Mavericks overcome James’ triple-double, lead 3-2

DALLAS (AP)—Dirk Nowitzki(notes) scored 29 points, driving for the go-ahead dunk with 2:45 remaining, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 112-103 on Thursday to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA finals.

Five years after going up 2-0 on the Heat, the Mavs finally got that elusive third victory, and can wrap up their first championship in Game 6 at Miami on Sunday.

Miami’s LeBron James(notes), who called this game “now or never,” responded from his worst playoff performance with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Dwyane Wade(notes) battled through a sore left hip after a first-quarter collision to finish with 23 points.

The Heat get the final two games at home, but history is against them as they try to win a title in their first season together: In the 26 previous times finals that were tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner won 19 of them.

The Mavs shot 60 percent through three quarters, briefly gave up the lead in the fourth, then controlled the final few minutes, just as they had in thrilling comebacks in Games 2 and 4.

This time, they got to play from ahead thanks to some sizzling shooting: 56.5 percent from the field, including 13 of 19 (68 percent) from 3-point range.

Jason Terry(notes) scored 21 points and J.J. Barea(notes) had 17 for the Mavs, with Nowitzki briefly throwing both arms in the air as he walked off the court surrounded by a sea of blue fans who hope he’ll bring home a championship trophy if they can pull out another victory in Miami.

James scored eight points, going just 3 of 11 in Game 4, the first time in 90 postseason games he didn’t hit double figures. It’s been a rough first finals in Miami for James, who has been accused of everything from “shrinking” to “checking out” in the fourth quarters, when he had just nine points through the first four games.

Trying to pump himself up, James wrote “Now or Never!!” on his Twitter page early Thursday morning, later calling this the biggest game of his career.

But they feel the same urgency in Dallas, where the slogan “The Time is Now” is printed on those blue T-shirts that surround the court, and where the Mavs are loaded with 30-somethings—late 30s, in Jason Kidd’s(notes) case—who could be on their last shot at an NBA title.

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Pacquiao's $65 million offer from billionaire Slim will be explored, Arum says

When you see the names of moneymen such as Chavit Singson and Carlos Slim in the same sentence, you’ve got to pay attention, especially when a $65 million guaranteed purse for Pacquiao is prominently mentioned.


And, Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum just told me by phone from Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, he certainly will check the story out, first thing Monday morning by speaking to Singson by telephone.


“I saw the story and I don’t take it as gospel but Slim is one of the richest people in the world and Chavit, who I know so well, is a very serious guy,” Arum said. “I will phone Chavit on this.”


Altough Alvarez, only 20 years old, (Alvarez, a welterweight with a record of 36 wins, no losses, and one draw) is promotionally tied to Top Rank’s familiar adversary Golden Boy, that shouldn’t be a problem if a one man bank like Mr. Slim is putting up the dinero for both fighters.

“Well,” Arum said, “they are talking about next year. Manny has the key third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez coming up on Nov. 12 and then we can discuss 2012. I don’t know when Manny will want to fight next year, whether we stick to May and November, because that’s up to Manny and his schedule, what he wants to do.

“But these are two serious people so I take it seriously. I know Chavit (governor of the province of Ilocos Sur and former national security adviser under President Gloria Marcapagal Arroyo) as a great guy and Slim happens to be one of the richest men in the world.”


Back in 2007, Slim, who made much of his fortune as an international telecommunications mogul, had a net worth estimated at between 59 billion and 67.8 billion dollars.


Alvarez, whose red hair led to his nickname of “Canelo,” has a huge and growing following in both Mexico and the United States but he would seem to be, at this stage anyway, hardly mature enough to be very competitive against Pacman, the Pound for Pound king of the sport.


Slim is an ardent boxing fan and, working with Don Jose Sulaiman and the WBC, has funded some sorely needed pensions for retired Mexican fighters, including many ex-world champions.


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Wade, James lift Heat to 2-1 lead in NBA finals

DALLAS (AP)—Dwyane Wade(notes) kept soaring and scoring, doing everything he could to get the Miami Heat a crucial win towards an NBA title.

Chris Bosh(notes) and Udonis Haslem(notes) provided the final push to seal the key victory.

Bosh made a 16-foot, go-ahead jumper from the baseline with 39.6 seconds left and Haslem pestered Dirk Nowitzki(notes) the rest of the way as the Heat held on for an 88-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night for a 2-1 lead in the NBA finals.

“This is a total win,” said Wade, who led Miami with 29 points and 11 rebounds. “You want to win the game on the defensive end of the floor and we got a stop.”

