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| (left) LeBron James (right) Dirk Nowitzki |
The Dallas Mavericks upset the Miami Heat in game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals by rallying from a 15-point deficit with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Heat led 88-73 before the Mavericks, led by Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, engineered a 22-5 run with six minutes remaining to defeat the Heat.
The Mavericks were in a bit of a shooting slump throughout the first three quarters, but their defense remained honest even though the Heat were able to pull ahead by 15. Nowitzki turned on his “clutch” gene and was able to nail the final nine points for the Mavs. The comeback was sealed when Nowitzki tied the game at 90-90 after converting a left-hand layup with 57 seconds to go after an Udonis Haslem turnover.
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| Nowitzki game winning layup |
Nowitzki hit the go ahead three with 26 seconds remaining, but Mario Chalmers responded with a corner three to tie the game 93-93. With eight seconds to go, Nowitzki ran an isolation at the top of the key and converted another left-handed layup to give the Mavs a 95-93 lead with three seconds left. Dwayne Wade missed a last second three that would have won the game for the Heat.
Though the Mavs ended well, scoring didn’t come easy.
“Their defense is suffocating, we really couldn’t get any good looks until the end” Nowitzki said.
The series now heads back to Dallas tied 1-1 with three straight home games for the Mavs since the NBA Finals format is 2-3-2. Throughout the playoffs the Mavs have been shocking their opponents with late game comebacks; they stunned the Los Angeles Lakers in game 1 by overcoming a 16-point deficit, and rallied from 15 down against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
In his reaction to the disappointing loss, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra conveyed:
“We have a lot of guys with character and toughness that will be able to respond in moments like this… we have a resilient group and by the time we get on the plane they will get their minds, bodies and spirits ready for game 3.”
Wade led the Heat with 36 points and six assists, LeBron James added 20 points and eight rebounds, and Chris Bosh chipped in with 12 points and eight boards. The “Big 3” had a little help from Mike Bibby who scored 14 points, but it wasn’t enough.
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| Mavs celebrating win |
“They played very well, we pride ourselves on defense, but they were able to break us down at the end and we made some mental mistakes…. they deserved the win and we didn’t” Wade said.
Nowitzki led the Mavs with 24 points and 11 rebounds, Shawn Marion scored 20 points and grabbed eight boards, and Terry added 16 points and five assists.
Many analysts are looking forward to game 3 to see if the Heat can rebound from their fourth quarter downfall. Game 3 is in Dallas on Sunday June 5th at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
