I think any "momentum" is blunted by the 3 day break. The Heat has proven now that they can beat the Mavs when the teams play even. If both teams shoot porly, the Heat wins, if both teams shoot well the Heat can win, and should have won last night. There is no mystery as to what happened. the Heat just stopped executing and then everything went Dallas's way. It was a fluke. One bucket during that stretch the Heat is shooting free throws to clinch it at the end.
Think about this...... It took an NBA record for this team to lose......a fluke that doesnt happen alot at all.....Miami reverted back to the 1st half of the season when they all took 2 dribbles and popped some lazy jumper....if they continued to do what they did for the whole game, which was drive the lane for easy layups and dunks, this game is a walkover.... They are still in the end a young team, and sometimes they lose focus.....
Not to take away from the Heat's defense, which is incredible, but the Mavs played extremely poor in the first half and kept it close. Dirk and Terry didn't play well until the end and Dallas had a lot of turnovers. Miami had about 1,000 dunks - so the Mavs defense struggled as well. As much as Miami collapsed at the end - the Mavs didn't play well and kept it fairly close most of the game. I think the Heat win it in 6 but hope we get to see more good basketball. Games have been fun so far.
The Mavs shot pretty well, I think 48% in the first half, even with Dirk struggling. The Heat is the better team. Last night was a fluke. Dallas played great down the stretch and the Heat assisted them by getting sloppy on offense, which led to fast breaks. The Heat alsos topped driving to the basket the last efw minutes, which was incredibly dumb as I believe they were in the bonus with like 4 minutes to go.
the better team doesnt always win though....it is alot about concentration, and whats between the head too.....as well the coach, what is going through his head as his team is ringing up 17 footer after 19 footer....at that point regardless of the stars/ego/ whatever on your team, you have to demand that the team drives the lane....that team is extremely hard to defend in the half-court when they do....opposite of that in the half-court, they a terrible iso-jumping shooting team, they have proved this all year...
Ideally you foul prior Dirk to the shot and make them take the ball out, and rely on your defense to force a lower percentage shot via less time remaining.
Yeah. Gotta give props to the Mavericks for continuing to chip away as the Heat Stumbled and slipped on their own fecal matter for 7 whole minutes. Lights out. It's best 3 out of 5; three of which are in Dallas (w/e Heat are the best road team anyway).
The better team doesn't always win in a one game sample size, but over the course of the series, the better team usually pulls through. I still expect us to win the series. I expect 2 wins in Dallas, I really do. When we simply play average, the Mavericks cannot beat us
agreed all I am saying is crazy stuff happens, espeically in pressure packed games....maybe Miami needed this to happen as a learning tool, that you cant take your foot off the gas until the clock reads zero.... Oh and thanks to all the Sox/Pats/Celts fans who continue to blow up my phone since last night and this morning with kind words like "Heat choke in every big spot like the Dolphins" "LeBron is the basketball A-Rod" and my favorite "We are going to Dallas with are Celtics jerseys to the next game" now you have made this basketball bystander now have to put on a Heat hat and a White Hot Tee as I walk through Faneuil Hall then on to Cask N' Flagon......
That finish was ugly. I don't mind the final defensive series that much. I may have done it differently and I think that Bosh had a lapse, but I thought the real grievous errors occurred during the previous six minutes or so. Running down the clock and heaving up desperation 3 point shots is not generally effective offense. You may get away with it from time to time, but most often the result will be just what happened last night. I imagine that point will be made evident when the team reviews the game film. Hopefully, that lesson will sink in. I do still believe that Miami is the better team and that they can steal 1 or 2 in Dallas.
You can't give up 95 points and expect to win a game in the Finals. Defense the last 2 minutes was atrocious.
Our poor defense was due, at least in part, to our atrocious offense down the stretch. When we started settling for long jumpers it allowed Dallas to push the tempo and shoot before our defense was set. We would've been better off just dribbling out the 24 second clock and getting shot clock violations. At least then, they need to inbound the ball and you can set your defense.
They did go to the one-trigger offense too early IMO. But to be honest, our offense hasn't been anything special. Our defense has carried the team for the most part. I'm not surprised when go through bad offensive stretches, but I am surprised when that happens on the other end.
