made his first two shots en route to nine points and played his customary annoying defense.

"We're a confident bunch," Bell said. "We always feel like we have a chance. But we understood, winning another series being down 1-3 was - the odds of that are slim to none. So I felt that this was my shot. If I was going to help, then tonight was a big game for that."

Bell's jumper started a 12-2 run that closed the third quarter and gave the Suns a 79-67 lead. As Phoenix pulled away in the final period, he added a driving layup - appearing to aggravate the injury - and drew a charge on consecutive possessions before sitting down for good with a wrap around his lower leg.

"The one thing I knew I wasn't going to be able to do today was explode off the left leg," Bell said. That was part of the problem coming into the game ... I tried to stay away from situations like that. (But) I kind of forgot that I was injured at that point, and more than pull it, it just hurt a lot. So I think I avoided a bullet there."

"Taking charges, falling - that is Raja," Suns forward Tim Thomas said. "He is a hard-nosed warrior."

Perhaps more important, Bell's presence allowed Barbosa to return to the bench, where he is more effective. After struggling in the first three games, he made 10-of-13 shots, including 4-of-6 3-pointers.

"I think Raja coming back helped (Barbosa) and settled him, but also spread the floor out, hit a couple of shots, started getting his confidence up," D'Antoni said. "This is LB. He's this good."

The Brazilian guard had a 3-pointer in the surge that ended the third period, then added two more in a 17-4 spurt that opened the fourth quarter and gave the Suns a 96-71 lead.

"We all knew what he was capable of," Nowitzki said. "He came off the bench and really looked in rhythm. The shot looked great. He was taking us to the basket and finishing."

Nowitzki, who was averaging 27.7 points and 16.7 rebounds in the series, had his worst game of the postseason with 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting, adding seven rebounds.

"They did a good job once I got the ball and spun," Nowitzki said. "They double-teamed me and they got the ball out of my hands some. But I still have to be more aggressive and look for my game."

"Every time he tried to take a fadeaway or any shot, we were contesting it," said Suns forward Shawn Marion, who had the primary responsibility on Nowitzki. "We were active and never gave him the same look."

Boris Diaw had 20 points and nine rebounds and Marion added 15 and eight for the Suns, who shot 54 percent (43-of-79), including 7-of-15 from beyond the arc.

"We kept our energy tonight and sustained it and they didn't have an answer for it," Marion said. "We kept applying pressure on them. Tonight we were able to stop them and score. Before we would stop them and not be able to score. "

Josh Howard scored 16 points for the fourth-seeded Mavericks, who had six players in double figures. Dallas shot just 42 percent (33-of-79), and forced just seven turnovers as its defense disappeared.

"They played more of a complete game, and we just didn't have it," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "We were not there mentally or physically."

Game 5 is Thursday in Dallas.

"It's up for grabs, really," Nowitzki said. "It's 2-2, and they showed they can beat us in a big game at home already."

Wearing a sleeve to help with circulation around his strained left calf, Bell made a pair of early jumpers and gave the defense a boost.

"I think the rest really helped me a lot," Bell said. "I wasn't able to do a whole lot (Monday), so I didn't know exactly how it was going to feel. But I was pretty committed to trying to give it a shot and they were pretty fair with me about letting me do that."

The biggest beneficiary was Barbosa, who had started the last two games. He scored 13 points in the first half, when Phoenix shot 59 percent (23-of-39) and went to the locker room with a 51-46 lead.

"Not having Raja is a trickle-down effect," D'Antoni said. "It really affects (Barbosa)'s speed and being able to open the floor up for another 30 minutes from a guy who can rest guys a little bit more. Everybody takes two or three more minutes off."

As in Game 3, however, the advantage could have been bigger. The Suns gave away a first-quarter lead although Nowitzki was on the bench with two fouls and frittered away most of a 45-34 advantage with five-plus minutes left in the second quarter.

"I'm thinking, 'Here goes the nightmare again,'" D'Antoni said.

Jason Terry's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 67-65 with 3:48 left in the third period, but the Mavericks made just three baskets over the next 10-plus minutes.

"They outplayed us, outworked us on both ends of the floor," Terry said. "We made a lot of mistakes."


Final Score

Dallas: 86----------------Phoenix: 106


How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Miami: 3-------------------Detroit: 1
Dallas: 2------------------Phoenix: 2

Tonight's Fixture

Miami versus Detroit

If the Heat win, they are in the NBA Finals.
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Eastern Conference Finals - Game 5

Last night, Miami and Detroit played, knowing that Miami only needed a win to go into the NBA Finals.

Posted Image

"nba.com"
 
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 31 (Ticker) -- Facing an embarrassing elimination, the Detroit Pistons found a familiar formula to remain very much alive in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Pistons again were rescued by Tayshaun Prince and their defense in a convincing 91-78 victory over the Miami Heat, who are still one win away from the NBA Finals.

Prince scored a playoff career-high 29 points for the top-seeded Pistons, who closed the series deficit to 3-2 with a performance that somewhat silenced the cynics who said their run was done.

Detroit improved to an astounding 11-2 in elimination games over the last four years, including 3-0 this season. With six losses in their last nine games and their resolve being questioned, the Pistons showed the grit and determination that made them NBA champions in 2004 and got them within five minute of another title last year.

"We came into this game to win it," Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups said. "We put everything we had into one game. We've got to do the exact same thing, put everything we've got into another game.

"It's like playing Game 7 every game, you know what I'm saying? Because if you don't win, you go home. We came out, did what we had to do, put the pressure back on them to try to win at home. If not, it's going to be trouble coming back into The Palace."

In their only other win in this series - a 92-88 victory in Game 2 - Prince scored 24 points and the Pistons shut down the Heat until allowing a late flurry. Game 5 looked like a carbon copy as Prince made 11-of-17 shots and the defense re-emerged, especially down the stretch.

"I've got responsibility if I'm having a good night," said Prince, who added seven rebounds. "I've got to continue to try to carry them. There's situations where Chauncey carries us, Rip (Hamilton) carries us. I was just in a good rhythm tonight. When you are in a good rhythm, you try to help your team as much as possible."

The second-seeded Heat scored just 13 points in the final period but nevertheless closed to 79-76 with 4:56 left on a short banker by Dwyane Wade, who scored 23 points. At the other end, Shaquille O'Neal emphatically blocked a shot - right to Prince, whose 3-pointer from the left wing beat the shot clock and doubled the lead.

"I think the biggest play was 79-76, when Shaq got the block and Tayshaun hit the three," Miami coach Pat Riley said. "That was a great play for them."

O'Neal answered with a hook with 3:30 remaining, but the Heat never scored again as the Pistons clamped down and made 9-of-10 free throws in the final three-plus minutes.

Billups had 17 points and 10 assists and Richard Hamilton added 16 and a playoff career-high 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who made 23-of-26 free throws. Antonio McDyess also was key with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting off the bench.

"They just beat us to all the loose balls and they just played with a lot more energy," O'Neal said. "They play excellent when their backs are against the wall. Now we've just got to go home on Friday and take care of business."

O'Neal scored 19 points for the Heat, who will have to play better than this in Game 6 if they want to make their first trip to the NBA Finals. Miami made just 6-of-20 free throws and committed 16 turnovers.