Recent history says this is a huge win for the Heat. The Game 3 winner in a tied finals has won the championship all 11 times since the 2-3-2 format began in 1985.

The Heat go into Game 4 on Tuesday night with a chance to do what they did in 2006: win it all on Dallas’ floor. They’ll need to win that game and the next, on Thursday night.

With all its star power, many expected Miami to be planning a victory parade by now, especially after a solid victory in Game 1. But the Heat blew a 15-point lead in the last quarter of Game 2, and nearly did it again this time, coughing up a 14-point lead.

Miami recovered to lead 81-74 with 6:31 left. Everyone knew Nowitzki would drive Dallas’ rally, but it didn’t matter. He still scored 12 straight points— six free throws, a layup, a dunk and a tough jumper—tying it at 86.

Shawn Marion(notes) pestered LeBron James(notes) into a 24-second violation that left Wade pounding both fists on his head in frustration. Jason Terry(notes) missed a chance to put the Mavericks ahead, then Bosh nailed his clutch jumper from the left side, a huge thrill for the Dallas native who’d been 0-8 in his hometown.

The Mavericks of course went back to Nowitzki on its last two chances, and his streak ran out. He tried passing out of a Haslem-led double team and threw the ball into the stands, then hit the back iron on a jumper over Haslem as time ran out.

Haslem anticipated what Nowitzki was going to do and walked the fine line between disrupting the shot while avoiding a foul.

“He’s a great player, 7 feet, so he’s going to shoot over me,” Haslem said. “I’ve got to make it tough on him.”

When the buzzer went off, Haslem swung his arms and screamed in delight while a frenzied crowd of 20,340 sighed in agony.

“It was a good offensive play, and a good defensive play,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “And he happened to miss.”

Wade and Bosh each scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Bosh, who played through a a swollen left eyelid caused by a poke during the first quarter, finished with 18 points.

James added 17 points and nine assists. He also had four turnovers, including a pair during the fourth quarter—not counting the shot-clock violation—that helped bring Dallas back.

Nowitzki scored 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, but didn’t get much help.

Terry scored 15 and Shawn Marion had 10. Both were shut out in the fourth quarter. The only other scorers were backup point guard J.J. Barea(notes) early in the quarter and Tyson Chandler(notes) dunking off a rebound.

“We have to have somebody step up besides Dirk,” said Jason Kidd(notes), who had nine points and 10 assists, but also four turnovers. Giveaways haunted Dallas throughout the game, especially the first half, helping keep Miami comfortably ahead. “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.”

Dallas was without backup center Brendan Haywood(notes) because of a hip injury. His absence meant more minutes for several frontcourt players, and it put Ian Mahinmi(notes) on the court for 8 minutes. He scored two points and committed five fouls.

Wade was at his dynamic best from the start, looking like the guy who soared and scored the Heat past Dallas and to the title in ’06.

Most of his baskets came in the paint—where the Heat outscored the Mavs, 40-22—and many of them were spectacular. But he also stemmed Dallas’ rally by hitting a go-ahead jumper over Kidd for Miami’s second-to-last basket.

James came in talking about being more aggressive, but wasn’t. He went more than 6 minutes before taking his first shot, but certainly made it worth the wait—a drive through the teeth of the defense for a powerful dunk. He also had a two-handed jam in the second half that put Miami up by 13.

The Heat just couldn’t put the Mavs away. Dallas would surge close or ahead, then Miami would turn it up again. The final 18 minutes played out with both teams realizing any possession could change the game and the series.

Nothing came easy for anyone. Shots were contested, bodies collided for every rebound and guys were flying into the stands after loose balls. Fans stood throughout, wearing their blue gimme T-shirts and fired up by videos such as one featuring encouraging words from Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Nolan Ryan and others.

Yet it was the visitors from Miami who walked off celebrating.

“Now we just have to move on,” Spoelstra said. “The tough part right now is amnesia. 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.”

Spoelstra talked about wanting his guys to get back to their identity of being “an aggressive, attacking team that tries to get into the paint, to the rim, to the free throw line.” They followed that script to a 14-point lead late in the second quarter, then fell into the same bad habits they showed at the end of Game 2, letting Dallas get within 47-42 at the break.

Maybe Miami players just got bored because things were coming so easily.

James and Wade seemed to get whatever shot they wanted, whenever they wanted. But they kept trying to get others involved. They especially force-fed Bosh, even though his left eye was swollen from an early, accidental poke by Jason Kidd; he missed 7 of 9 in the first half.

