Final, Mavericks 95-93: That was surreal stuff. Chris Bosh was lined up on Dirk Nowitzki for the Mavs' final possession. It looked like Dirk was setting himself up to take the final shot from the left elbow, but he recognized the Heat left Bosh on an island and charged toward the rim to make a left-handed lay-up with about four seconds to play. Dwyane Wade couldn't connect on a potential game-winning 3-pointer, and the Mavericks' comeback knotted the series at 1-1.
Fourth quarter, 24.5, 93-93: As well as Jason Terry has played offensively in the fourth quarter, he has fallen asleep twice on the defensive end. This one might have gravely cost the Mavericks. He left Mario Chalmers all alone on the inbound play, and Chalmers hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to tie the score. The Mavericks played so much great defense for the last seven minutes, but one mistake has cost them.
Fourth quarter, 26.7, Mavericks 93-90: And it keeps on going. Dwyane Wade, who was having a signature performance, missed a 3-pointer after another big defensive stand by the Mavs. On the other end, Dirk Nowitzki was left unchallenged, and he knocked down a 3-pointer. The Mavs got back into it with the role guys, but Dirk has scored seven straight now.
Fourth quarter, 57.6, 90-90: This is incredible. How many people do you think turned this game off when it was 88-73? Well, the Mavs' 17-2 run has gotten them tied up again. The last two weren't easy, either. The Mavs had a chance to tie it with about two minutes to go, but they had an awful possession. Then, after playing great defense, LeBron James missed a pair of wild 3-pointers, but the Heat got consecutive offensive rebounds. But after a loose-ball scramble, Dirk Nowitzki capped a fast break with a lay-up to tie the score. Completely improbable. Never saw this coming.
Fourth quarter, 3:11, Heat 90-86: Jason Terry's jumper has cut it to four. There's a major difference on the offensive end for the Mavs — aside from, of course, not turning it over — and it's coming from the role players. The Heat have forced Mavs not named Dirk to beat them, and up until the last three minutes, that philosophy has worked wonderfully. Nowitzki doesn't have a single point during the Mavericks' 13-2 run, and that's all you need to know.
Fourth quarter, 4:26, Heat 88-81: The Mavs have an 8-0 run going to get back into it. Credit the Heat for turning up their defensive pressure — the Mavs' halfcourt buckets have been tough to come by — but Miami still goes cold in its halfcourt offense. More of the same, if only the Mavericks had better ball control…
Fourth quarter, 7:14, Heat 88-73: Say goodnight, Dallas. The Heat have scored 13 straight, and Dwyane Wade's 3-pointer is the most recent bucket of the bunch. Wade has 36 points and is the big-time favorite through two games to win Finals MVP. Dallas has five turnovers during the Miami run. The Mavs need some Stick Em or something. You've almost got to try to give away the ball at this pace.
Fourth quarter, 9:34, Heat 77-73: It's crazy how good the Heat are in the open floor, and it's no coincidence they've got a 23-11 advantage in points off turnovers. When LeBron and Wade are moving north and south, it's nearly impossible to stop them. That's why the Mavericks' ball control is a massive key to their success in this series. So far, it has doomed them in Game 2.
End of third quarter, Heat 75-71: Credit the Mavericks for treading water, as Jason Terry's fade-away jumper in the final seconds of the quarter pulled them to within four and quieted the house (a little) after LeBron James coasted through the lane to throw down a hard one-handed dunk. The Mavs don't believe much in help defense.
Third quarter, 1:00, Heat 71-67: Steve Nash is in the crowd, completing the holy triumverate of over-the-hill point guards in the building (Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby).
Third quarter, 2:10, Heat 71-63: Miami's 29-13 run stretches back to the second quarter, and the Heat have taken control here. Dallas hasn't been this cold since it snowed at the Super Bowl.
Third quarter, 3:23, Heat 69-61: Brian Cardinal has checked in for Dirk Nowitzki. Cardinal, whose nickname is apparently "The Custodian," has played seven total minutes in three appearances in the playoffs. This is his first action since playing five minutes in the Mavs' blowout of the Lakers in Game 4.
Third quarter, 6:06, Heat 59-57: So, LeBron James was running the break, stopped at the elbow, threw his right elbow into Dirk Nowitzki's chest, drew a foul on Nowitzki and then suckered a technical foul out of an irate Rick Carlisle? If I got those calls, I could get a max contract, too.
Third quarter, 9:36, Heat 57-52: In four third-quarter possessions, the Mavericks have three turnovers, two missed shots and one point. So, naturally, the Heat have taken their biggest lead of the game.
Third quarter, 11:59, 51-51: Tied after one. Tied after two. What will the third quarter hold?
End of second quarter, 51-51: Dwyane Wade missed a running 3 at the buzzer, but he scored five quick points in the last minute to get the Heat knotted up. Miami finished on a 9-0 run to erase the Mavs' momentum. Dirk Nowitzki only hit 3 of 10 from the floor and has nine points, so you've got to think the sprained middle finger on his left hand has been bothersome. Wade, meanwhile, has been the best player on the court, and there isn't a close second. He's got 21 points, three assists, two steals, two blocks and two rebounds.