"There's no pressure on us at all," Wade said. "We've got a golden opportunity to win Game 6 on our home floor. It's another game. These are the conference champions, so there's no pressure on us."

Although they could never really shake the Heat until the stretch, the Pistons began with the necessary emotion, which they have been missing at times in the postseason.

"It was easy for us to come out with energy tonight," center Ben Wallace said. "You either find a way to get a win or you go home."

Late in the first period, Prince was fouled as he dunked over Alonzo Mourning and bumped into him while hanging on the rim. Mourning gave him a shove and quickly was confronted by both Ben and Rasheed Wallace.

Prince scored nine points in the first quarter, then added a tip-in in an 8-0 burst that gave Detroit a 35-24 advantage.

"He carried us a lot," Detroit coach Flip Saunders said. "There's no question, if you can have a player that can lead your team and carry it over stretches - and he did for 48 minutes - it makes it easier for the other players. They can play off it."

O'Neal returned to trigger a 16-6 surge capped by Wade's fast-break dunk that gave Miami a 40-39 edge with 2:17 before halftime.

Early in the second half, Wallace - the Defensive Player of the Year - leaped and smothered a dunk attempt by the 7-1, 330-pound O'Neal, who fell to the floor and lost the ensuing jump ball.

"It's a tough task to go down there and try to fight with Shaq for 48 minutes," Wallace said. "I don't know if that (block) was skill or determination or that we all get lucky sometimes."

Prince scored another nine in the third period, including a pair of buckets in a 9-2 run that gave the Pistons the lead for good at 60-53. His 3-pointer at the 1:42 mark - Detroit's first of the game - extended the margin to 69-61.

A free throw by O'Neal cut the deficit to 77-74 with 7:44 to play, but the Heat was just 1-of-6 from the line in the final period.


Final Score

Miami: 78------------------Detroit: 91

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Miami: 3-------------------Detroit: 2
Dallas: 2------------------Phoenix: 2

Tonight's Fixture

Phoenix versus Dallas
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Western Conference Finals - Game 5

Last night, the Mavs and the Suns played, tied at 2-2.

Posted Image

"nba.com"
 
DALLAS, June 1 (Ticker) -- In the second quarter, Tim Thomas blew a kiss at Dirk Nowitzki. In the fourth quarter, Nowitzki blew away the Phoenix Suns.

Nowitzki scored 22 of his franchise playoff-record 50 points in the final period to power the Dallas Mavericks to a 117-101 victory over the Suns in the pivotal fifth game of the Western Conference finals.

Responding with a vengeance after his first poor game of the postseason, Nowitzki took complete control and moved the fourth-seeded Mavericks within one win of their first trip to the NBA Finals. They can get there with a win at Phoenix on Friday.

The breakout star of the postseason, Nowitzki has carried Dallas with his scoring, rebounding, leadership and toughness. He finally showed he was human in Game 4 as he managed just 11 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

"He was disappointed with the last game," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "I'm not going to tell you everything that went on behind the scenes. But we were all disappointed."

"I could let out that Avery got on me very good yesterday," Nowitzki said. "We watched the film session and he let me have it. That's really about all that happened."

Expected to bounce back, Nowitzki shot the Mavericks to an early double-digit lead. But when the Suns rallied in the second quarter, Thomas ended a trash-talking session with Nowitzki by blowing him a kiss.

"If I could say the word (I called him), I would, but there's a lot of females around here. You get it?" Thomas said.

"In the playoffs, every possession means so much more and the emotions run high so I don't think that was a big deal," Nowitzki said.

Initially, it looked like the kiss of death as the 3-point shooting of Thomas had the Suns holding a 77-70 lead late in the third quarter and looking to steal the series lead. The Mavericks answered with a 10-0 spurt featuring 10 points from Nowitzki, who turned every other player into a spectator in the final period.

"In the third quarter when we were down seven, I saw the whole season swimming away," he said. "They just kept making shots and this great season we had, the great playoff run so far, kept swimming away. At that point I just said, 'Let's go.' Whatever we need to do, we need to get stops, I shoot the ball, drive the ball, whatever we need to do to get this win."

Beginning with two technical foul shots at the 8:55 mark, Nowitzki scored the next 15 points for Dallas, all in under four minutes. He made mid-range jumpers and 3-pointers and overwhelmed smaller defenders who had no choice but to foul. When he was finished, Dallas had a 104-93 lead wth 4:59 to play.

Nowitzki also delivered a couple of daggers down the stretch. When the Suns closed to 107-98, Nowitzki tipped in a miss with 3:33 left, then buried a 3-pointer for a 115-98 bulge with 1:45 to play.

"When he's on those rolls, and then he's shooting the ball so well, he would pump fake and we bit and put him to the line and he got loose," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He came up with an unbelievable game that should make them win. I think it did."

Nowitzki made 14-of-26 shots - including 5-of-6 from the arc - and 17-of-18 free throws as he joined Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant as 50-point scorers in this postseason. Both performances came against the Suns.

Josh Howard scored 23 points for the Mavericks, who improved to 24-0 this season when he scores 20 or more. Jerry Stackhouse scored 16 points and Jason Terry added 14 and nine assists.

"We are one game away from doing something this team has never done before," Stackhouse said. "So hopefully we can bring all of that energy that we need (Saturday)."

Thomas made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points - both postseason career highs - and Steve Nash and Shawn Marion added 20 apiece for the Suns, who are 4-0 in elimination games in the postseason and face another Saturday.

"I don't think we enjoy it, but I think we're more ready, more aggressive and we play our best when we have our backs to the wall," Suns center Boris Diaw said.

Both teams played well in a spirited up-tempo affair. Dallas shot 47 percent (42-of-89), made 24-of-28 free throws and committed just nine turnovers. Phoenix shot 46 percent (36-of-79), made 19-of-20 free throws and committed 13 turnovers.

In the first quarter, Nowitzki eclipsed his Game 4 total with 13 points as Dallas sped to a 36-23 lead. Phoenix helped by committing seven turnovers, including three shot-clock violations - unheard of for its breakneck offense.

"After the last game where I never found my rhythm, I just wanted to be aggressive, no matter what happens," Nowitzki said. "I took the first two shots right away to the basket and missed them but I was just aggressive trying to make things happen."

The Mavericks still held a 47-34 lead midway through the second period when the Suns finally got their running game in gear and closed to 58-55 at halftime. Thomas was right in the middle of the surge with consecutive 3-pointers, a dunk and his smooch at Nowitzki, which drew technicals for both players.

"I was just trying to take the ball from him," Thomas said. "I never in my life saw Dirk talk so much, but I know where I'm from, if I was going to get punked by him, I'd never be able to go back. That was definitely not going to happen."

"That's regular playoff play," Nowitzki said. "There wasn't very much said. We were bumping each other a little bit and exchanged a couple of words."

It was more of the same in the third quarter, when Thomas scored 12 points in just over three minutes. He made a pair of 3-pointers, went around a flailing Nowitzki for a dunk that became a three-point play and drained another 3-pointer for a 77-70 lead with 3:27 left.

Nowitzki refused to let the game get away and led the Mavericks right back. He made two free throws and a jumper around a three-point play by Devin Harris, then buried a 3-pointer for an 80-77 lead.


