Game 3: Dallas at Miami (June 13) For the first game in Miami, the Heat went to Shaquille O'Neal to start and he hit a short jumper. A 3-pointer by Josh Howard gave Dallas their first lead at 5-4 with 9:10 remaining. Dallas led 7-5 with 8:30 to go and Miami scored the next 8 points to go up 13-7 with 6:45 left. The Heat would hold a single-digit lead the rest of the quarter. Making a distinct change from the first 2 games, O'Neal hit his first 2 free throws of the game with 3:45 left to give Miami a 21-16 lead. Wade drove for a layup on the break with 50 seconds to go and those would be the last points of the quarter. Miami led 29-21 after 1. Wade had 13 points and O'Neal had 8 points and 3 assists in the quarter. Dallas shot just 7-21 FG. A layup by Antoine Walker opened the scoring in the 2nd quarter and gave Miami a 10 point lead. Neither team would score again until Erick Dampier tapped in a miss with 9:45 left. Payton fed O'Neal for a dunk, but Dallas then scored the next 8 points, capped by Dirk Nowitzki's first field goal of the game (after missing his first 6 shots), to pull Dallas within 31-33 with 8:40 remaining. Miami was able to hold on to a small lead. A 3-pointer by Howard tied the game at 40-40 with 4:30 left, but that would be Dallas' last field goal in the quarter. The Heat would close the quarter with a 12-3 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Jason Williams, as Dallas shot 0-6 FG and 3-6 FT. Miami led 52-43 at the half. Neither team shot free throws well in the 2nd quarter as Miami shot 6-10 FT and Dallas shot 6-12 FT. For the half, Wade had 21 points including 11-14 FT and 9 rebounds. Miami shot 51.5% FG and Dallas shot 35% FG - and Dallas was lucky to be down just 9 as they were being out-rebounded 16-30 (but Miami wasn't helping themselves by committing 12 turnovers in the half). Howard opened the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer and a jumper by Nowitzki pulled Dallas within 48-52 with 11:15 to go. O'Neal accidentally bumped Wade's knee early in the quarter, but Wade kept playing. After a dunk by O'Neal, a 3-pointer by Nowitzki kicked off 7 straight Dallas points to give the Mavs a 55-54 lead with 8:45 remaining. The teams would trade leads a couple of times over the next few minutes. A layup by Wade gave Miami a 62-61 lead with 5:30 left, but Dallas then went on a 9-2 run to go up 70-64 with 3:55 to go. A free throw and putback by Dampier gave Dallas a 75-66 lead with 1:30 remaining. Each team would hit 1 more shot to close the quarter. Dallas led 77-68 after 3. Howard had 11 points in the 3rd quarter. Dallas out-scored Miami 34-16 in the 3rd quarter as the Mavs shot a white hot 14-20 FG (and Miami missed all 5 free throws they attempted). Wade opened the 4th quarter with a 3-pointer 18 seconds in. But Wade also collected his 5th foul with 10:55 remaining (and Dampier missed 2 free throws) - but Wade stayed in the game. Consecutive buckets by Nowitzki and a layup by a cutting Devin Harris off a nice feed by Nowitzki put Dallas up 83-71 with 8:35 to go - but Williams ended Dallas' spurt with a 3-pointer. Consecutive jumpers by by Jason Terry gave Dallas their largest lead at 89-76 with 6:35 left. It then became the Dwyane Wade show. Wade scored 9 of Miami's next 12 points as the Heat went on a 12-2 run to pull within 88-91 with 3:35 remaining. Nowitzki hit 2 free throws with 2:50 to go and O'Neal hit 2 free throws with 1:50 left and Dallas led 93-90. After a Dallas miss late in the shot clock, Wade hit a baseliner. Udonis Haslem stole the ball and was fouled on the break. He hit both free throws with a minute to go to give Miami a 94-93 lead. After a Dallas timeout, Terry missed a jumper and Terry fouled James Posey on the rebound. Posey hit 1-2 FT with 43 seconds remaining. Harris drove for 2 to end Dallas' 4:45 field goal drought and tie the game at 95-95 with 33.5 seconds to go. Miami took their time and Williams kicked to Gary Payton, who side-stepped and nailed the long jumper at the shot clock buzzer with 9.3 seconds left. Nowitzki drove and was fouled with 3.4 seconds remaining. He hit the 1st free throw, but missed the 2nd and Wade got the rebound and was fouled with 1.4 seconds left. He also shot 1-2 FT (to put Miami up by 2 points) and Howard got the rebound and called time with 1 second to go. The Mavs advanced the ball to halfcourt and Nowitzki was inbounding. He tried to lob to Howard at the basket, but Wade knocked it away and that was game. Miami won 98-96. Dallas leads the series 2-1. Where to start. It was an excellent performances by Dwyane Wade to get Miami back in to the game - if it wasn't happening against my team, I might have enjoyed watching it. It was a pathetic performance by Dallas in the last 6 minutes of the game. It's like the team forgets what it was doing to get such a lead - they start running the clock down and settling for outside jumpers (and even passing up open looks) and stop playing good defense. Don't even get me started on that last play. What in the world was Dirk Nowitzki doing inbounding the ball????? I can't recall Dallas ever running a last-shot play with Nowitzki inbounding the ball, so why would they trot it out in a Finals game? Why take an offensive threat off the court? And why is the play designed as a lob? There was a full second left on the clock - they weren't limited to catch-and-shot. Just bad, bad decisions. Dallas has no one to look at but themselves for this loss. After being up by 10 points with 5:20 left, Dallas shot 1-6 FG (and 3-4 FT) and had 5 turnovers as Miami closed the game with a 17-5 run. Miami out-scored Dallas 30-19 in the 4th quarter. It would also be nice if Dallas played more than a quarter and a half of good basketball. They didn't look good at all in the 1st half and were lucky to be down just 9 points at half time. The Mavs didn't help themselves any by missing so many free throws throughout the game - 