Official Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks thread

[Gustavo]

That was still a nice review. good job.

You get fined for not talking to the media?? 0_o

Mavs did a great job against Shaq. He couldn't do squat. At least he made a freethrow.

Wade and Shaq had better play better in Miami. They have no excuse this time. They're motivated, they're losing, and they're at home.

Im excited for the game! Man is this going to get good in the south Beach. I think the heat will win this game, and the mavs will finish in 5.

 

[Vegito728]

Okay here's my review of game 3.



Gary Payton picked the absolute perfect time to make his first bucket of the NBA Finals, and Dirk Nowitzki picked the worst time to turn into Shaq at the foul line.

Payton calmly nailed a 20-foot jumper with 9.3 seconds left to break a late tie, and Nowitzki missed a foul shot six seconds later that would have deadlocked the game again.

Those two shots, one made and one missed, have finally made the NBA Finals compelling, and a series that looked lost for the Heat midway through the fourth quarter is now something entirely different.

It's 2-1 Dallas, not 3-0, and the Heat cannot be counted out following a thrilling 98-96 victory Tuesday night in what was by far the best basketball anyone had seen in what seemed like a long, long time.

Just when it looked like everyone in this city needed to take all their white clothing and white seat covers and turn them into white flags, the Heat refused to surrender. Instead, they closed the game with a 22-7 run to salvage their season and turn this into a series.



Payton hit the game's biggest shot, but Dwyane Wade was spectacular throughout the evening while scoring 42 points, and Shaquille O'Neal knocked down a pair of clutch free throws when the Heat were making their run.

So hold off on those parade plans, Dallas. This series took a heck of a turn as your Mavericks were collapsing down the stretch.


A few fans actually booed when the Mavs took an 83-71 lead after a 6-0 run in which Nowitzki scored twice and had an assist on the other bucket, but the Heat didn't give up on themselves.

A jumper and a drive by Wade, who scored 15 points in the fourth quarter while playing the final 11 minutes with five fouls, made it 91-88, and a pair of clutch free throws by O'Neal pulled Miami to 93-90 with just over 90 seconds left. A missed jumper by Jerry Stackhouse was followed by a corner jumper by Wade that made it a one-point game with 1:16 left, and Udonis Haslem stole Terry's telegraphed pass to Nowitzki and was fouled as he broke downcourt. He made both foul shots to put Miami ahead 94-93, and Terry missed an open 16-footer on the Mavs' next possession. Devin Harris eventually tied it on a driving layup with 33 seconds left, but Payton drilled his 20-footer on Miami's next possession.


Nowitzki went to the line for his fateful miss with 3.4 seconds left, Wade went 1-of-2 from the line with 1.4 seconds left, and Dallas used its last timeout with 1 second remaining to set up a final shot. The Mavs tried a lob to Howard, but Wade deflected the pass to seal the win.

Right from the get-go, it was clear the Heat were in a comfort zone on their home floor. They were the team pushing the tempo and making things lively, and O'Neal eclipsed his Game 2 point total of five before the first period was even halfway over. Nowitzki missed his first four shots before finally getting on the board with a technical foul shot after Wade was cited for hanging on the rim after a dunk. But the free throw line was where Nowitzki scored all three of his points in the quarter.

O'Neal had a couple foul-ups -- throwing a lead pass to referee Jack Nies on a fast break, then pushing Erick Dampier in the back as he was going up for an easy dunk -- but he seemed to have conquered his biggest weakness when he stepped to the foul line midway through the quarter and made a pair, drawing a genuine roar of approval from the crowd. Miami led 29-21 after one quarter, and Dallas' difficulties were typified by what happened on their final possession, failing to get a shot off before the clock expired as coach Avery Johnson frantically gestured from in front of the bench.

The second quarter was where things had turned bad for the Heat in the first two games of the series, but this time Miami had only one significant lull. It came as O'Neal was called for his second foul and Gary Payton was slapped with a technical for arguing. Nowitzki went to the line and made all three shots, Jason Terry followed with a 3 and Nowitzki hit a jumper. That 8-0 run made it a one-point game, but Miami rallied over the final three minutes of the half with O'Neal resting on the bench to take a 52-43 halftime lead.