Our half court offense isn't a thing of beauty but it's been effective. I agree with you that there were defensive lapses, but at the very least the transition/tempo aspect of it would've been mitigated by better offense (even without scoring)
Going down 0-2 to the Heat would've been it, more or less, so that comeback was huge and now Dallas gets the home court. I still think/hope Dallas wins, like with the final two possessions last night, just don't think Dirk is going be denied this year. We'll see though, entertaining series and least I don't have to see Lakers/Celtics again.
I don’t see how Dallas wins this series. Miami is in the driver’s seat: the Mavs came back because the Heat stopped caring. Classic November Heatball, rather than the May Heatball we’ve been treated to. My prediction: Miami wins 2 of 3 in Dallas, comes home to win it all in game 6. I’ve had Heat in 6 this entire time.
Stugotz had a great stat on Lebatard today. Outside of the last 6 minutes yesterday, the Heat have outscored the Mavericks by 23. For 90 of 96 minutes in this series, the Heat have been the far superior team. I'll take that sample size over the worst 7 minute stretch the Heat has played in months
He's been denied all series long. I feel Miami will get back to basics and he'll have to get his at the charity stripe. sent from my Android via Tapatalk
Bosh took responsibility because it was his responsibility at the end. He was supposed to foul Dirk. He didn’t.
I’m not testy or perturbed. Simply setting the record straight. Bosh taking responsibility is not particularly noteworthy beyond him simply being honest. It’s not necessarily a classy move, because it actually was his responsibility. It’s what he should have done, no more and no less.
Not that it matters at all, but LBJ has a big head lol...you notice it more, when his band gets knocked off........cuz now Dallas will start to think they can actually win this thing.... gotta win tonight or the pressure sets in a little on the Heatles....
Hey, remember when it was said the Heat in the Finals would be boring? This is one of the best Finals in a long time.
Congrats to the Heat. Big win. They beat the Mavs and the refs. I didn't know that if you tried to box out Tyson Chandler, it is an automatic loose ball foul!
YES..they tried to **** us..and IT WAS STILL NOT ENOUGH!!!!!! Nice job refs trying to rig a game. too bad one team is much better than the other.
Agreed! I watched the game with a buddy who is not a Heat fan at all and he thought the officiating was incredibly slanted towards the Mavs as well. I thought Section's recap where he said it seemed that the refs decided that since Haywood was out that there was no way that Chandler would foul out was spot on.
Chandler knew it too. He was pushing and holding right in front of the refs during the entire game. He also did not collect his 2nd foul until late in the 4th quarter.
worst thing that happened was that Haywood was in street clothes. crooked refs pay attention to those things.
LOL@Heat fans complaining about officiating in a Finals series...... Well this one should be over, the Heat are playing too well and the Mavs just don't seem to be able to put together any type of consistent play. The NBA playoffs have been really fun to watch this year for the first time in ages for me though.
Meant denied of a championship and at the end of a game if it was close, not necessarily a certain amount of points. He made big plays in the final minutes against OKC and in game 2 of this series, and thought same would happen on last possession last night but was wrong. Finals have been exciting to watch and hope they continue that way. I figured whoever won game 3 would probably win it all (jumping out on a limb, I know) but still some games at Dallas so who knows. May be because I was rooting for Dallas but I thought officiating was terrible both ways; Dwayne and Dirk both drew fouls by just throwing their arms in the air, but maybe I didn't pay close enough attention overall.
The Heat were called for 13 more fouls than the Mavs while taking 10 more shots inside the three point line. Crooked officiating is the only way to explain that. Usually the team that penetrates less gets more fouls called against them. Not in this instance. Dallas put the D in D-Whistle tonight.
Loose ball fouls and I would say calls were being ignored on LeBron and Bosh. Tyson Chandler looked like he had a permanent "Get Out Of Jail Free Card" with how much crap he was getting away with. You poke someone in the eye as they shoot, you gotta blow the whistle. That's just pathetic, IMO.
Yeah..I don't think you paid enough attention overall. D-Wade shot 4 FT's. FOUR. SO, yeah..he didn't get too many calls. In the end, Dallas couldn't win a rigged game AT HOME. tells you all you need to know about this series.
As much crap as I gave Bosh previously for not showing up in the finals, that final shot was the biggest moment in the game, and will likely be the biggest moment in the series. He misses that shot and Dallas wins the game somehow. Monster shot, and I don't blame the Mavs for leaving him open as the guy to make it.