8 overall (I know Miami missed more, but they aren't as good of a free throw shooting team as Dallas is). For the game, Miami shot 48.7% FG including 4-14 3-pointers (with 3 of the makes coming in the 4th quarter) and Dallas shot 48% (36-75) FG including 6-16 3-pointers. Miami shot 20-34 FT and Dallas shot 18-26 FT. If you want to look for signs of Dallas' lack of effort during parts of the game, look no further than at the rebounds. The Mavs were not aggressively going after the boards and Miami was. Miami out-rebounded Dallas 49-34 including 16-7 offensive. The other flaw in the Heat's game besides free throws was turnovers. Miami had a high 20 turnovers, which Dallas converted into 28 points. Dallas had another high (for them) turnover night with 16 turnovers, though Miami only converted them into 13 points. The Heat again dominated inside in out-scoring Dallas 52-34 in the paint. Game 4 is Thursday in Miami at 8 pm on ABC. No question who the star and hero of the game was. Dwyane Wade scored half of Miami's 4th quarter points (15 points in the 4th) and played the entire last 11 minutes of the game with 5 fouls (though the refs weren't going to call anything on him unless he did something blatant [not complaining, that's par for the course]). And he did that with a bum knee that kept him out of practice today. Wade's game high 42 points was the most an opponent has scored against Dallas in this year's playoffs. He shot 14-26 FG and 13-18 FT and also had 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and just 1 turnover in 43 minutes. Shaquille O'Neal wasn't stellar as Dallas' defense continues to focus on him, but he had a solid all-around game with 16 points on 6-9 FG and 4-6 FT (after shooting (officially) 2-16 FT in the 1st 2 games), 11 rebounds, and 5 assists. He was also credited with 7 turnovers, but that included 3 offensive 3 seconds violations that were more due to his teammates passing up shots. Udonis Haslem was playing with a sore shoulder that had him grimacing at times, but he was a monster on the boards and also key to Miami's win. Haslem had 11 rebounds including 8 offensive - more than Dallas had as a team. He also had 8 points, including 2 free throws with a minute left (after missing his first 4 free throws in the game). Jason Williams had 12 points and 3 assists (didn't get credit for his pass to Gary Payton for essentially the game winner as Payton dribble side-stepped). And that was Payton's only shot of the game - and that was after he shot 1-9 FG in the first 2 games. Payton played 19 minutes off the bench and had 2 rebounds and 2 assists in addition to his key basket. Antoine Walker was building a house as he shot 6-17 FG including 0-5 3-pointers and missed both free throws he attempted for 12 points. Walker also had 7 rebounds. James Posey had 4 points and 3 rebounds and Alonzo Mourning had 2 points and 1 rebound. Miami went with a short 8-man rotation. No Mav really had a great game outside of Josh Howard's 3rd quarter. I was amazed when I saw that Dirk Nowitzki had 30 points in the game. After missing his first 6 shots, he shot 9-14 FG the rest of the way. He also shot 10-12 FT (officially; he pulled an O'Neal in getting an extra attempt on a lane violation after missing 2 free throws - though not a pure O'Neal as Nowitzki made the 3rd attempt). He only had 7 rebounds (had averaged 12 rebounds prior to this game) and just 1 assist while turning the ball over 3 times. Howard's streak of 25 straight Mavs wins when he scored 20+ points came to an end. Howard had 21 points, but none in the 4th quarter as he did not attempt a shot (after having 11 points in the 3rd quarter). He had 5 rebounds and shot 3-3 3-pointers. Jason Terry had 16 points and 5 assists. Devin Harris connected on Dallas' only 2 field goals in the last 6 minutes of the game. He had 9 points and 4 assists in 18 minutes. The Mavs wasted a good outing by Erick Dampier. Dampier was a key part of Dallas rally from the 3rd quarter into early in the 4th quarter. He had 14 points including 6-7 FG (a couple on putbacks) and 9 rebounds including 5 offensive. DeSagana Diop remained fairly quiet in this series in only playing 11 minutes and not attempting a shot and having 4 rebounds and 4 fouls. Adrian Griffin had 2 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in 14 minutes. 2 days after being a hero, Jerry Stackhouse was a goat. He was a miserable 1-9 FG in this game and didn't do much else. He had 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 2 turnovers in 31 minutes. Keith Van Horn didn't do much either, but he played just 8 1/2 minutes. Van Horn missed his 2 attempts (both 3-pointers) and had 2 rebounds, 2 fouls, and 2 turnovers. Marquis Daniels had 1 turnover for his only stat in 4 1/2 minutes. Quotes Pat Riley on Wade getting his 5th foul early in the 4th quarter: "You know, I mean, it didn't look good. It didn't feel good. We were stuck in mud. I think it was an absolute case of a team who wanted it so much, I mean, throughout the course of the game, making turnovers in the 1st half and missing layup after layup. But I've seen Dwyane do that before. And there's been 10, 12, 14 games this year where we've been down double-digits in the 4th quarter and we have come back. So, and it comes down to, you know, 1 shot. You know, Gary Payton makes the shot, we trust, and we're on to another day." Riley on believing his team could come back: "Yeah. I mean, I'm absolutely without a doubt a true believer. You know, that's it. You know, even during the course of the 4th quarter. I know players. I've been around players 40 years, I know when they look around and they look up and they say this doesn't look very good. But you've just got to keep trying to get them to dig, to dig, to dig. You need a stop, you need 3 or 4 stops. We got some breaks, there's no doubt we got some breaks. We got lucky a little bit, but playoffs are a little bit about