Significant slippage came for the Heat early in the third quarter as Dallas opened the second half with a 12-2 run to take a 55-54 lead before many of the fans were back in their seats. A pair of driving layups by Antoine Walker swung the momentum back Miami's way and forced Johnson to call timeout, and whatever he told his team seemed to instantly sink in.

Nowitzki and Howard both started hitting jumpers from all angles, and Howard reached his magic number -- 20 points (the Mavs entered the game 25-0 when he scores than many) -- on two free throws with 2:42 left in the quarter to put the Mavs ahead 72-66. Wade picked up his fourth foul seconds later but stayed in the game -- as sure of a sign as anything of how desperate the Heat were to win. But many of their problems from Games 1 and 2 started to resurface, including the unbelievable spectacle of O'Neal bouncing a free throw so hard off the back rim that it bounded to the top of the backboard and then fell behind it. O'Neal's two misses on that trip left the Heat trailing 77-68 after three quarters.

It was an uphill climb from there for the Heat, but they were up to the task.

So we have ourselves a series, finally. And that's the way it should be in the Finals.

 

[Gustavo]

^
Great post. Looks like you really watched your game. Although it was Posey that hit 1/2 in the final seconds at the free throw line.

I hope Mavs win next game, Heat win the next and the Mavs win the 'Chip at home.

 

[Babe_Ruth]

Wow what a show from Dwynae Wade, scored like 15 points in four minutes it was incredible. People said it was a Michael Jordan performance. I'm really angry that Miami won, now it's a series again, but I don't think that Dallas will lose two in a row.

 

[Gustavo]

You have to give some big time credit to the Mavs. If it was any team, they would have been blown out. Mavs really picked it up in the playoffs. I think Mavs will win this baby at home!

 

[oxyMORON]

I think it all started when Shaq hit 2 freethrows in a row. That got everyone pumped up and motivated. Then te Mavs kind of broke down and lost a little steam. But anyway, after Shaq made those freethrows, all the big shots started coming in.

 

[Babe_Ruth]

The Mavs are a very deep team that's why they're in the championship game right now so there's no doubt that you got to give them some credit because they sure deserve it. That was also a great statement about Shaq hitting is free throws was a big upper booster for the team but like I said the Mavs will take care of business in game number 4.

 

[Babe_Ruth]

Press Release - The following statement was issued by Stu Jackson, NBA Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations, in regard to a timing malfunction during Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals:

“Upon review of Game 3 of the NBA Finals between Miami and Dallas, the NBA League Office has determined that the game timing system malfunctioned on two separate occasions in the fourth period. With 45.3 seconds remaining in the game, the clock continued to run for 2.5 seconds after a foul was called on Jason Terry of the Mavericks, and with 4.3 seconds remaining in the game, the clock continued to run for 0.9 seconds after a foul was called on Udonis Haslem of the Heat. In both cases, the cause of the problem was a malfunction in the electronic device worn by one of the game officials, which is designed to automatically stop the clock when the referee's whistle is blown.

“The NBA will replace the defective equipment for subsequent games of the Finals.â€Â

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/40933/20060615/nba_explains_time_malfunction_from_game_3/

 

[Gustavo]

I think it all started when Shaq hit 2 freethrows in a row. That got everyone pumped up and motivated. Then te Mavs kind of broke down and lost a little steam. But anyway, after Shaq made those freethrows, all the big shots started coming in.

No doubt. You never see those everyday.

 

[Vegito728]

Okay here's my review of game 4.


The Heat had D-Wade, and the Heat played D-Fense. It was hard to say which one was more important, but those two factors put together allowed Miami to tie up the NBA Finals with relative ease Thursday night.

Getting 36 points from their banged-up superstar and forcing Dirk Nowitzki to pick himself up off the floor more times than he had in the entire series, the Heat dominated Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night and defeated the Dallas Mavericks 98-74, ensuring his series will be going at least six games.