Final Score

Dallas: 117--------------Phoenix: 101

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Miami: 3-------------------Detroit: 2
Dallas: 3------------------Phoenix: 2

Tonight's Fixture

Detroit versus Miami
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Eastern Conference - Game 6

All Miami needed was a win to get to the NBA Finals. Detroit needed a win to force a game 7.

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"nba.com"
 
MIAMI, June 2 (Ticker) -- When Dwyane Wade came down with the flu, the Miami Heat had to be feeling a bit queasy. In the end, however, the Detroit Pistons were left feeling sick to their stomachs.

The Heat are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, overcoming Wade's untimely illness with a huge game from Shaquille O'Neal and hot shooting from Jason Williams in an affirming 95-78 victory over the Pistons.

The second-seeded Heat won the series in six games and ended the two-year reign of the top-seeded Pistons as Eastern Conference champions. They play at Dallas or Phoenix on Tuesday.

"To be at the point where we are now on our way to The Finals is truly amazing for this organization," Wade said. "As the saying goes with this team, they did what they do and we went out there and played team basketball at the right time of the year."

"I only celebrate when it's really over," said O'Neal, who is headed to The Finals with his third team. "I'll celebrate a little bit, but like I told the guys, the job is not done."

Miami avenged last year's disheartening loss, when it held the lead with less than two minutes to play in Game 7 at home but was denied by Detroit. Wade labored through that game with bruised ribs.

A sickening case of deja vu swept over South Florida when Wade missed Friday's shootaround - and briefly was hospitalized - with a bad touch of the flu. He showed courage in starting and playing 37 minutes but was not himself.

"At 3 a.m. is really when I woke up and I knew I wasn't going to go back to sleep," Wade said. "My wife was giving me tea and vapor rub and everything she could. I told her to call our trainer, probably 7 or 8 today, and that's when he told me I needed to get to the hospital. I stayed at the hospital until 3 p.m. They I went home and changed and came to the game."

"I feel bad for him after what he had to go through in last year's playoffs," teammate Antoine Walker said. "He got hurt ... last year and to see him not at 100 percent was tough. We felt for him but we were very confident that we could pick up the slack and make it happen."

Wade didn't have to be 100 percent, not with O'Neal unleashing a "Shaq Attack" and Williams finally finding his shooting touch. The Heat took the lead for good in the first quarter and took off in the third period, when Wade finally got into the act.

O'Neal scored 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking five shots.

"Shaquille is Shaquille. We couldn't get him the ball enough," said Heat coach Pat Riley, also going to The Finals with his third different team. "We couldn't straight post him up, so we started doing a lot of things to move him a little bit on pick-and-rolls so he could get the ball."

"I just told the guys that they can come to me. Whenever they need a bucket just come to me," O'Neal said. "For the first five or six minutes, I actually didn't touch the ball and I got a little worried, but everyone else was playing so well, I just became a role player - until they came to me."

Williams made his first 10 shots before missing his last two, finishing with 21 points.

"I think you saw his game tonight," Riley said. "It was at the right time, there's no doubt."

"I just wanted to come out and try to do what I always try to do - be aggressive and knock down open shots, and luckily they were falling for me tonight," said Williams, who was shooting 38 percent in the postseason.

Wade had 14 points and 10 assists. He began as a playmaker, missed the start of the second half to take fluids and scored Miami's last eight points of the third quarter to open a 72-53 lead.

"(O'Neal) just told me to come in and just pace myself," Wade said. "He said the guys are ready today so you don't have to do it all today. Just pace yourself. I did that, and when it was time for me to take over, I went out there and hit a couple shots."

The Pistons had been 11-2 in elimination games over the last four years, including 3-0 this season. But they could not muster up another season-saving effort as they were thoroughly outplayed, perhaps signaling a changing of the guard in the East.

"Well, I think we had a great year," coach Flip Saunders said. "Ultimately, there's failure for 29 teams and success for one team, and that's pretty much how you judge it."

Richard Hamilton needed 28 shots to score 33 points for the Pistons, who won a franchise-record 64 games during the regular season with crisp chemistry but lost their edge in the playoffs when they began bickering a bit.

"It hurts," Hamilton said. "At the end of the day, if you don't win that ring, all what you did all season don't mean nothing."

Amid all the analysis, what this series came down to was making shots. In the clincher, Miami shot 56 percent (39-of-70) while Detroit managed just 33 percent (27-of-81).

"Every time we crawled back, we got open shots but just didn't hit them," Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said. "I can't remember the last time we played defense like this. When you play defense like this and you give the other team a chance to set up their defense, that is when we became cold."

In the first quarter, the Heat made 10 straight shots - none by Wade. Williams and O'Neal sank four apiece before a 3-pointer by Walker made it 25-16.

The Pistons hung around, closing to 42-36 with a 9-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Rasheed Wallace with 2:18 left in the first half. But they did not score again before the break, and O'Neal's tip-in helped rebuild the lead to 47-36.

In the third quarter, Wade was late coming out of the locker room and O'Neal had to sit down with his fourth foul. It didn't matter to Williams, who drained a pair of jumpers and a 3-pointer to push the margin to 64-49.

"The guys have been on my back, telling me to stay aggressive and they're going to fall, and tonight they did," Williams said.

Wade finally announced his presence, making four straight jumpers to close the quarter.

"If anything, (the fluids at halftime) helped me just trying to get hydrated," Wade said. "That's why I came out a little late. I was still getting my IVs in me trying to get hydrated."

Hamilton scored 12 points in the first five-plus minutes of the final period to cut the deficit to 80-67. But his drive was blocked by O'Neal, who scored at the other end. Williams added a jumper for an 84-67 bulge with 5:13 left, starting the party at American Airlines Arena.


Final Score

Detroit: 78---------------Miami: 95

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Miami: 4-------------------Detroit: 2 <------------Miami progress to NBA Finals
Dallas: 3------------------Phoenix: 2

Tonight's Fixture

Dallas versus Phoenix

Dallas can win the series tonight with a win against the Suns. Phoenix can force a 7th game with a win.
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Looks like my bet could still be on - Miami v Dallas!
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looks like you were right.

Western Conference Finals - Game 6

Up for grabs for Dallas: The NBA Finals. For Phoenix: A game 7. Simple as that for the Mavs. Win, and they would be in their first NBA finals, like Miami in the East.

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"nba.com"
 
PHOENIX, June 3 (Ticker) -- Avery Johnson's transformation of the Dallas Mavericks is complete.

Displaying the defense and mental toughness instilled by their coach, the Mavericks are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history as they again shut down the Phoenix Suns in a 102-93 victory.

The fourth-seeded Mavericks closed out the second-seeded Suns in six games in the Western Conference finals. In the first championship in 35 years matching Finals first-timers, Dallas hosts Miami in Game 1 on Thursday.

"I think for the first time in my life I'm speechless," omnipresent owner Mark Cuban said.

Postseason superstar Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks as Dallas dominated the second half. Jason Terry scored all 17 of his points after halftime and Nowitzki added 16 as the Mavericks outscored the Suns, 63-42.