that too. And, but the important thing is that however we got there, I know we can play a lot better than we played. And it takes us on to another day. And to a good, you know, practice tomorrow and to get ready for them and try to square this thing up game 4." Riley on things about Wade that impressed him: "Overcome fatigue and injury, and win. Incredible, just the heart that he has. The only trouble is that when we were down by 12, he's like pacing himself, waiting for the end, you know. And you got to give him a rest somewhere, but, you know, right now - he just rises to the occasion, you know. And we kept it very simple at the end and he kept making play after play after play. And I thought that one of the crucial plays was coming out of a time out, he hit a 3 from the corner and then [Posey] hit a big 3, Udonis with 2 offensive rebounds, and, you know, just went from there. We just wouldn't stop." Riley on Wade's knee: "Well, I really haven't talked to him, but he was very sore. So we'll see about that tomorrow." Riley on the effort: "Well until we get the numbers, I thought we played real hard, but we also looked fatigued, sort of mentally. You know, and somehow I've just got to get their minds, you know, fresh in the next couple of days. So, but we played a lot harder than we did in Dallas. We out-rebounded them by I think by 14 or 15. What shot us in the foot was our turnovers and really some shoddy offense and for about 3 or 4 minutes there when they went ahead by double-digits." Riley on if those were mental errors due to fatigue: "I don't know. You know, I just, you know, it's hard to sort of see, you know, or say what really went on. But we really were not executing. And we were feeling it, a little bit - we had to win tonight. So I hope that in, you know, game 4 that we'll play a lot more relaxed and stop pressing." Riley on if he would have called timeout if Nowitzki had hit his 2nd free throws: "I had 1 timeout left. I had 1 timeout left, so obviously we were going to call the timeout. Yeah, I wasn't going to try to throw a home run from the backcourt, no, you know. But we did have 1. And he's a 94% shooter, and so the basketball gods were good to us tonight, that's all you can say. And we'll come back in game 4, so that's what it's all about." Shaquille O'Neal on the 4th quarter: "Well, you know, we got into, you know, sort of a hole. We still made a lot of silly mistakes. But, you know, we never gave up. We just kept playing and, you know, we showed a lot of heart, showed a lot of intensity. You know, DWade played big. I hit a couple free throws. Gary hit a big shot. You know, we was able to win this game tonight." O'Neal on being down 13 late in the game: "Well, you know, Pat just said to, you know, stop making silly mistakes and, you know, just, you know, hang in there, you know, and just tighten that defense up a little bit, and that's what we did. You know, we had a 9, 10 point lead in the 2nd or 3rd quarter and, you know, we just basically made a lot, a lot of silly plays and they just got right back into the game. And but, you know, the last 6, 7 minutes, you know, we played pretty good basketball. So hopefully we can gain momentum and, you know, just try to win a game on Thursday." O'Neal on what was going through his mind at the line with 2 minutes left: "Make them." O'Neal on his last 2 free throws: "I just went back to the way I used to shoot when I was a youngster, when I was a good player." O'Neal on Wade in the comeback: "He just, you know, played good ball, you know, kept everybody involved, took the higher percentage shots, and you know, basically, you know, took over the game the last 5, 6 minutes. That's what a great player of his caliber does." O'Neal on if Wade said anything during the comeback: "No, no. He's, you know, he's the type of player that, you know, you just let him go and let him do his thing." O'Neal on his free throws: "I just went back to the way I used to shoot it when I was in high school. You know, I got in trouble, say about '94, '95, just, you know, just by, you know, listening to people. And I was just trying to, you know, do things different. There's a whole saying that if you do things different, then it won't be good. So I just went back to the way I used to shoot it when I was little and a youngster. And believe it or not, I used to have a pretty good percentage when I was a good player." O'Neal on after game 2: "I didn't talk and I got fined. I didn't deserve to talk, so I took the fine. You know, it was just, you know, one of those, you know, one of those games that, you know, took it on myself. So came home, you know, just did some thinking and, you know, played with the children and, you know, was really, really wanting to play well this game. And now just, you know, go through the same routine tomorrow and try to have another good one on Thursday." O'Neal: "We've just got to, you know, play a little bit smarter and, you know, just actually take, you know, care of the basketball. And I felt we had way too many turnovers. I know I had 7 turnovers myself, a couple of them was, you know, 3 second calls. But, you know, we've just got to take care of the ball, you know, just keep playing smart." Dwyane Wade: "Well, you know, that's one thing about this team is, you know, we're a very strong willed team. And we all believe in each other, you know. When we're down and out, you know, we always, you know, feel we can come back. We've done it plenty of times. But, you know, individually, you know, just believing in God, believing that, you know, that He will give me the strength to go out there and do it, you know. So, that's the only thing." Wade on his 4th quarter: "Well, just, you know, Coach was calling the plays to get the ball in my hand and, you know, at that moment, man, you know, looking up at the score, you know, thinking, 'Na, I ain't going out like this.' You know, we didn't