NBA Playoffs 2011: Dirk Nowitzki Leads Mavs Comeback to Steal Game 2 in Miami

Dwyane Wade drilled a corner three to put the Heat up 88-73 with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter. Miami, who had trailed by as many as nine in the second quarter, had taken complete control of the game. They were dominating defensively, forcing turnovers and getting out on the fast break for exciting dunks and alley-oops.

But after a Dallas timeout, the Mavericks slowly started chipping away at the lead, and their defense began to tighten up on the Heat. When Miami was no longer able to force those turnovers, Dallas took over, ripping off a 22-5 run to end the game.

Dirk Nowitzki scored the final nine points of the game for the Mavs, including the game-winning layup with 3.8 seconds remaining. What's more impressive is that Dallas did this on the road against a Miami team that had previously been undefeated at home in the postseason (9-0). Their veteran leadership clearly showed tonight, and propelled them to one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history.

The Heat had this game won, home crowd roaring and up 15 points in the fourth quarter. But in the last seven minutes and 13 seconds, their offense broke down.

They got too comfortable, stopped running their sets, and were unable to get any transition points. Not to mention the last few possessions of the game were pathetic. Dwyane Wade and LeBron James repeatedly settled for fadeaway threes after dribbling the shot clock away at the top of the key as their teammates stared at them. They went from being the aggressor all night to giving into what the defense wanted them to do.

Throughout the entire game, Wade and James set the tone with their ability to get to the rim and finish. But late in the game, they began to settle for bad jump shot after bad jump shot. While Dallas deserves a large bit of credit for slowing the two stars down the stretch, LeBron can still overpower anyone on their roster, and Wade can easily blow by any of them. These two let a big opportunity slip tonight.

Unfortunately, the stories about LeBron and Wade not being able to finish will come rising up from the ashes once again. We heard it all season long, and during this three-day break, we'll hear it over and over again. But for the first time this postseason, Miami simply didn't have the answers down the stretch.

LeBron went 0-4 in the fourth quarter, and Wade shot 2-5, missing all three shots in the final seven minutes. Against the Sixers, Celtics and Bulls, it seemed these two made every shot necessary to win the games. No matter how much they had struggled during the regular season and in tonight's game, I still wouldn't want to defend either of these guys with the ball in their hands and a chance to win a game.

While losing Game 2 and home-court advantage is a major set-back for the Heat, they need to move on from tonight's loss and focus in on what changes they can make for Game 3. In Game 1, the Heat out-rebounded the Mavs 46-36; tonight, they were out-rebounded 41-30. In order to stand a chance in Dallas, the Heat are going to need to see a much improved effort on the glass.

For the Mavs, they need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and defending the three. Tonight, Dallas turned the ball over 18 times, and through two games, have allowed the Heat to knock down 20 threes. If both teams make the necessary changes to their game plan, we should expect to have another exciting game on Sunday night.