It was a story unfamiliar to the Miami Heat in these 2011 playoffs, but one the Dallas Mavericks know well. Dallas came back from a seemingly debilitating deficit with seven minutes remaining to claim Game Two behind good defense and a surging offensive attack by the veterans that got them there.
With 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter the Mavericks found themselves down 15 points and felt on the verge of going back to Dallas in a 2-0 hole. And then something clicked. From that point on Miami scored just one more field goal as the Mavericks fought their way to a crucial victory in Game Two, sending the series back to Dallas tied at a game a piece.
Dallas fought back to take a 93-90 lead in the fourth just before Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with 24.5 seconds remaining (that sole field goal for Miami of the last seven minutes).
Tied at 93, Dallas ran down the clock before Dirk Nowitzki, in his typical 2011 Playoffs fashion, made an impressive spin move and drove to the hole laying it in with an ailing left hand to give Dallas the lead with just 3.6 seconds to go. That bucket gave Dallas a lead they would not relinquish in the final seconds.
Again, this is a story Dallas knows well. In the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks made similar comebacks more than once against the Oklahoma City Thunder with just minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. In the Finals they were able to do it again against a decidedly better team in the Miami Heat.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Dirk struggled through most of this game but scored nine of his 24 in the final minutes to lead his team to victory. Jason Terry also helped lead the comeback charge finishing with 16 points. It was Shawn Marion who kept the Mavericks in the game throughout in a contest which easily could have gotten even more lopsided than it was. Marion finished with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Miami led most of this game and, in atypical fashion, could not finish. Dwyane Wade had one of his best games of the playoffs with 36 points and six assists, but did not score at all in the game’s final minutes. Lebron James added 20 points for the Heat with eight rebounds, and Bibby had 14 points in his best playoff performance of 2011. Bibby had been deeply struggling from beyond the arc but something clicked Thursday night and he managed to get hot.
The story of this game, though, was the Mavericks’ resilience and the Heat’s utter collapse in the final minutes. Dirk Nowitzki once again showed his competitiveness and unwillingness to give up even when things seemed at their bleakest point.
The Mavericks also managed to gain a very important edge as they out-rebounded the Heat 41-30 in the game. This helped make up the gap they created by turning the ball over more (18-12).
Game Three heads back to Texas Sunday evening with the series tied at one game a piece.
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