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.