The Heat also made things tough on Nowitzki by keeping him from even getting the ball. He took only two shots in the first quarter. He didn’t start getting free until Miami’s lead grew and guys were less intense on defense.

NOTES: Dallas fell to 8-2 at home this postseason. … The Heat and Mavs have each won a road game this series, which should be no surprise. They tied for the best road record in the NBA this season. … Bosh was booed as much as any Miami player during pregame introductions. So much for fans cutting the local kid some slack. … The Mavs fell to 2-1 this postseason in games officiated by Dan Crawford. Dallas came into this postseason having lost 16 of its last 17 playoff games he worked. … Aikman and Terrell Owens sat about 10 seats apart on the same row. Owens attended games in Miami, too. … Shades of the 2008 NCAA finals: Chalmers beat the first-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer.

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Arum: Mayweather turned down $65 million this week to fight Pacquiao

"I'm an optimist, and I always felt that they'd eventually fight. At this point, I really feel that they'd never fight. Recently, as recent as this week, legitimate people from Singapore offered Mayweather 65 million dollars to fight Manny Pacquiao and turned he it down. 65 million is obviously is a sum Manny Pacquiao would accepted. Now what does that tell you?" -- Bob Arum

Nobody gets people in boxing talking like boxing reporter Elie Seckbach. Recently, Elie asked Top Rank CEO Bob Arum if he thinks that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will ever face Manny Pacquiao. Arum's answer was quite revealing.

Arum admitted that as much as he wants to be optimistic that the fight the world wants to see between Pacquiao and Mayweather will eventually be made, the series of roadblocks coming from the Mayweather camp since the initial negotiations for the fight back in late 2009 all the way to as recent as this week when he was offered $65 million to fight Pacquiao, he is convinced that Mayweather wants no part of the superfight.

"One thing about Floyd: Floyd knows boxing, and Floyd knows style. That's why Floyd was always reticent about fighting a southpaw. And a southpaw like Manny Pacquiao, he doesn't want no part of, because even if he protects himself from his left, he's going to bang him with his right hand," Arum told Seckbach.

 

Whether you take Arum's word or not, Mayweather's actions since this whole Pacquiao fight was thrown at him is definitely alarming. Mayweather flip-flops from bashing Pacquiao to mumbling and not even being able to say his name altogether. The money is there. The drug testing has been agreed upon. Why is Mayweather making things so difficult for this fight to be made?

With one contradicting statement after another, Mayweather is only making fools out of people that believe him, and a mockery of the sport that made him- unless of course if you ask his pom-pom girl and boxing blogger Ben Thompson of FightHype.com, who's site's slogan is "A Fight is a Fight" (Thompson's is to kiss a fighter's butt so the Twitter TMZ-style reporter can brag that they are BFFs). Unfortunately, Mayweather won't even fight.

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Nowitzki rallies Mavs to win that ties NBA finals (series tie 1-1)

MIAMI (AP)—Dirk Nowitzki(notes) and the Dallas Mavericks put a stunning end to their misery in Miami.

Now they can win their first NBA title without ever coming back to South Florida.

Nowitzki made the tie-breaking layup with 3.6 seconds left, and the Mavericks roared back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Heat 95-93 on Thursday night and tie the NBA finals at one game apiece.

Capping a furious rally by scoring Dallas’ final nine points, Nowitzki’s final two baskets were left-handed—despite a torn tendon on that non-shooting hand. He finished with 24 points.

Dwyane Wade(notes) had 36 points for Miami, but his desperation 3-pointer was off at the buzzer.

Game 3 is Sunday in Dallas.

Seemingly out of the game when the Heat led 88-73 with 7:15 remaining, Dallas held the Heat to just one field goal from there, a 3-pointer by Mario Chalmers(notes) with 24.5 seconds that tied it just 2 seconds after Nowitzki’s 3 had made it 93-90.

But after a timeout, Jason Kidd(notes) ran the clock down before getting the ball to Nowitzki, who drove into the lane, spun back to the left and made the layup.

Jason Terry(notes), largely silent since the first half of Game 1, fueled the comeback with a couple of jumpers and finished with 16 points. Shawn Marion(notes) had 20 points for the Mavericks, who had lost four straight finals games in Miami since taking a 2-0 lead in the 2006 series.

They were about to go down 2-0 this time before Nowitzki, who insisted his injured finger wouldn’t hinder him, led a rally even more amazing than the one that won Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, when the Mavs trailed Oklahoma City by 15 in the fourth quarter before pulling it out in overtime.

LeBron James(notes) scored 20 points for the Heat.

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