want to go down 3-nothing, man. So just trying to do, you know, what you can, you know, to help your team get over the hump. And if you make some plays, it might energize some other guys. And that's what I did, you know. I was getting the ball so I was attacking. And as I did, the other guys stepped up and made plays also. So, you know, this is a total team win, team comeback, and I think it's going to help us out for the next game." Wade on if he has to play his very best for Miami to win in the Finals: "Na, I'm not going to say that. I mean, I would love to be at the top of my game, you know, every time we play, but, you know, you can't control that all the time. But, you know, um, you know, this team, we've been doing it all year, you know, whether I have a good game or whether Shaq has a good game, someone finds a way, you know, to step up. So, I'm not worried about if I don't score or if I don't play phenomenal, we're not going to win. As long as I'm on the court and giving my teammates an opportunity to win, I think we can." Wade on taking the ball to the basket: "Yeah, that was something that, especially Shaq told us, you know, don't settle for jumpshots, you know, take the ball to the basket strong, especially if they're not coming off him. So, you know, it'd be just our man and the basket, you know. So, I think guys did a great job of that. Udonis did a good job of attacking. Antoine, you know, did a very good job, especially in the 3rd quarter, of attacking, something we haven't been doing. So it was good for us tonight." Wade on if his health being better helped: "No question about it. I mean, I had legs to be able to, you know, no matter how many minutes I played, I had the legs at the end to be able to go down there and finish and, you know, make plays happen. So, you know, I said going into this game that, you know, this is the best I was going to feel all series. And, you know, don't I sound better? My voice coming back, yeah. Yeah, so I feel a little better." Wade on Payton: "Well, you know, first of all, you know, Gary not taking a shot all game, stepping up, hitting the game winning shot, man, shows, you know, what veteranism is all about. You know, he stepped up and made it. But, you know, what Gary means to this team, when he comes in, we're very confident defensively, you know, that he's going to do a great job. He can stick 1, 2, or 3. He's going to get after guys. So, with he coming in, we're really confident. He slows the pace down, really don't turn the ball over too much. So, you know, it's good we got a good balance of JWill's explosiveness and Gary, you know, settling down and making the right plays." Wade: "You know, well, with the mistakes that we made, you know, you can just live with those mistakes because you know that guys wanted it, you know. That was the main thing, you know. When you talk to guys, man, we wanted it bad. And, you know, it's comes times when you want it too much. And we was making the mistakes that we normally don't. So I'm sure that will change, you know, now that, you know, we found a way to win. I'm sure that will change in game 4. And what was the other one [question]? Oh, the 3 from the corner [to start the 4th], I've been itching to shoot that one for a while, man. I've been itching to shoot it. And, you know, we was down so I was like, what the hell. And it was in my rhythm, I was open, and I got into a flow that way." Wade on what went through his mind when he got his 5th foul: "Don't get the next one. I just looked over at Coach right away, I was like, 'Don't take me out.' You know, I just hit the 3, so I was, you know, I was, you know, I wanted to see what I could do after that. And I was just thinking, 'Don't get one more, just don't get another one.'" Wade on his knee: "I don't know. You know, the only thing I can do now is to ice it and see. Wake up in the morning and come in and get my therapy and see what happens, you know. It's a lot of weight fell back on me, you know, with Shaq's big head, I think his head did it. So, it's a lot of weight fell back on my knee, but I'll be fine." Wade on Miami's spacing: "Well, with the spacing, I think we did a good job of at the end noticing. As you see, me and Shaq was in a lot of pick-and-rolls so it kind of took Dampier out of the paint. And it was just, you know, I beat him and it was just me and the basket. So that was something that me and Shaq kind of told Coach we wanted to do. And it worked for us. And what was the other question? [O'Neal's free throw shooting] Oh, he went to the line, you know. I mean, that's Shaq, you know. He was in there working on it last night. You've got confidence in them. You know, he stepped up and cut it within 3, you know, made both of them. After he did that, man, he just, you know, just seen the level of our team rise, you know, to another level after that. So, you know, we feed off our big man, you know, no matter what it is - if it's a dunk, if it's free throws, if it's a charge that he took, you know, whatever it is." Wade on touching the ball 50 times and Miami losing: "Well, Coach just told me, well, I'd have to get it 49 times. So, hopefully I did that tonight. You know, I don't know, I mean, I don't know. I just know I'm always trying to be aggressive, I'm always trying to do the right things. Sometimes it works for us, sometime it don't. You know, but I think we'll live with it. And, you know, see how many touches I had tonight after coach go through the game." Wade on if Dallas got overconfident when they were up 13 points: "I don't think so. I mean, this team is a pretty explosive offensive bunch. They did what they was doing all game. They kept, you know, taking the shots. I think our defense rose to another level and made it a little tougher on them. So I think that was the main thing. But, you know, they did what they always do and that's, you know, take the shots that was there. I mean, they