In his first full season as coach, Johnson turned the Mavericks into one of the better defensive teams in the NBA and was named Coach of the Year. The mental toughness was evident when they beat the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on their home floor in Game Seven of the conference semifinals.

"I think overall, the transistion to a defensive team is complete," Johnson said. "That's pretty new. We feel that we can play different styles and we can play against teams with different styles."

"We were still able to just hold everything together (this season)," Mavericks guard Jerry Stackhouse said. "I think that built a lot of character for our team throughout the year and it just climaxed in this moment in this game."

With a chance to clinch the series, the Mavericks got off to a terrible start. They trailed by 18 points midway through the second quarter and were still down, 60-45, before tightening the defensive screws and making a remarkable reversal.

Over the next 12 minutes, the run-and-gun Suns - playing their 20th playoff game, saddled with foul trouble - managed just 12 points and surrendered the lead.

"We knew they would come out with a burst of energy and we felt that we could withstand that burst and still be around in the second half," Stackhouse said. "Then (we) find a way to get stops and to get this game."

"Our guys fought as hard as they could; we just ran out of steam," said Suns coach Mike D'Antoni, who ended his postgame comments in tears. "Third quarter, we just got bogged down and couldn't score."

Nowitzki led the charge with a pair of three-point plays and back-to-back hoops that closed the third quarter and cut the deficit to 66-62.

A basket by Terry and follow shots by Josh Howard and DeSagana Diop opened the final period and provided a 68-66 lead, and the Mavericks never looked back.

"At halftime the worst was behind us," Terry said. "We did a great job of getting back into it. We just came out in the second half and let it all hang out."

Nowitzki made a pair of blocks to fuel a 6-0 spurt that gave Dallas a 78-72 bulge with 6:08 to go. After a jumper and 3-pointer by Stackhouse - who scored 13 of his 17 points in a 40-point fourth quarter - Howard stole a lazy inbounds pass to make it 85-77 with 3:46 to go.

"I am as proud of our second-half defense as I have been all year, especially under the circumstance," Johnson said.

A pair of driving layups by two-time MVP Steve Nash closed the margin to 90-83 before Howard stuck in the dagger with a 3-pointer with 90 seconds left.

Howard scored nine of his 20 points in the final period for Dallas, which somehow shot 47 percent (37-of-78) from the field despite an awful start and a 3-of-20 showing from the arc.

Boris Diaw had 30 points and 11 rebounds and Nash added 19 and nine assists for the Suns, who shot 50 percent (36-of-72). Leandro Barbosa scored 14 points and Shawn Marion added 13 and 11 boards.

"You can't just tail off every second half the way we did and not expect it to mean something," said Nash, who clearly was fatigued throughout the series.

In the first quarter, Dallas scored a playoff-low 14 points on 6-of-21 shooting and fell behind by 15 points. Terry picked up his third foul early in the second period, and a 3-pointer by Marion made it 44-26 with 6:13 left.

Phoenix held a 51-39 halftime advantage and rebuilt the lead to 60-45 on a steal and driving layup by Barbosa. But he joined Diaw on the bench with his fourth foul shortly thereafter.


Final Score

Dallas: 102----------------Phoenix: 93

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Miami: 4-------------------Detroit: 2 <------------Miami progress to NBA Finals
Dallas: 3------------------Phoenix: 2 <-----------Dallas progress to NBA Finals

Next Fixture

The first game in the Finals will be on the 5th at the home of the Mavericks.
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What did I say lol :P2

I'm rooting for Dallas - seeing as they're my Fantasy NBA team at the GI.
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NBA Finals - Game 1

Sorry for the lateness, I've been watching the World Cup.

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"nba.com"
 
DALLAS, June 8 (Ticker) - For nearly the entire game, Jason Terry couldn't miss. Once he did, the Dallas Mavericks put their determined defense to work.

Terry scored 32 points to cover for his cold-shooting teammates and the Mavericks allowed just 12 points in the fourth quarter and made a smashing NBA Finals debut with a 90-80 victory over the Miami Heat.

The Mavericks overcame poor performances by star forwards Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard, who were unable to heat up despite triple-digit temperatures outside the American Airlines Center. They shackled Shaquille O'Neal and deterred Dwyane Wade just enough to get Game 1.

Regaining the touch that disappeared during the Western Conference finals, Terry made 13-of-18 shots, including 4-of-7 from the arc. He completely rescued the Mavericks in the first half, when he scored 20 points to help erase an 11-point deficit.

"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive," Terry said. "There was no point where I ever looked up at the scoreboard. I'm just continuing to take shots."

"We saw the real Jason Terry and we need this Jason Terry," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "This Jason Terry makes us a pretty special basketball team."

After not taking a shot in the third quarter, Terry provided the separation the Mavericks needed by scoring eight straight points in a span of 77 seconds. His jumper and consecutive 3-pointers gave Dallas its largest lead at 82-72 with 7:54 to play.

"For my team to be successful, I have to be out there in attack mode at all times and that's what I was able to do tonight," Terry said.

But it was a shot Terry should have made moments later that created some anxious moments. He made a steal and coasted in for a breakaway layup - that he somehow left short.

"I thought it was Wade or somebody (behind me)," Terry said. "I got a little too excited, was running a little too fast and got ahead of myself."

Two dunks by O'Neal, a layup by Antoine Walker and a free throw by Wade had the Heat within one possession at 82-79. But Walker missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 3:37 left, and Miami's offense evaporated.

Terry added two free throws in a closing 8-1 surge by Dallas, which won despite receiving zero points from Nowitzki and Howard in the fourth quarter. Miami made 5-of-20 shots with four turnovers in the final period.

"We didn't make any outside shots," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "All five baskets we got in the fourth quarter were in the paint."

Nowitzki scored 16 points on 4-of-14 shooting and Howard managed 10 on 3-of-14, committing five turnovers. Neither forward ever really got his game going.

"Me and Josh couldn't really get anything going," Nowitzki said. "They played us tough, they contested our shots and if you would have told me Josh and myself would go 7-for-28 and we win this game, I wouldn't have believed it."

O'Neal never got going, either. The three-time Finals MVP scored 17 points but took just 11 shots as his teammates inexplicably went away from him. He became a passer when double-teamed by the Mavericks also didn't help himself by missing his first eight free throws until finally making one in the last minute.

"Throughout my career, I know that if I want my team to win a championship, I have to step up to the line and hit them, and I will," O'Neal said. "Probably just thinking about them a little too much."

"We know we have to get the ball to Shaq more," Wade said.

Game 2 is Sunday in Dallas. The Mavericks are 7-2 at home in the postseason.

Jerry Stackhouse scored 13 points off the bench for the Mavericks, who won despite being outrebounded for the first time in the postseason. Dallas was beaten on the boards, 45-43, ending its record streak of 17 straight playoff games with better board scores.

"It's been the first time in a long time that we've lost the rebound game, so we're going to have to be stronger and tougher on the boards as a team," Johnson said.

Wade scored 28 points but needed 25 shots. Walker added 17 points for the Heat, who got two points from their bench.

"Early on, it was going to be a long night for us the way he was getting to the basket, making layup after layup," Terry said. "Credit our guys for contesting his shots and being a little more aggressive on him in the second half."

