MIAMI (AP) - The Mavericks sure turned that around in a hurry.
Miami seemed ready to deliver the early knockout punch, racing to a nine-point lead and sending Dirk Nowitzki to the bench with two fouls.
Instead, the Mavericks closed the first quarter with a 17-5 finish after the big German sat down to take a 32-27 lead.
The biggest concern for the Heat has so far been true. Dallas’ shooters gained confidence with their 112-point performance in Game 5, when they shot 56.5 percent and made 13 of 19 3-pointers. Now Jason Terry came off the bench to hit his first four shots, fellow reserves Brian Cardinal and DeShawn Stevenson hit 3s, and the Mavs are in a groove.
And three quarters from a championship.
___
Dirk Nowitzki had to go to the bench, but no problem for the Dallas Mavericks the way Jason Terry came off it.
Terry came in and hit a jumper and a 3-pointer on his first two attempts, pulling the Mavericks within 22-20 with 4:10 remaining in the first quarter.
Nowitzki went to the bench with 5:11 left after picking up his second personal foul. Brian Cardinal replaced him, and Terry entered at the same time.
Terry struggled for most of four games, kept telling everyone eventually the shots would start falling, and they did in Game 5, when he hit two late 3-pointers among his 21 points.
Apparently he’s still in rhythm.
___
Great start for LeBron James.
Of course, all people want to talk about are his finishes.
He’s got nine points in the first 4:15, powering the Heat to a 14-10 lead. Best part for the Heat is his outside shot is falling. He nailed a 3-pointer to open the scoring and just hit a long 2-pointer that sent Dallas into a timeout.
James seemed to be losing confidence in his jumper while the Heat lost the last two games. But when it’s falling, the way it was against Boston and Chicago in the last two rounds, he is perhaps the most unguardable player in the game.
Yet, none of this matters too much until we see what he does in the fourth quarter. He’s got only 11 points in five games in that period, the biggest story in this series.
If he keeps up this pace, maybe the fourth quarter won’t matter tonight.
___
Struggling with the idea that this could be the last game of the season.
It’s been a thrilling finals and one more game would be great, but that’s not necessarily the reason.
It’s more that nobody wants to think about what comes next.
These finals are such a contrast to last year’s in that regard. People couldn’t wait to get started on the offseason after the Lakers and Celtics finished, because it was going to be historic. Last summer’s free agency season, which of course ended with LeBron James and Chris Bosh coming here to join Dwyane Wade, was maybe the biggest story of the year in sports. Questions of whether LeBron would stay in Cleveland, or come save New York, or pick up where Michael Jordan left off in Chicago, or team up with Wade had been talked about for months, if not years.
Now it’s the labor situation, and nobody is looking forward to that.
Should the finals end tonight, it’s back to work Tuesday in New York for Commissioner David Stern, when players and owners meet again. Then the draft next week is considered lackluster, in part because some top players stayed in school due to the uncertainty about next season.
After that, it’s all bargaining, all the time until they get a new deal, or until the lockout starts July 1.
So let’s hope for at least one more good game before having to worry about that.
___
This series is so close, it’s impossible to predict what’s going to happen tonight.
Through five games, Dallas has scored 463 points and Miami has 459, so a blowout seems unlikely.
Then again, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade both could be unstoppable, and the Heat could win easily to even the series and force things to a seventh game on Tuesday night.
And perhaps they can get a boost with what’s probably a long-overdue lineup change. Mario Chalmers is getting the start at point guard, bumping the struggling Mike Bibby to the bench.
Or maybe the Mavericks, who were a blistering 13 for 19 from 3-point range in Game 5, keep it rolling from the outside and shoot their way to a championship.
Our prediction before the series was Mavs in 7, so we’ll assume a Heat victory tonight.
For another prediction, we turn to a certain former Mavericks star.
“I have a feeling The German will have Monster game tonight,” Steve Nash wrote this afternoon on Twitter.
Dirk Nowitzki certainly can make that prediction come true.
___
There is a noticeable amount of Mavericks blue sprinkled in among all the white shirts that surround the arena here.
A large German flag was being waved behind the basket as Dirk Nowitzki was shooting at during pregame warmups, and plenty of fans are wearing his jerseys in the seats.
When Nowitzki finished his shooting and went to the locker room, team owner Mark Cuban took over the court. Fans booed as he started shooting, then chanted, “Let’s Go Heat.”
Mavericks franchise founder Donald Carter and his wife, Linda, a former high school basketball player who inspired him to bring the NBA to Dallas, were among the fans in the stands. He was of course wearing the white cowboy hat that was part of the club’s original logo. He still owns a portion of the club.
The blue might not stand out as much once the rest of Miami’s late-arriving fans show up. But some of them might be surprised to find themselves sitting next to someone dressed in blue.
___
Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney
Please read our comment policy before commenting.