came out in the 3rd quarter, man, they hit 70% of their shots. Every time you turn around, it was like, 'Oh my God'. And then they finally missed them. And then we went down to the other end and we connected. So, that's what the game's about, runs - we made our run and they made their's." Antoine Walker on the end of the game: "It was great. It was tough. Obviously, we didn't want to put ourselves in that position. Turning the basketball over really killed us in that 3rd quarter. We didn't get enough field goal attempts and they capitalized on it. They hit a ton of 3s out in transition. When we were able to keep them in a halfcourt set, we were able to defend them. But when we turned it over and let them get out into the open court, they're a great basketball team. That's something that we definitely have to work on come Thursday." Walker on if it helps their confidence coming back from such a large deficit: "Not so much the deficit, we needed a win. I think we just needed to get a win to get our confidence up. Now we know we can beat this team playing bad. We have yet to play a good basketball game in this series. We need one Thursday if we're going to have a chance to even this thing up. We've got a lot of mistakes we've got to take care of. Besides taking care of the ball, we've got to start making foul shots, all of us. We've got to quit putting ourselves behind the 8-ball." Walker on how they cut down turnovers: "We've just got to get to our spacing better. We've got to take our time. I think a lot of us were anxious tonight, a little frantic because we're on our home floor. We've got to take our time and finish around the basket." Walker on the 4th quarter: "We just tried to stay positive, stay motivated. Obviously, we watched a great effort with 1 player keeping us in the game, scoring the ball down the stretch, which Dwyane's done for us so many times during the season. More importantly, Shaq made 2 big free throws down the stretch, Gary hit the shot to give us the lead, and different guys stepped up to make big plays down the stretch." Udonis Haslem on how much pain he was in: "It's just tough to get my arm over my head. Any time I raise my arm over my head for maybe an extended period of time. You know, when I go up for a rebound and come back down it's not as bad, but when I raise up to shoot and, you know, try to follow through or something like that, it kind of feels a little weak and a little sore. But, you know, that's it." Haslem on if the comeback eased the pain some: "Oh yeah. Most definitely. We needed this one. We're fortunate enough to get it. You know, we just move on to the next game. We can't get too high, you know, on our horse about winning 1 game." Haslem on the comeback: "We just didn't give up. Probably no one in the whole arena thought we were going to come back and win that game. We just didn't give up. We were fortunate to win that game. We've got to play better the next game." Haslem on if they ever doubted themselves: "No. We knew we could comeback. We knew we had a chance to win that game. And we were fortunate to win it." Haslem on rebounding: "Yeah, we talked about getting to the backboard. I think, last game, I think, we got crushed on the boards, I think. This game we just tried to have more effort in all the effort areas of the game, and rebounding is one of them." Haslem on defending Nowitzki: "I mean, he's a great player. You know, you try and get up on him and make him take tough shots. He's going to make shots, especially, you know, in transition, you get sucked in the paint then they throw it to him and you try to close up, but he gets it up, at 7-feet, you know, right over you and you really can't contest. So you really want to try to beat him on the catch as soon as he gets the ball. Haslem on Riley at the end: "All season he's been finding a way to motivate us and push our buttons. And, you know, tonight was just another example of something that he did." Haslem on the comeback: "Same thing that we've been through all year, the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations. We stuck together tonight and we were fortunate to get one. And we take it and move on." Haslem on what impressed him the most about Wade: "Probably getting his 5th foul with 11 minutes left in the game and still being aggressive and not getting in foul trouble, or not fouling out of the game, and still being aggressive defensively and offensively enough to stay in the game and help us win." Gary Payton on his last shot: "Well, it's just a shot. I mean, you know, JWill penetrated, they was rotating, I took 1 dribble, an escape dribble, and just shot the ball. You know, that's all that - you know, you don't think about it, you just go up there and shoot the ball and whatever happens, happens. And fortunately it went in." Payton: "Well, you see I don't get kind of hyper no more. You know, it's not a hyper thing. I mean, we still got a lot of work to go, you know. It's just fortunate that I made the shot and that, you know, we can win this basketball game. But we've still got a lot of work to go. I'm not going to hooray and all that stuff right now. It's not the time. It's just that we saved a win, you know, not to go down 3-0, and now we've still got a lot of work to do on Thursday." Payton: "Well, you've just got to stay ready, you know. We know what happened. I've been playing with Dwyane for 8 months now. So you know when he gets off the ball, you've got to be ready to shoot the ball. So, you know, you stay focused for it. If you're 8 months into it, you've got to get yourself into the mental state of doing that. And that's what we do, you know. With JWill, I know when he penetrates, he's always going to be looking. So it's a little bit more, you know, you're looking forward to, you know, getting the shot from him. DWade, you know, we want him to get to the basket and score. And so, we looking forward to