The first fourth seed to reach the Finals, Dallas appeared to have the early jitters while Miami was able to run its offense.

In an attempt to slow down Wade, Johnson started Adrian Griffin, who had no impact. Wade had four driving layups in the first six minutes, then added two jumpers as if to prove to the Mavericks he could make an outside shot.

Nowitzki's disastrous first half included throwing away an inbounds pass that Walker turned into a 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer for a 31-23 lead. He drained another to open the second quarter, giving Miami its largest lead.

With Nowitzki harassed by Haslem and Howard struggling, Terry rallied the Mavericks, who began to creep back when Wade sat down. Terry - who was 9-of-11 from the field - had a runner, a jumper and a fast-break layup to tie the game before Nowitzki sank a fadeaway for a 46-44 halftime lead.

"Jason bailed us all out," Stackhouse said.

"Jason Terry had a fabulous game," O'Neal said. "We have to try and slow him down."

After making just two baskets in the first half, Nowitzki made two 3-pointers in a 62-second span to give Dallas a 64-59 advantage with 4:12 left in the third quarter. A pair of dunks by Wade closed it to 70-68 entering the final period.


Final Score

Dallas: 90----------------Miami: 80

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Dallas: 1----------------Miami: 0

Next fixture

11th June, Miami versus Dallas
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NBA Finals - Game 2

Dallas led 1-0 going into this game.

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"nba.com"
 
DALLAS, June 11 (Ticker) -- The Dallas Mavericks are giving a whole new meaning to Big D.

Ratcheting up the defense and stifling superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade to the point of frustration, the determined Dallas Mavericks moved a step closer to their first NBA championship with a thorough 99-85 defeat of the Miami Heat.

Dirk Nowitzki regained his scoring touch with 26 points for the Mavericks, who opened a commanding 2-0 series lead. After not playing particularly well in a 90-80 win in Game 1, Dallas dominated every aspect of Game 2 as it led by as many as 27 points.

"I just thought their energy and effort far surpassed ours," Heat coach Pat Riley said.

The Mavericks shot 49 percent (34-of-70) from the field, including two four-point plays. As they have throughout the postseason, they controlled the backboards to the tune of 46-32. About the only thing they did wrong was coast home.

"We're not playing perfect basketball," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "If you don't play perfect basketball and still can win another game like this - they score 80 and 85 points - we'll take it."

Where Dallas truly dictated was on defense, using its growing advantages in depth and quickness to make O'Neal look like an earthling and Wade -- who has been sick in these latter stages of the Playoffs -- look like a man in need of another boost of vitamins.

Promising to be better after Game 1, O'Neal was worse. He scored five points on 2-of-5 shooting -- all career postseason lows -- as he encountered multiple defenders on almost every touch. He again struggled at the line, making just 1-of-7 free throws, and was a spectator in the fourth quarter, when Miami made a futile late surge.

"We were really trying to double-team him quite a bit, even before he got the ball," Johnson said. "We're just trying to make them go other places sometimes."

"In Game 1, they said he didn't get a lot of touches," said Mavericks center Erick Dampier, who had the primary defensive responsibility on O'Neal. "You went back and watched the game -- I think he got 30 touches and 12 times he passed out. How many more times does he want to touch the ball? Regardless of what they do, we are going to make the adjustments."

O'Neal did not speak with reporters after the game, drawing a $10,000 fine for himself and a $25,000 fine for his team.

Wade scored 23 points on 6-of-19 shooting but did almost all of his damage at the line (11-of-14) and well after matters had been settled. His struggles in the first half was one of the myriad reasons Miami found itself in a 50-34 halftime hole.

Nowitzki and Josh Howard both shook off their Game 1 doldrums and rejoined the act. After combining to make just 7-of-28 shots in the opener, Nowitzki made 8-of-16 shots and grabbed 16 rebounds. Howard was much more decisive and scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

"I thought I caught the ball a little more on the move, which is better," said Nowitzki, who also made 10-of-11 free throws. "When I catch it standing, they are going to box up, the guys are going to get into me and we are going to have nothing going."

"Dirk, boy, he came back tonight," Johnson said. "He got to the free-throw line a little bit more."

Jerry Stackhouse scored 19 points for Dallas, including a stunning 10 in the final 79 seconds of the first half that sent the Heat headed to the locker room with their heads hanging. He drilled three 3-pointers, including one in Wade's face that became a four-point play.

"After I shot the first one, there was no hesitation once I caught it the second time," Stackhouse said. "I was probably three feet behind the 3-point line on the second one. When you're feeling good, you let it ride."

"That sent us into the locker room obviously not in a very good state of mind," Riley said.

Howard added another four-point play in the third period.

On offense, neither O'Neal nor Wade could find any operating room against the defense of the Mavericks, who smothered the post when O'Neal caught it, cut off the lanes when Wade drove it and still had enough speed to recover to their teammates, who provided little help.

"They are able to key on him and take away the other guys a little bit because we're missing shots, not being efficient," Wade said. "So that's taking away from Shaq a little bit."

About all that was available for the Heat was the 3-pointer. They were 7-of-17 from the arc and shot 41 percent (29-of-70) overall.

Adding injury to insult, the Heat also lost forward Udonis Haslem to a left shoulder ailment in the third quarter. Haslem had been doing a credible job on Nowitzki, one of the few bright spots for the Heat.

"He took quite a fall," Riley said. "We know he's real sore."

Antoine Walker scored 20 points for the Heat, who host Game 3 on Tuesday facing this double dilemma: Only two teams have erased 2-0 Finals deficits and won, and only the 2004 Detroit Pistons have won the middle three games at home in the 2-3-2 format.

"We have to play a lot better on both ends of the floor," Wade said.

"We know they are a different animal at home," Nowitzki said. "They are obviously going to be fired up. Shaq and Dwyane, they are going to get their troops ready to play."

Before the game, Riley said: "We just keeping loading (Wade) up with B-12."

It provided no boost, as the star guard endured a tough first half, except for a pair of dunks off steals early in the second quarter. He did not make a shot in the first period and spent most of the second period in foul trouble.

The Heat also made a commitment to getting the ball to O'Neal, which was met by a concerted effort by the Mavericks to swarm him and chase it out of his hands. O'Neal had a basket on the game's first possession but did not have another until the 3:07 before halftime.

"They doubled him every single time he touched the ball," Riley said. "He made the pass that he was supposed to make and the other times they would front him. Anytime he tried to throw the ball over the top, we didn't get out of it what we want."

"We've got to find a way to get our big (O'Neal) to be more dominant," Wade said. "With the touches that we give him, we have to find a way to make him more efficient."

A 3-pointer by James Posey gave Miami its largest lead at 28-23 with 8:27 left in the first half before things quickly fell apart. Howard found a groove with seven points in a 13-0 burst as Dallas surged to the lead.

Stackhouse lit up the American Airlines Center with his unreal flurry that pushed the bulge to 50-34 at halftime. His middle 3-pointer from the top in the face of Wade, who knocked him down, drew a foul and was whistled for a technical foul.

"It was great to get a little distance going into halftime," Stackhouse said.

"That was big because we talked about not settling for threes and you'll have your opportunity to get some," Johnson said. "We did a good job of penetrating and getting the ball back out."