Second quarter, 2:00, Mavs 51-46: Dallas has led through the majority of this game, and it has controlled much of the pace, too. But the Heat only trail by five. That's got to be a little concerning for Rick Carlisle.
Second quarter, 3:52, Mavs 49-42: One of the announcers said LeBron James isn't having a good first half, but he's 5 of 7 for 12 points and also has five rebounds and one assist. Dwyane Wade is the only guy in the building with more points.
Second quarter, 6:32, Mavs 40-38: Just a hunch, but if the Mavericks allow LeBron James and Dwyane Wade to have their own dunk contest, things aren't going to go well for them. Oh, and the Mavs — who trail the series — have an 11-0 edge in free-throw attempts. Just thought I'd mention that.
Second quarter, 8:31, Mavs 39-34: J.J. Barea has five points, one rebound and one assist in five minutes, and the Mavs are a plus-eight with him in the lineup. During my two seasons covering the Celtics (2007-09), I had a couple chances to catch up with Barea, who went to Northeastern. I asked him what he did first when he went back to NU, and he immediately replied, "Went to Chicken Lou's." Every one of my friends who went to Northeastern love that story.
Second quarter, 10:50, 30-30: Chris Bosh just traveled three times before passing the ball, but it wasn't called because traveling was so 1990.
End of first quarter, 28-28: The Mavs and Heat played a sloppy first quarter in Game 1, but the opening quarter of Game 2 was a shootout. On another note, I don't understand how players can have such a lack of awareness on certain occasions. The shot clock was running down to the last five seconds, and LeBron James had the ball at the Heat logo at midcourt. All you can think about is, "He's taking a 3." But the Mavericks dropped off him, ducked inside the 3-point line and let James pull up to drill an easy one. I mean, just line up on the arc and force him to get rid of the ball, which would make someone else catch and shoot.
First quarter, 1:54, Heat 23-20: After hitting his first two 3-pointers, Mike Bibby missed his third attempt, but the Mavs weren't keen on blocking out, so LeBron James cleaned up the leather by collecting the ball mid-air and throwing down a two-hander before pausing to pose and yell at the crowd. Then they yelled back at him.
First quarter, 5;20, Heat 16-13: Interestingly, Dirk Nowitzki hit the bench during the timeout at the 5:54 mark. With no fouls. That's a weird way for Rick Carlisle to deal with Miami's run, which has stretched to 10-1.
First quarter, 5:54, Heat 14-13: If you take out Chris Bosh, who was 1-for-4 after 150 seconds and then decided passing was a better idea, the two teams have made 9 of 13 from the field. Everyone is shooting well, and LeBron James just hit a 3-pointer to cap an 8-1 run that gave Miami the lead back.
First quarter, 9:00, Mavs 6-4: This one lady thought she'd get away with wearing a nice white dress to sit in the first row on the baseline. And three minutes into the game, she got a whole bucket of DeShawn Stevenson's hip sweat on her face and her friend's drink on her lap.
First quarter, 11:58, 0-0: The Mavs won the opening toss, and they'll try to have superior talents Thursday night on South Beach.
8:52 p.m.: The point of the post below (it would have been nice if I put a stamp on it) is that Game 1 crowds aren't a true indicator of a team's fan base. The prices are jacked up to the point where few can afford the cost of tickets. It's similar to the Super Bowl, too.
8:37 p.m.: It's almost tip time in Miami. By all accounts, the home crowd was fairly silent during Game 1. Can they be louder in Game 2?
I've heard a lot of people criticize the Miami fan base as a band of front-runners. While that may be true, I wouldn't use the lack of noise in Game 1 as the prime example. The crowd for Games 1 and 2 during the 2008 Finals had a very corporate feel to it, and it wasn't as loud as it had been earlier during the Celtics' playoff run. And, obviously, no one would ever criticize Boston's basketball fan base.
But that Game 6 crowd? Well, one of the two loudest crowds I've ever heard in my life. (The Bell Centre for the Bruins-Canadiens Game 7 in 2008 was the wildest I've ever seen anything anywhere.)
8 a.m.: It might be LeBron James' spotlight, but it's still Dwyane Wade's team.
Wade scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half of Game 1 on Tuesday, and he also chipped in with two key assists, three rebounds and one booming block in the fourth quarter of the Heat's series-opening victory against the Mavericks.
Dallas will try to even the series Thursday night in Miami, but the Mavs will have an even steeper hill to climb due to Dirk Nowitzki's torn ligament in his finger. Without their superstar at full strength, the Mavericks will need big-time contributions from guys like Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and former Northeastern star J.J. Barea.
The game tips off at 9 p.m., and stay with NESN.com's live blog throughout the action.
