NBA Finals 2011: Mavs Comeback Halted by Heat's Bosh, Wade and James and Bench

With Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade each playing 40 minutes in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, the Mavericks were in for a triple dose of heavy artillery.

Not to be out done, the Dallas Mavericks scored higher statistically with field goals attempted and field goals made. In addition, their free throw percentage was 81 percent to 67 percent for the Heat.

So why, you may ask, the reason for the loss? It certainly wasn't the crowd, as they were with the Mavs the whole way.

Getting them to the foul line was one reason cited by a Heat player after the game.

Later that night in the press conference, LeBron James alluded to the defense as the reason for all their second chance opportunities and shots at the basket.

Which brings us back to the start: Does the home crowd really make a difference?

These two professional ball clubs can each win on the road, regardless of space or place. That's just what professionals do—they learn that with or without a partial crowd they can win.

In the second quarter, the Heat had a seven point lead. The Mavs inherited four turnovers to one for the Heat, while Spark plug J.J. Barea for the Mavs checked in at the scorers table.

During this series and the one previous, J.J.Barea made a positive impact for Dallas. At 5'7”, Barea holds hope for the smaller man playing in the league (insert: Bob Cousy, Spud Webb, Tyrone Bogues, Calvin Murphy).

Just after the seven-point lead was gathered, the Heat came back down the floor for a three pointer by Mario Chalmers. Although the Mavs were double teaming players anywhere near or around the basket, it seemed Miami had too many assets at hand. If it wasn't the three man nucleus, it was the bench.

Subsequent to this momentum shift, Chris Bosh got fouled. Up to the task, he knocked both down at the charity stripe—Miami was then up by 12.

On the other end, Jason Terry was double teamed and still managed to score. Udonis Haslem was particularly effective with his smothering “D” and two-point conversion put backs.

Nowitzki got involved in the second quarter as well. Even while double teamed, he knocked down shots expected of him. After the next TV timeout, we noticed something more distinct.

The Dallas defense was in zone mode, defending from the amoeba style. Switching on and off players, Carlisle was using an effective style to bring the game closer. Nowitzki scored a block from defense.

No sooner did we see the zone defense employed by the Mavs; Nowitzki and Terry came down the floor on a fast break, while Nowitzki converted on a jumper.

Miami led by five at that time. Dallas was also giving up the ball too frequently, with too many turnovers.

With 6:02 remaining until the half, Miami led by nine. In tennis they call it the yips (which means double faulting your two chances of keeping a ball in bounds, where you lose a point). In basketball they just call it turnovers (which, put another way, means giving your chances of scoring away).

Jason Terry's three pointer from the corner was worthy of MVP status for this game, with makes off the Heat's stifling defense. The Miami lead had been cut to 10 when Mario Chalmers took the fourth team foul against Dallas.

The Heat scored 14 points off Maverick turnovers, when Coach Carlisle called a T/O.

LeBron James knocked down both foul shots for the Heat after the break. The nucleus of three scored 34 of Miami's 42 points before the half.

Dwayne Wade for the Heat scored a team high 36 points in Game 3.

Meanwhile LeBron scored 20 and Mike Bibby had 14.

LeBron and Chris Bosh each had eight rebounds, while the Heat lead increased to 13 points.

On the other end of the floor, Nowitzki hit a three with Dallas down by ten. Terry converted two on the foul line, as did Shawn Marion.

The Heat now maintained a six-point advantage. With .44 seconds left till half, a Nowitzki-to-Terry and over-to-Kidd pass elicited a foul. The refs determined it was a two pointer, not a three, from Kidd. Kidd converted on one of two free throws.

Dwayne Wade has 19 points alone in the first half.

With the start of the third quarter, the Mavs cut the lead to five points. Coach Rick Carlisle mentioned, “We need to pick up on aggression, we're not playing as good as we are”.

Chris Bosh scored first for the Heat, as Carlisle took another timeout to settle the troops. After an additional six points were down, Carlisle was none to happy with his team's performance.

Miami led by 11. “We've got to get stops,” explained Coach Carlisle. Although the Heat were prone to shot-clock violations (two at last count), the Heat were able to look forward and beyond their mistakes.

With 7:29 remaining in the third quarter, and the Mavs just coming out of another T/O, Nowitzki knocked down a three bar. The crowd got to their feet in Dallas, rooting on the veteran Mavs squad.

As we mentioned previously, the defensive and offensive rebounds were important to each team. Barea managed to collect a rebound, while the lead was cut to four points for the Mavericks.

The tenacious “D” utilized by the Mavs is started to make an impact on the series. With the score 57-55 in favor of the Heat, Nowtizki got space again and knocked down a bucket off a double team.

With 3:47 remaining in the third, point guard Mario Chalmers scored back-to-back buckets for the Mavs. Followed by a 20 second timeout from the Heat, Jason Terry off the bench was huge for this game. He hit a three, while Juwan Howard got in to analyze the game during the last possession.

We were back to a one-possession lead for the Heat, who were down by three.

If you listened to the NBA Finals on the radio, you would have heard the next events from the game transcribed over the broadcast: It was a symphonic dunk by LeBron James down the floor on a fast break.

Jason Kidd played significant minutes, 35 all told. In the Press Conference he was quoted as saying, “We've got to make Baskets”.

With Miami's start of the fourth quarter, the Heat were up three points.

Ian Mahinmi got platooned, and had a chance in the game. At 6'11”, the first round pick at Center had some touches, and quickly got a foul called on him—so he was relinquished to the bench.

Only 24 years old, Mahinmi was available for the game. Perhaps due to his youth, inexperience around NBA refs could have cost his team more, but like the gentleman that he is, he stored his platooning for the books.

Next, Nowitzki got to the foul line and made both shots. The score was tied at 72 and counting.

With 9:30 minutes remaining on the game clock, Coach Eric Spoelstra told his team “it's all about defense and rebounding,” during the media timeout.

J.J. Barea, out of the TV timeout, shot a three pointer and made it for the Mavs. Following, at 7:44 remaining in the game, Chalmers (from LeBron) pulled up and hit a three.

With a seven point lead for the Heat, Center Tyson Chandler for the Mavs came in and immediately made an impact with a dunk. With Dwayne Wade's 11^th rebound and 26th point of the game, he led amongst all players. Nowitzki retorted with a layup, while Dirk collected another foul and made both.

With 4:56 remaining in regulation, the Heat scored 40 points in the paint alone. “If they get Dirk the ball, something always good happens,” expressed Coach Hubie Brooks on the Broadcast.

With 27 of his 36 game points, Dwayne Wade got a three to fall, while Jason Terry rebounded. Dirk Nowitzki took to the fast break, getting fouled and converting on the foul shots.

Nowitzki went seven for seven on the foul line for 100 percent. With 2:55 to play, the Mavs incurred a shot clock violation and turned the ball over. The game was tied at 85. Wade finished off a 20-foot jumper for two.

With an 88-86 Miami lead with .45 seconds remaining on the game clock, the Mavs formulated a series of passes and back door cuts to tie the game. Unfortunately, this did not translate, as the Heat defeated the Mavs by two.

The Mavs are not ones to give up or stop giving their all. To that effect, they brought in Peja Stojacovic for the last minute-long range jumper. Although unclaimed, the Mavs play next on Thursday night (June 9) in Dallas.

Final score: 88-86, Miami.