NBA

It's all even in NBA Finals

HEAT 98, MAVS 74: Miami gets the hot hand and Dallas turns cold in a role reversal.

By STEPHEN F. HOLDER
Published June 17, 2006

MIAMI - Flat, emotionless and ice cold. That was the Heat through the first two games of these NBA Finals.

Now, flat, emotionless and ice cold is about the only way to describe the Dallas Mavericks.

With the roles reversed, it just got a whole lot harder to get a handle on this championship series. The Larry O'Brien Trophy is up for grabs again after the Heat's 98-74 victory Thursday night in Game 4.

The lopsided win, one of Miami's most impressive during the postseason, tied the best-of-seven series, with Game 5 here Sunday. Should the Mavericks respond with the same passion and accuracy they displayed in Game 4, they might well be heading home on the short end of a series they once led 2-0.

The Heat shot well, was equally impressive on defense and got a variety of contributions from many sources. Miami posted a blistering 51.5 shooting percentage, while limiting Dallas to 31.6 percent.

"It's a series now," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "It's 2-2 - the way we knew it was going to be."

The Mavericks' shooters went AWOL when it mattered most: the fourth quarter. Dallas' seven points were the fewest in a quarter in NBA Finals history. They shot 2-for-18.

But their problems started long before.

They showed inconsistencies in the second quarter, but in the third quarter, Dallas' wheels came off and the Heat went to work. Guard Dwyane Wade again did much of the heavy lifting, finishing with 36 points and six rebounds. Center Shaquille O'Neal looked rejuvenated with 17 points and 13 rebounds, playing nimbly and energetically.

Wade hit the 30-point mark with a bank shot at 7:31 of the third quarter, giving the Heat a 15-point cushion - its biggest of the series to that point. The third-year player showed nary a limp after sustaining a knee injury in Tuesday's game.

But the lead would soon swell to 20, albeit in the weirdest of ways. After Jason Williams intercepted a Josh Howard pass and barreled toward the basket unobstructed, he opted to reward a trailing O'Neal with a setup pass for what Williams thought would be an open layup. But that's when Jerry Stackhouse came out of nowhere to break up O'Neal's attempt, throwing his body into O'Neal's and swiping him across the face in the process. O'Neal went crashing to the floor in a scary-looking fall.

Stackhouse was whistled for a flagrant foul (and might be fined later), sending O'Neal to that dreaded place: the free-throw line. But he confidently converted both attempts. Turns out, he was just getting started. He eventually hit five in a row, a startling achievement for a notoriously poor shooter.

Coach Pat Riley, possibly flashing back to the Heat-Knicks brawls of yesteryear, ran onto the court to help maintain order, though O'Neal remained in control.

"He asked me, "Why did you come running out there?' " Riley said. "I've been there too many times with those things."

The Heat would get sloppy in the latter stages of the third quarter, as the turnover bug that plagued it throughout this series again reared its head. The gaffes gave Dallas life, but it failed to capitalize on numerous chances.

Nowitzki's ineptitude clearly will be a concern for Dallas in the coming days. He finished 2-for-14 and 16 points, 11 coming on 13 free-throw attempts. He was 1-for-5 from 3-point range. The only noteworthy help he got came from Jason Terry's 17 points and Stackhouse's 16.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 00:50:09]