Miami Heat weather a late Dallas Mavericks storm to win game-3of the NBA Finals - Part 1
The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki gave the Miami Heat a mighty scare at the end, but the Heat held on to win the game-3 of the NBA Finals 88-86. The victory saw the Heat wrestle back home court advantage from the Mavs and go up 2 – 1 in the series. At one point it looked like the Mavs would stun Miami late on once again, however it just wasn’t to be.
Nowitzki was again the most dangerous player on the court and he piled on 34 points, the game high. Nowitzki also tied the game high for rebounds with 11. Jason Terry came off the bench to score 15 for the Mavs who got another vintage performance out of Jason Kidd with 9 points and 10 assists.
The Mavs relied on Nowitzki once again to carry them on his broad shoulders, and in the end they just fell short. Only one player apart from Dirk scored over 10 points for Dallas and Jason Kidd said after the game that they have to improve in that aspect.
"We have to have somebody step up besides Dirk," Kidd said, who had four turnovers. "We have to figure out how to get up front and play up front. The big thing is we've got to be able to make plays late in the game. Game 2 we made the plays, Game 3 we just didn't."
For Miami, Dwyane Wade continued his fine form in the NBA Finals with a team high effort of 29 points and 11 rebounds. LeBron James was more of a provider then a creator on the night as he set up teammates 9 times whilst also scoring 17 points. The last of the Big Three, Chris Bosh, had 18 points and Mario Chalmers stepped up with 12 from the bench.
As good as their effort was, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the team had no time to dwell on the win, “Both teams are highly competitive, this is a competitive series as you can see. We have to really gather ourselves in 48 hours and get right back and do this again."
The first quarter of the game saw both teams go at it and neither could establish an advantage right until the end. With just 56.6 seconds left in the period, the scores were tied at 22 – 22. LeBron James then drove to the rim for a hard dunk and Miami scored 5 more before the time ran out, ending the quarter at 29 – 22.
Miami proceeded to lead throughout the second quarter and stretched the gap to 14 at one point. They started the quarter with a three from Mario Chalmers after James had set him up and never looked back. However, Dallas did manage to claw the lead down to five points by the end, finishing the first half at 42 – 47.
Link for Part-2: http://www.senore.com/Miami-Heat-weather-a-late-Dallas-Mavericks-storm-to-win-game-3-of-the-NBA-Finals-Part-2-a74006
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