Early in the third quarter, Howard drilled a 3-pointer, drew a foul from Walker and made the free throw for another four-point play and a 59-40 lead. There had been just six four-point plays in Finals history prior to Game 2.

A fast-break dunk by 7-footer Dampier gave Dallas its largest lead at 78-51 with 2:23 left in the third period. Miami finally went to a small lineup that did not include O'Neal but got no closer than 12 points thereafter.


Final Score

Dallas: 99-------------Miami: 85

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Dallas: 2----------------Miami: 0

Next fixture

Tonight, Dallas versus Miami
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NBA Finals - Game 3

Miami needed a win to avoid a 3-0 deficit.

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"nba.com"
 
MIAMI, June 13 (Ticker) - A heroic performance by Dwyane Wade left the Miami Heat's season hanging in the precarious balance of Gary Payton making a shot and Dirk Nowitzki missing one.

Wade scored a playoff career-high 42 points and singlehandedly fueled a series-saving comeback as the Heat rallied for a 98-96 victory over the stunned Dallas Mavericks that made the NBA Finals interesting again.

Shaquille O'Neal had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, which kept AmericanAirlines Arena "white-hot" instead of raising the white flag - barely. Erasing a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit, the Heat closed the series to 2-1 and have a chance to draw even in Game 4 on Thursday.

"I'm absolutely without a doubt a true believer," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "I've been around players 40 years. I know when they look around and they look up and they say, 'This doesn't look very good.' But you've just got to keep trying."

"We're a very strong-willed team," Wade said. "We all believe in each other. When we're down and out, we always feel we can come back."

The Heat had some help from the Mavericks, who survived a poor fourth quarter after building a big lead in Game 2 but were burned this time. A couple of stops from a virtually insurmountable 3-0 lead, Dallas managed one basket in the final five minutes as its playoff cool evaporated in the humidity.

"We couldn't really get anything done down the stretch on both ends of the floor," Nowitzki said. "Maybe we started to relax too early or celebrate; I don't know what it was. But we didn't defend them the way we did before and we couldn't get anything to drop. So it's obviously frustrating."

A game that rocked on a seesaw through the first three quarters finally leveled at 95-95 in the waning moments before tilting eastward. The slumping Payton's jumper with 9.3 seconds left - his only shot of the game - snapped a 95-95 tie.

"Probably everyone in our stadium was thinking that we had lost this game, but you see what happened," Payton said. "We had a lot of fourth-quarter comebacks in this season, and that's what we're so accustomed to doing."

A free throw by Nowitzki - who has been nearly automatic from the line in the postseason - bounced out with 3.4 seconds to go.

Battling foul trouble, fatigue, a sore left knee and the stigma of a possible sweep, Wade scored 12 points in the final six-plus minutes, taking over a game the Heat absolutely had to have.

"Incredible, just the heart that he has," Riley said. "He just rises to the occasion."

"He had the whole game going tonight, inside and out," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "He really hurt with his penetration tonight. He was really persistent."

Clearly not himself in the first two games in Dallas, Wade made 14-of-26 shots and 13-of-18 free throws while adding 13 rebounds in 43 minutes, yet still somehow saved his best for last.

"No matter how many minutes I played, I had the legs at the end to be able to go down there and finish and make plays happen," Wade said. "I said going into this game that this is the best I was going to feel all series. Don't I sound better?"

"(He) took over the game the last five, six minutes," O'Neal said. "That's what a player of his caliber does. He's the type of player that you just let him go and let him do his thing."

Wade answered two jumpers by Jason Terry with a tough banker and a driving three-point play, cutting the deficit to 89-81 with 5:36 remaining and starting the comeback.

"I'm always trying to be aggressive, trying to do the right thing," Wade said.

"Tonight he really had it on his mind that he was going to be aggressive getting to the basket, especially in that fourth quarter," Terry said. "He really, really took over."

After a 3-pointer by James Posey, Wade was at it again with a pull-up jumper and a hanging drive that made it 91-88 with 3:36 left. Nowitzki, who scored 30 points, answered with a pair from the line.

O'Neal, who was 2-of-16 from the line in the first two games, stunned everyone by making a pair. Wade followed with a corner jumper, and a steal and two free throws by Udonis Haslem - who had missed his first four foul shots - gave Miami a 94-93 lead with 1:03 to go.

"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 had his best game of the series.

Posey added a free throw, but Devin Harris tied it as he streaked past a tiring Wade for a layup with 33 seconds left. Off a scramble situation, Payton headfaked Josh Howard, stepped inside the arc and drained an 18-footer.

"They was rotating," Payton said. "I took one dribble, kept dribbling and shot the ball. You don't think about it; just go up and shoot the ball and whatever happens, happens."

Nowitzki easily got to the basket and was fouled. A clutch foul shooter throughout the postseason, he made the first but shockingly missed the second. Wade rebounded and split two free throws, and Nowitzki's lob attempt for Howard was broken up by Wade, still with spring in his step.

"It was just a free throw that I usually make," said Nowitzki, who had made 26 of his first 28 free throws in the series. "I don't know what happened. I just shot it a little strong."

Antoine Walker and Jason Williams scored 12 points each and Haslem added eight and 10 rebounds for Miami, which held a 49-34 advantage on the glass. The Heat have won the battle of the boards twice from the Mavericks, who were not outrebounded through the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Howard scored 21 points - none in the fourth quarter - and Terry added 16 for Dallas, which erased an 11-point halftime deficit with a 34-point third quarter. Erick Dampier had 14 points and nine boards.

In the first half, O'Neal and Wade looked like totally different players and powered Miami to a 52-43 lead as Dallas endured another slow start and uncharacteristically was pounded, 30-16, on the boards.

Coming off the worst performance of his postseason career, O'Neal was remarkably active. He had three buckets, a steal at midcourt that led to a layup by Walker and a bounce pass to Walker for a layup as Miami opened a 15-9 lead.

Attacking the basket, Wade shot 14 free throws and scored 21 points in the first half. He had 13 in the first quarter, including a drive that made it 29-21.

"Shaq told us, 'Don't settle for jump shots. Take the ball to the basket strong,'" Wade said.

Nowitzki, who missed his first seven shots but finished 9-of-20 from the field, capped an 8-0 spurt with a jumper that pulled the Mavericks within 33-31. Dallas finally caught Miami at 40-40 on a 3-pointer by Howard with 4:32 left before halftime.

O'Neal sat down less than a minute later, but Williams had a jumper and a 3-pointer in a 12-3 burst that ended the half. Still in attack mode, Wade contributed five free throws.

The Mavericks found some energy at the outset of the second half and surged to the lead with a 12-2 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Howard and Nowitzki. Another 3-pointer by Nowitzki pushed the margin to 66-62 before Dampier came alive beneath the basket with five points, giving Dallas a 77-68 lead entering the final period.

"In the third quarter, we finally started making some shots and moved the ball pretty well," Nowitzki said. "Our defense picked up a little bit and (We) got a nice little lead."


Final Score

Dallas: 96--------------Miami: 96

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Dallas: 2----------------Miami: 1

Next fixture

Thursday 15th, Dallas versus Miami
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NBA Finals - Game 4

Dallas led 2-1 going into this game. They hoped to win, as did Miami.