that. Me and JWill got a nice little thing going on with each other, we look for each other and he did that for me." Payton on the difference of being 1-2 instead of 0-3: "Well, being 2-1, it's a lot different, you know. Having 1 game to go in and knowing that you're going to be eliminated and they'd be the champions. Now we got 1 game to work with and we're still at home and, you know, have an opportunity to tie this series up. You know, being down 3-0 and then have to win 4 straight is kind of a big task for us. But right now, going into Thursday's game, knowing that we can tie this series up and change the momentum and then plus going into Sunday to have a game here and try to go up, is a big difference." Payton on taking his first shot at the end of the game: "Well, you know, for a lot of young kids, it might be difficult. But for myself, you know, I've been in the league for 16 years, so, you know, I'm accustomed, or now I'm getting accustomed to it. And, you know, you just got to stay focused. And my mindset was focus and just, you know, anything's going to happen. You know, especially when JWill penetrated and know all the guys was going to, you know, sink to him, you know, you got to be ready. And that's what Pat tell us to do. He tell us be ready for anything, and I was ready for the shot. And, you know, Howard came and jumped and I escaped dribbled and hit the shot." Payton on what he told Wade when Wade picked up his 5th foul: "Well, I tell him don't foul each other. I tell him to foul no one. I said just stay in front of him and if he beats you, then I'm going to try to help, you know. And when, you know, when the man was penetrating and I came over and help him, I always talk to him. I say, 'Look, don't foul, don't foul. You know, just get back, x-out.' And that's what we call x-out when he goes to my man. So we just tell him to just be cautious, you know, don't go in there out of control, you know, so he can get an offensive foul. So we think on the defensive end, he's smart enough that he won't get a foul." Payton on the chances of a comeback: "Well our team, we're together. We wasn't worried about all that. Probably everybody in our stadium was thinking that we had lost this game, but you see what happened. We didn't have a lot of 4th quarter comebacks in this season, and that's what we're so, you know, accustomed to doing and we're in faith with each other. And we didn't let in no doubt. When we went back to the huddle, we said we've got a chance to get back into this game, all we've got to do is play defense. And that's what we did, we played defense, they missed a couple of shots, we went and, you know, and got close, and then, you know, Shaq hit some free throws, Udonis hit some free throws, he got a big steal too. And we was right there and won the basketball game." Payton: "Well, anybody is wanting to a win title. You know, anybody would want to say that. If I said I didn't, it wasn't important to me, then I would just be lying to you. But, you know, me being in the league this long, yeah, I would love to have a title, you know. But if it doesn't happen, I'm always going to say I was fortunate enough to play in this league and have an opportunity to do the things I did. And it was just I came up short not winning a championship. But if it comes, I'll be as happy as anybody would." Alonzo Mourning on the 4th: "Very gut-wretching, to tell you the truth. I mean, I said in Dallas, before we left Dallas, I said I got a tremendous amount of faith in this team. And even though there was an extreme amount of doubt and concern, I mean, we're a resilient group of guys. I mean, all year long we always try to find a way to pull it out, especially in the 4th quarter. I think if you can reflect back and everybody that has followed this team and during the regular season, I mean, timely 4th quarter turnarounds that we've made and have been able to pull games out, on the road especially, and it's just pretty much reminiscent of what this team's capable of doing, you know. And it's just, I just hope that we are able to carry this particular effort over from the 4th quarter, carry it over to the next game and put forth a 48 minute effort." Mourning on Riley writing "Season" during the 4th quarter: "He didn't have to write it, he said it. He said, 'This is our season.' You know, he turned and looked at everybody, looked everybody in the eyes. He said, 'This is our season that we're playing for right now.' And we all just found a way to dig just a little deeper, just a little bit deeper and that energy just transcended to the court and good things happened from there." Mourning on O'Neal having less than 20 points: "I mean, to tell you the truth, you know, I think we got the ball to him in the right spots, but when they came to double, he was just making plays. As long as he's able to continue to find the open man like he does - I think he had like 5 assists tonight - we can live with that. I mean, just because he's under 20, that doesn't mean he's not effective. You know, everybody's used to seeing these dominate games from him, but we're getting him the ball and as long as he keeps drawing double and triple-teams and making plays and guys are capitolizing of off them double-teaming him, then I think we're going to be all right, regardless of if he scores 15, 16. And obviously the end result is the most important thing, that we come out with a W." Avery Johnson the the 3rd quarter: "Well, again, we weren't playing very well in the 1st half, and especially the 1st quarter. And we came back and got ourselves together in the 3rd quarter and made a heck of a run and got the lead. But we just didn't finish well." Johnson on lossing a 13 point lead: "Well, again, give them some credit. We're playing in the Finals. Like I've been saying all along, you have 2 teams that are pretty evenly matched. They stormed back. Wade had an incredible game. Shaq made