NBA Finals Game-3: Miami Heat lead the Dallas Mavericks 47- 42 at halftime
Dwyane Wade scored 19 points as the Miami Heat led the Dallas Mavericks 47-42 at halftime in game-3 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals on Sunday night at the American Airlines Center.
Forward LeBron James added 10 points while Chris Bosh posted seven points for Miami at the end of the first two quarters. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry added 10 points while Shawn Marion contributed eight points for the Mavericks at halftime.
First Quarter
Mike Bibby hit a three-pointer at the start of the first quarter to five the Mavs a 3-0 initial lead. The Mavericks played some quality shots in the next minutes to take a 14-9 lead. Wade had a running lay-up shot while King James hit a driving dunk shot
on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to one, 14-13.
Peja Stojakovic’s jump shot on the other end put the Mavericks ahead by 16-13 with 05:11 to go in the quarter. Miami went on a 5-2 run at that point to knot the game at 18-18 before Terry scored one of the two free throws to give the Mavs a one-point lead
again.
The Heat however scored four straight after that and managed to take a 22-19 advantage with 02:27 remaining in the first. Dallas tied the game at 22-22 in the next minute, but Miami scored seven unanswered points in the last 35 seconds of the quarter, taking
a 29-22 lead into the second.
Second Quarter
The Heat opened the second quarter at the 5-0 run to stretch their lead to 34-22. Dallas however bounced back quickly and cut the deficit to five points, 29-34, with 07:20 to go in the break. Wade then hit a running lay-up shot and followed with a running
slam dunk shot on the next ball, to give the Heat a 38-29 edge. Miami continued to play at their best and widened its lead to 45-31 with three minutes remaining in the quarter.
The tenacious Mavericks however again pushed their way back within the striking distance and scored the next eight consecutive points to make it a six-point game. Jason Kidd broke the momentum though when he fouled Wade and provided him the opportunity to
slip two free throws, giving Miami a 47-39 lead with one minute to go in the first half.
Marion’s turnaround jump shot and a pair of free throws by Kidd trimmed the deficit to five points, 47-42, at halftime.
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