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MIAMI, June 15 (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade's knee appears to be just fine. Now it is the psyche of the Dallas Mavericks that is under examination at the NBA Finals.

Wade scored 36 points in another explosive performance and the Miami Heat manhandled Dirk Nowitzki and the rest of the Mavericks in a convincing 98-74 victory that evened the Finals at two games each.

Shaquille O'Neal collected 17 points and 13 rebounds in his best game of the series for the Heat, who have engineered a dramatic turnaround with a devastating display of mental and physical toughness. After refusing to lose Game 3, they put together their best defensive effort of the series, making the Mavericks look like they were stuck in mud.

"The other night, we willed our way to a win and we got a little bit of momentum," O'Neal said. "We just want to keep it going."

Still a very potent offensive team, Dallas shot under 32 percent (25-of-79) and got worse as the game progressed. Giving in to the physical defense and frequently settling for jumpers, the Mavericks managed just seven points in the fourth quarter, breaking a Finals record.

"It's just really disappointing when the other team is pushing and we're not pushing back hard enough," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said.

Nowitzki, the superstar forward of the Mavericks who had scored 56 points in the last two games and appeared to have found his groove, came out firing but never got on track. He made just 2-of-14 shots - including none in the second half - and was serenaded with placards and chants of "Da-vid Hass-el-hoff!" whenever he went to the line.

"They have been doing it all series," Nowitzki said. "They do a good job getting into me and making me put the ball on the floor."

"They are wrapping him up," Johnson said. "They are putting a blanket over him and and he's going to have to get that blanket off of him."

It was a rough night for Nowitzki, who had 16 points and nine rebounds. He fell hard after being fouled by O'Neal in the third quarter and twisted his left ankle after launching a 3-pointer and landing on O'Neal's foot in the final period.

"I came down on the foot like it happens a lot in our sport and it's no big deal," said Nowitzki, who has a history of playing through ankle sprains.

Clamping down on Nowitzki was reserve forward James Posey, who gave the Heat a huge lift with 15 points and 10 rebounds as he spelled foul-prone Udonis Haslem.

"We just wanted to play (Nowitzki) tough," Posey said. "He's a great player. We know he's going to get a lot of shot attempts and things like that. We don't want (him) to get into a comfort zone and let him get to his sweet spots. Just make everything work without fouling."

"Posey did an unbelievable job for us tonight, scoring, rebounding, just being active, taking charge," Wade said. "That's what it's all about."

If Wade had any pain lingering in his left knee from Game 3, it was hard to tell. He made 13-of-23 shots and 8-of-9 free throws, getting anywhere he wanted on the court. In the first half, he scored 24 points, helping Miami open a 54-44 lead.

"I'm just in a rhythm," Wade said. "I'm a rhythm player. The first two games in Dallas, I was kind of off my rhythm and now I'm in a rhythm. I'm able to look and see the defense come before it's coming and make my moves, pull up or attack."

"Wade has hurt us in the worst way," Johnson said. "We haven't been able to guard him."

The Heat had no trouble guarding the Mavericks. They limited Josh Howard to three points on 1-of-8 shooting and Jerry Stackhouse to 6-of-18 from the floor.

In the fourth quarter, Dallas made just 2-of-18 shots - including 0-of-8 from behind the arc - and broke the Finals record for fewest points in any quarter (nine) set by Utah vs. Chicago on June 7, 1998.

"We know that we're better shooters," Stackhouse said. "We're better percentage shooters than 31 percent as a team."

Antoine Walker scored 14 points for the Heat, who shot 51.5 percent (34-of-66) and improved to 10-1 at home in the playoffs. Miami hosts the pivotal fifth game Sunday and will try to become just the second team to sweep the middle three games at home since the Finals went to a 2-3-2 format in 1985.

"It's 55 days now that we've been at this, as has Dallas," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "There could be as many as eight more days."

Jason Terry scored 17 points and Stackhouse added 16 for the Mavericks, who have lost two in a row for the second time in the postseason. Dallas dropped Games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference semifinals to San Antonio but rebounded to win Game 7 on the road.

"This is a mentally tough team we have here," Johnson said. "We've been mentally tough all year. You're talking about the same team that won Game 7 in San Antonio against a world champion."

Before the game, Riley denied that Wade had an MRI on his sore left knee that he injured in Game 3 but added, "Dwyane is legitimately banged up."

The Mavericks would have a hard time believing that as Wade scored 14 points in the first seven-plus minutes.

"My teammates are doing a great job of spreading the floor and giving me the ball in the right spot so I can make plays happen," Wade said.

"He's been playing great," Nowitzki said. "Obviously, he adjusted to whatever we did in Game 1 and Game 2."

The early foul trouble for O'Neal and Haslem forced the Heat to go to a small lineup that seemed to work well. Posey came on to bother Nowitzki and contribute a pair of buckets to build the bulge to 30-22.

The Mavericks could not make a shot and were taken out of their rhythm by the defense of the Heat, which was at its best. On one possession, they missed six shots and finished the half a woeful 14-of-41 (34 percent).

Posey and Jason Williams drained 3-pointers for a 40-31 lead and Wade answered a pair of baskets by Terry with a layup and a 3-pointer before sinking a free throw for a 46-35 advantage with 4:57 left in the second quarter.

Three straight baskets by Wade early in the third quarter gave Miami a 65-50 lead as Dallas kept misfiring. With 6:29 left, Stackhouse took a flagrant foul on O'Neal, who was going in for a fast-break dunk and was knocked into the photographers. O'Neal made both free throws and Wade added two on the ensuing possession to give the Heat their first 20-point lead at 72-52.

"It was a hard foul, absolutely," said Riley, who came running onto the court. "I don't know why I was running out there. (Stackhouse) said, 'Why did you come out running out there? Did you think I was going to go after him?' I said, 'No, I don't know why I did it, I just did it.' "

"My daughters tackle me harder when I come home," the 7-1, 335-pound O'Neal said. "It actually felt pretty good to get hit like that. Thank you, Jerry. Appreciate it."

O'Neal sat down with his fourth foul with 2:59 remaining, allowing the Mavericks to put together an 8-0 burst that closed the deficit to 78-67 entering the final period. But the offense dissolved in the final period in a hailstorm of missed shots.

"Our team has to get it together and play better," Johnson said.


Final Score

Dallas: 74----------------Miami: 98

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Dallas: 2----------------Miami: 2

Next fixture

Sunday 18th, Dallas versus Miami
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yep. i reckon this series will go right down to the wire.
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yeah it will
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NBA Finals - Game 5

Whenever it was, game 5 wa splayed.

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"nba.com"
 
MIAMI, June 18 (Ticker) -- Dwyane Wade has the Miami Heat one win from an NBA title and the Dallas Mavericks totally at a loss.

In another spectacular performance, Wade scored 43 points and capped a classic contest with two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining to lift the Heat to a 101-100 victory over the Mavericks in the pivotal fifth game of the NBA Finals.

"It was probably one of the greatest games I've been around, part of," said Heat coach Pat Riley, who is tracking his fifth title as a coach. "Everybody making big shots."