It's all tied up now with the Heat having seized the momentum, but as everyone knows it's far from over. This series is even starting to resemble last year's Finals, when San Antonio won the first two at home and Detroit took the next two before and San Antonio pulled out Game 5 on Robert Horry's 3-pointer at the end of overtime.

Who know's what's in store this time in Game 5, but the series got a whole lot chippier and a whole lot more contentious on this night, with Shaquille O'Neal on the receiving end of a flagrant foul and Nowitzki on the receiving end of several hard fouls -- and a couple hard non-fouls -- that typified Miami's physical approach to playing D.

Nowitzki shot just 2-for-14 and Josh Howard was 1-for-8. Or to put it another way, Wade (13 field goals), O'Neal (six), James Posey (five) and Antoine Walker (five) each had more buckets than Nowitzki and Howard combined. Miami shot over 50 percent and kept Dallas below 33 percent, never letting the Mavs make a sustained second-half run that could have made this one a little more competitive.

Dwyane Wade finished with 36 points, including 24 in the first half despite playing on a strained left knee, while O'Neal had 17 points and made half of his 10 foul shots, Posey scored 15 and Walker 14. As a team, Miami outrebounded Dallas 48-36 -- making it easily Dallas' worst game on the boards in the entire postseason.

Nowitzki scored 16, but 11 of those points came from the line as he struggled to deal with defenders Udonis Haslem, Posey and Shandon Anderson. Jason Terry led Dallas with 17 points.

Wade had things going early on, showing no ill effects from the strained knee he suffered in Game 3. Using an explosive first step, he repeatedly beat defender (and surprise starter) Devin Harris off the dribble before switching over to his jump shot, and his 3-pointer midway through the first quarter gave him 14 of Miami's first 19 points. Four of the others were scored by O'Neal, who went to the bench with his second foul just 4:24 into the game. Wade's 3-pointer was his 13th of the postseason, matching his total from the entire regular season.

Miami led 30-25 after one quarter, but the Heat had to go deep into their bench just seconds into the second quarter when Haslem picked up his third personal. But they continued to play from ahead thanks to Posey's defense, which kept Nowitzki from getting untracked. Wade's first bucket of the quarter did not come until past the midpoint of the period, but he followed that drive with a 3-pointer to give Miami the game's first double-digit lead, 45-35. The lead grew as large as 13, and the score was 54-44 at halftime behind 24 points from Wade.

But how in control were the Heat? The had a big lead at intermission in Game 3 and quickly frittered it away, but his time it was clear Wade would not allow a repeat. He scored once inside and then hit two jumpers to reach 30 points with 7:30 left in the quarter, putting Miami in front 65-50.

Stackhouse's flagrant foul against O'Neal came after Jason Williams stole the ball and was going in uncontested but saw O'Neal trailing close behind. He passed the ball to Shaq, and Stackhouse came across the lane and raked O'Neal across the upper chest and face, knocking him hard to the floor. Antoine Walker picked up a technical for going after Stackhouse, and Stackhouse got to shoot that technical free throw when the referees decided against calling a flagrant-penalty 2 foul against him, which would have brought an automatic ejection. But after Stackhouse made his shot, O'Neal went to the line and knocked down both his shots to get the lead up to 20, 72-52. It looked every bit like a blowout, but Stackhouse for one wasn't giving up. He closed the quarter with a drive from coast to coast, cutting Miami's lead to 78-67 after three quarters. Still a sizeable, lead, but not of the size the Heat would have been satisfied with.

O'Neal appeared to foul Nowitzki on a 3-point attempt three minutes into the fourth quarter, with Nowitzki shook up enough after landing on O'Neal's foot that it took him several seconds to get up. The Mavs even removed him from the game briefly, and the Mavs trailed 82-70 when he returned with 8:10 left. But Dallas did not score again from the field again until late in the quarter, and by then the outcome was never in doubt.

The carryover from the Mavs from their Game 3 collapse in the final 6 1/2 minutes -- blowing a 13-point lead -- seemed substantial.