a couple of important free throws. And we just couldn't get anything going offensively or defensively in the 4th quarter. So give them some credit." Johnson on Dallas' last play: "Well, we were hoping to get a lob for Josh. And, you know, both of those guys read it pretty well. He was open there for a minute, and Terry popped free there and he just didn't get it. So, you know, that's a tough spot to be in. We've worked on a lot of different things because of those situations and just unfortunately didn't go down. Josh made a good try on it, but Wade was down there." Johnson on Wade: "Well, he had the whole game going tonight, inside and out. And, you know, he got to the free throw 18 times. He really hurt us with his penetration tonight. And he was really persistent. And, you know, even with Wade, you know, scoring like that, we still had a chance to win the game. But we just had a really bad 4th quarter, and that's what's really disappointing. They out-hustled us - 16 offensive rebounds. This is the way we normally beat teams on the boards. And Haslem really hurt us on the offensive glass and just out-hustled us and out-worked us pretty much throughout the game." Johnson on when Wade had 5 fouls: "Well, we were looking for opportunities to attack him, but, you know, sometimes you don't always get the benefit in that situation. So, we had opportunities to try to attack him, and he just kind of laid off pretty much and was not trying to foul. Johnson: "Well, this is a team that really detests losing. We just don't like losing, anything. So, we'll have to go back and take a look at some things. Wade really got away from us. Shaq's catches were too easy tonight. We really got hurt in a lot of different ways tonight. So again, we don't like to lose. But again, give the Heat some credit. They made some nice adjustments. They played hard. They didn't quit. And like I've said all along, we've been down like that before, and we've come back. So give them some credit." Johnson on Payton's last shot: "Yes. You know, we were pretty tough throughout that whole possession, and he hit us with a pump fake right there at the end and took a step in and made a shot. We were right there and just unfortunately we couldn't get a stop in that situation. But we're doing a pretty good job with their bench, but that's the shot that you'll remember." Dirk Nowitzki: "Well, I thought in the 1st half we didn't play well, you know. But the good thing was we were in striking distance, you know, only down 9. I mean, that's nothing for us with our offensive capabilities. And in the 3rd quarter, we finally started making some shots and moved the ball pretty well. And our defense picked up a little bit and got a nice little lead. And just at the end, the last couple minutes, we folded a little bit. Dwyane got to the basket a couple times - that didn't happen before. So he made some tough shots. And offensively we didn't execute the way obviously we wanted the last couple minutes. So it was a tough loss, and we still had the chance to tie it, and just missed the free throw. I was a little strong. So obviously this is going to be a tough one to swallow for us. But, you know, get back tomorrow, watch some film, and be ready on Thursday." Nowitzki if this was reminiscent of game 1 against Phoenix when they came back at the end: "Well, I didn't even think of that, but obviously it's a similar situation. Yeah, we couldn't really get anything done down the stretch on both ends of the floor. Maybe we started to relax too early or celebrate, I don't know what it was. But we didn't defend them the way we did before and we couldn't get anything to drop. So it's obviously frustrating. But, you know, the only good thing is we're still up 2-1." Nowitzki on the rebounds: "Yeah, that was a big key, I thought. They really crashed the offensive glass. Haslem did a great job getting in there. And obviously usually when we rebound the ball well, we win games. That really puts us in transition and we're able to, you know, play a faster game if we dominate the boards. And obviously we've got to go back and look at some film, what happened. They just wanted the rebounds a little more, so, you know, we've got to make sure we do a lot better in that area on Thursday." Nowitzki: "Well, obviously that gets them back in the series, you know. You know, we wanted to keep the pedal to the medal and obviously go up 3-nothing, but it didn't happen. They executed well down the stretch and got a win. So obviously, you know, now we've got a series. You know, it's 2-1 and they have got 2 more home games. Now we're in a dogfight for sure." Nowitzki on if he thought the basketball gods were against them: "I don't believe in that. Shaquille made big free throws down the stretch there. Those 2 were big. We're still up 5 and he made those 2 to only make it a 3 point game. And, you know, and mine, like I said, it was just a free throw that I usually make. I don't know what happened. I just shot it a little strong." Josh Howard on if he thought Dallas was going to tie the game with Nowitzki at the line: "Yeah. For the most part. He's like a 90% free throw shooter. I mean things happen, missed the free throw, move onto the next game." Howard on Dallas' last play: "Just a lob to the basket, about the only high percentage shot we can get at that time." Howard on if the lob was too high: "I don't know man, don't ask questions like that. Dwyane got the tip, you know what I'm saying. Regardless of if it was low or high, he got it." Howard on Miami's comeback: "I just think we relaxed. I mean that's the only thing I can say. They competed, they came back and fought hard, but for the most part we relaxed. There were a lot of shots they made that we should have been able to contest." Howard on Wade's performance: "About the same thing he did in game 1, same percentage and all of that. I mean, we suspected he'd come out and play