Counted out a week ago, the Heat became just the second team to win the middle three home games in the 2-3-2 format to engineer a complete reversal of the series and put themselves in position to win the championship in Dallas on Tuesday.

"We've got to win one on the road to reach our goal," Wade said. "We've got a challenge ahead of us and I'm excited about this team's chances with the challenge."

The challenge would not be possible without Wade, who led a stirring comeback with 42 points in Game 3 and did himself one better in Game 5. He worked through a slow start to make 11-of-28 shots and an astounding 21-of-25 free throws.

"It's very demanding," Wade said. "I played 50 minutes and I felt good on the court, but I'm starting to feel it now. I'm a little tired."

Wade's parade to the line matched the Mavericks and set a Finals record for most free throws made. No matter the defender, he has found the seams in the defense and ripped them apart.

"That's his personality as a player, and it was in college, and it is now and probably forever will be," Riley said. "He took what the defense gave him, but he's very, very smart when they are in the penalty. ... He's not going to accept anything less but go to the basket."

Wade continues to confound the Mavericks, who had victory in their grasp several times but unraveled with a series of missed free throws and a huge strategic mistake down the stretch.

Playing shorthanded, Dallas used everything at its disposal, including "Hack-a-Shaq." But it still came up one point short.

At both the end of regulation and overtime, the Mavericks had the lead but could not get a grasp on Wade, who made a pull-up banker with 2.8 seconds remaining to force overtime and weaved his way through the entire defense at the end of the extra session.

A jumper by Dirk Nowitzki over Shaquille O'Neal gave the Mavericks a 100-99 lead with 9.1 seconds remaining. After a timeout, the Heat inbounded into the backcourt to Wade, who snaked through four defenders along the right side and drew a foul from Nowitzki.

"It was like two or three guys coming at me," Wade said. "I was just trying to get a little space where I could use my quickness to get by them. Once I got by Jason (Terry), I was able to maneuver my way to the basket."

"I kind of thought I went out of the way and they gave him the call," Nowitzki said. "So I thought it was a tough call."

After Wade made the first free throw, Dallas coach Avery Johnson signaled that he wanted a timeout - his last - after the second attempt. Josh Howard called for it immediately and left the Mavericks stranded as they could not move up to mid-court after Wade drained the second free throw.

"Josh Howard goes to (referee) Joe DeRosa and not only once but twice asks for a timeout," referee Joey Crawford said in a statement. "(We were) forced to call it, simple as that."

"If that's what he said, then that's what he said, but I know I didn't call a timeout twice," an angry Howard said. "I didn't even say nothing to anyone."

Already with one technical foul, Johnson argued vehemently but in vain.

"Pretty much most people who have ever been involved in the NBA for 20, 30 years know we wouldn't want one (between the free throws)," Johnson said. "So we were pretty dumbfounded that that couldn't get relayed."

Forced to inbound beneath their own basket, the Mavericks saw a running 50-footer by Devin Harris not come close, sending them home with no margin for error.

"We've got to come out in Game 6 with a controlled anger," said guard Jason Terry, who has been the most consistent player in the series for the Mavericks.

Johnson's strong words about consistency in the officiating over the last two days fell on deaf ears. The Mavericks were whistled for 38 fouls while the Heat were called for just 26. Miami shot 49 free throws, making 32.

O'Neal had 18 points and 12 rebounds, also spending considerable time on the foul line. Twice in the fourth quarter, he was put there intentionally by the Mavericks, who tried to exploit his 2-of-12 free-throw shooting.

"I just really wanted to hit 'em," said O'Neal, who was taken off the floor several times to prevent the Mavericks from fouling him. "It felt good leaving my hand but it just didn't go in."

Jason Terry scored 35 points and Howard added 25 for Dallas. However, both players got off to quick starts and cooled off in crunch time, as Terry did not make a basket in the final eight-plus minutes and Howard did the same for the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Mavericks withstood the absence of suspended reserve swingman Jerry Stackhouse. They regained control of the backboards with a 42-33 edge in rebounding. They survived another sub-par game by Nowitzki, who managed 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting. But they could not weather Wade.

"Wade is obviously playing great," Johnson said. "We tried a lot of different things on him."

"You have to have will, strong will in this game, if you want to get where you've got to get to," Wade said. "That's to the end, that's to the final thing, and that's to the championship."

For the second straight year in the Finals, Game 5 went to overtime after the home team had won the first four games. The Mavericks led for most of the fourth quarter and still held a 93-91 edge when Nowitzki dribbled across the lane, drew a crowd and dished to Erick Dampier for a dunk with 10 seconds to go.

Wade responded with a strong drive before pulling up for a short banker that tied it with 2.8 seconds left. He scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, including Miami's last 11.

Wade had a three-point play to cut the deficit to 88-87, a jumper that gave Miami an 89-88 lead and another jumper that extended to 91-89 with 1:08 to play. Nowitzki answered with a spinning jumper that tied it 19 seconds later.

"(Wade) had a fabulous game," O'Neal said. "He stuck up for me. I told him that I owe him one."

After his scorching fourth quarter, Wade opened overtime with a pull-up banker to give Miami a 95-93 lead. A jumper by Harris pulled the Mavericks into a 97-97 tie with 2:25 to go and a free throw by Erick Dampier provided a one-point lead at the 1:41 mark.

Dallas had a chance to extend the advantage, but Howard missed two free throws with 54 seconds left. After making their first 18 free throws, the Mavericks finished 3-of-7.

Miami's Gary Payton appeared to have his second game-winner of the series when he threw in a running left-handed drive for a 99-98 lead with 29 seconds to go. Nowitzki, who was bottled up at times, buried his go-ahead jumper and shot a sneer at the courtside crowd as he ran upcourt.

The double-teams on Nowitzki turned loose both Terry and Howard for 19 points in the first half, when Dallas took the raucous crowd out of the game.

"They were just swarming me, nothing new," Nowitzki said. "JT had a great night. Josh was great."

After disappearing in Game 4, Howard threw himself right into this contest, looking for his offense. He scored six quick points to help the Mavericks open an early 11-5 lead and teamed with Terry to score Dallas' last 21 points of the first half.

Marquis Daniels, who assumed a portion of Stackhouse's minutes, came on early in the second quarter and made a shot from the arc - his first points of the series - to cut the deficit to 31-30 before Terry and Howard took control.

In the final six minutes of the second quarter, Terry scored 12 points, including a steal and layup, two jumpers and a pair of 3-pointers. Despite straining his hamstring, Howard added nine, draining two jumpers, tipping in his own miss and completing a driving three-point play.

The groans at American Airlines Arena mounted as Miami - unable to unleash Wade, who missed nine of his last 10 shots of the half - fell behind by 11 points before a 3-pointer by Jason Williams closed the deficit to 51-43 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Heat continued their march to the foul line but still could not make any headway until Wade finally came alive. Two jumpers by Terry had the margin at 71-63 before Wade retaliated with a pair of jumpers of his own and a cross-court pass that James Posey turned into a 3-pointer, making it a one-point game entering the fourth period.


Final Score

Miami: 101--------------Dallas: 100

How Things Stand (Best of 7)

Dallas: 2----------------Miami: 3

Next fixture

Tonight, Miami versus Dallas

Have the Mavs cracked under the pressure?
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