Dallas Pushes Miami To The Brink

Late last Thursday, at around the five-minute mark of Game 2, who would’ve ever believed we’d be coming back to Miami for Game 6 with Dallas just one win away from a championship? This was Miami’s ring. It was right there in front of them. Now, after blowing two games, the Heat are going home with their toes peering out over the edge, down 3-2 after losing Game 5 112-103. The biggest numbers on the night? 13 and 19. Tyson Chandler‘s line? Nah. Number of “OMG, STFU!” Mark Jackson punchlines? Nope. The Mavs shot a stupid, mind-blowing 13-for-19 from beyond the arc, and down the stretch, it was their distance shooting that made the difference. For the second straight game, the JET (21 points) was doing it in the fourth against LeBron, and his crazy three from nearly out of bounds with 33 seconds left iced it, putting Dallas up seven. Before that, Jason Kidd (13 points) hit a three that pushed it to a two-possession game in the final moments. And before that J.J. Barea was bobbing and weaving and Dirk (29 points) was flicking in moonshots from the perimeter (seriously, some of those shots he hit barely even touched his hands before they went up). All together, it added up to a 17-4 Mavs run to end the game … Miami actually opened up a four-point lead before Dallas’ finishing run. Amazingly in the fourth, Miami’s first 17 points came in the paint and off the line. The sequence that got them the lead? ‘Bron finding Haslem and Wade for layups, and then Wade getting Haslem on a screen slip for a dunk. After that, Wade (23 points, eight assists) banged a three for a 9-0 Heat run … Will the real Barea please stand up? After just three points in the first half, Barea mistakingly took Chalmers and Bibby for Fisher and Blake and dropped 14 second-half points. We guarantee someone will overpay him this summer … You wanted a great basketball game, and you got one in the first half. Dallas was shooting above 60% for most of it, and yet still trailed. Then out of nowhere, D-Wade got up and bounced, walking to the Heat locker room with a few Miami trainers. Thank Brian Cardinal. The Custodian blasted Wade on a blocking call, leaving Flash with a hip contusion. Not fun … LeBron didn’t exactly come back with guns blazing, but he was involved more and had a couple of easy second-quarter baskets. To end the quarter, it was Mario Chalmers (again) making another three from halfcourt. This was about a minute after he nearly shot a three over the backboard. Somewhere along the way, he stole LeBron’s Secret Stuff because lately he’s been playing recklessly awesome. That’s a good thing. Honestly, you get 15 outta Mario, you better win … After a very quiet start, Dirk finally turned into Conan the Barbarian (16 in the first half) and conversely Dallas hit the Heat with a 10-2 run to get to the break. The Mavs shot 66% in the first half; That’s the highest percentage for ANY TEAM in ANY HALF this postseason. Even into the fourth quarter, Dallas was still shooting right at 60, and Miami was well above 50% … LeBron still didn’t look like himself, didn’t look confident. Where was the guy who hit four threes in Game 1? At least he finally broke the ice w/ a 4th quarter bucket. Through five games, LeBron has 11 points in the fourth quarter. 11. His triple-double was big (17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists), but with Wade sidelined, Miami needed more. They needed special. When the defenses tightened and pulses starting pounding, the Js he did take weren’t even close … Ian Mahinmi was WAY in over his head. Brendan Haywood may not be a great player, but Mahinmi was getting exposed by Chris Bosh (19 points, 10 rebounds) nearly every possession he saw the court … You wanna know why everyone made such a big fuss over Miami blowing two games in this series? You never know what’s gonna happen. And it might’ve come back to bite them now. Dallas is clicking. Backs against the wall. Wade, who knows what’ll happen with him? It’s about 100 degrees here in NYC. In South Beach these next few days, the heat will be suffocating. Of the previous 26 times the Finals were tied at two, the winner of Game 5 went on to win the series 19 times … We’re out like LeBron in the fourth.