The Dallas Mavericks put the Miami Heat on the run last night in a stunning 112-103 upset that saw the Mavericks pull ahead, after a last minute surge by the Heat, with just a few minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. The Mavericks pulled it off by shooting 56.5% from the field, achieving 13-for-19 on three-pointers in a breakout offensive performance against one of the league’s top defenses, sending Miami to consecutive losses for the first time this postseason.
“We threw in some difficult shots. But when we’re playing as hard as we’ve been playing, the basketball gods tend be kinder to you,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of the series’ highest-scoring game.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, but it was Jason Terry (21 points) and J.J. Barea (17) who pumped life into the Mavericks. Jason Kidd added 13 points and six assists. Terry, Barea and Kidd shot 10-for-15 on three-pointers.
“This is a shot-making team,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of the Mavericks. “We were aware of that before we came into the series. They can really extend your defense. … And the psychological part of that is naturally the basket starts to look bigger.”
After a poor Game 4, this was the game Miami’s LeBron James said was the biggest of his career, even tweeting “now or never.” It became bigger with guard Dwyane Wade (team-high 23 points) missing stretches of the first three quarters with a bruised left hip.
James had a triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) and helped the Heat grab a 100-97 lead late in the game with his rebounding and passing. But again he was not a scoring threat in the fourth quarter, shooting 1-for-4 for two points. That basket came with 29.6 seconds left in the fourth.
James said he is not struggling with pressure. “As a team, we played well enough to win,” he said.
Game 6 on Sunday (8 p.m. ET, ABC) is the next biggest game of his career.