hard, and even said it. No different than game 1." Howard on what Johnson said after the game: "'Get ready for the next game.' I think he knew, as well as us, that we let one slip through our fingers." Howard on Miami's rebounding: "When they rebound well we don't win, and when we don't rebound well we know we don't win. They came out and fought hard. Every time I saw a missed shot they were around it." Jason Terry on Miami's comeback: "Well, we got to give them a lot of credit. Tonight they came out with great energy. You know, they got off to a great start. You know, we made a run at them. As you know, basketball is a game of runs. We just didn't execute down the stretch, defensively or offensively. And they were the aggressor at the end of the game. And, you know, they really took this game tonight." Terry: "Well, we've been great through adversity all season long, and this is no different. We'll look at the film, go back and correct the mistakes that we made. And I think that's what we've done a great job with all season. You know, we're a very mentally tough team. And we knew Miami was going to come, you know, with everything they had tonight. You know, give them a lot of credit. You know, they really came out and wanted the game on both ends of the floor." Terry on if Dallas was overconfident in the 4th: "Na. I mean, we're a very confident team. You know, our confidence is at an even keel. You know, I just think we didn't execute. I mean, it's obvious. You know, we don't score, they do. And that's what it is. These games come down to the 4th quarter. You have to execute. And with 5 minutes left, they were the better team tonight." Terry on defending Wade: "Oh, it was very tough. You know, he's a tough matchup any night. And tonight he really had it on his mind that he was going to be aggressive getting to the basket, especially in that 4th quarter, he really, really took over. So, you know, we'll watch the film, make adjustments, and come back Thursday ready to go." Terry on if the crowd had an effect of Nowitzki's missed free throw near the end: "Well, we're all professionals. And, you know, you know the crowd is going to be crazy. I don't think that had much of a factor, if any, on that last free throw. I mean, we all missed free throws throughout the game so, we're not looking at that 1 play as that cost us the game or anything. You know, you have a big lead with 5 minutes left in the game and we just didn't execute." Jerry Stackhouse on Miami's comeback: "It was definitely different than the first 3 1/2 quarters. Give them credit they made plays down the stretch when they had to. They were fighting and clawing to get back in it. We had a pretty decent lead going into the 4th quarter." Stackhouse on if there was anything in particular that stood out: "I can't really put my finger on it right now, it was going so fast. I haven't had a chance to really think back on it." Stackhouse on O'Neal and Haslem hitting free throws: "They made the plays. Guys that had struggled from the line thus far this series stepped up and made plays. Shaq stepped up and made 2 big ones and then Haslem came back and did the same thing. You've got to give credit to those guys for coming through for their team." Devin Harris on Miami's comeback: "We just got a little stagnant. Shots weren't falling. They were playing good defense." Harris on game 4: "We'll play the same way. We had a big lead going into the 4th quarter and we lost it - and that's something that we'll learn from, but obviously what we're doing is working so we'll continue to do it." Harris on the loss: "Its tough. I mean, we say we're going to win them all, but we lost a tough one, and we just have to take a look at the mistakes we made and go from there." Harris on after being up 9: "I don't know. It's tough to say. We went to some plays that were working and we got the lead, and we came back in and shots weren't the same. The game changes each and every minute, so it's tough to say what one thing went wrong, but they played some good basketball tonight." Erick Dampier on Miami's comeback: "They got a couple of fouls; they got a couple of offensive fouls that we thought were not. Like I said, we just got to learn how to close out games. We were up by 12." Dampier on if Dallas got conservative: "I think we were still in attack mode. We don't stop playing until the game is over. It was an important game for us that we could have gotten under our belt, but it's over now so we'll just prepare for the next one and come ready to play." Dampier on Dallas' rebounding: "I wouldn't necessarily say we had any problems. The ball can bounce either way; they just got their hands on a couple of loose balls and a couple of rebounds. If wed had gotten our hands on those, it would of been a different game." Dampier on his game: "I just wanted to do whatever I can to help us be victorious. Picks when I can, roll to the basket, and when I get the opportunity just make the most of it." Dampier: "I feel like we should have won this game. Shot the ball well, pushed it up and down the floor, were able to get layups, get open shots. Games like this, it's really important at this point in the season, we can't let them slip away. Like I said we'll learn from this game and we'll definitely be prepared for the next one." Game 3: Miami Heat 98, Dallas Mavericks 96 at Miami (June 13) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Miami 29 23 16 30 - 98 .532 .286 .487 .588 Dallas 21 22 34 19 - 96 .508 .375 .480 .692 Halftime: Miami 52-43 3rd Q: Dallas 77-69 Technicals: Dwyane Wade (hanging on the rim) 4:29 1st, Gary Payton 9:18 2nd Refs: Jack Nies, Danny Crawford, Ken Mauer Attendance: 20,145 (sellout) IL: DJ Mbenga (Dal, suspended), Wayne Simien (Mia) Miami Heat REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dwyane Wade 43 14-26 1-2 13-18 42 2-13 2 1 5 2 0 Jason Williams 35 5-11 2-5 0-0 12 0-1 3 3 3 0 0 Udonis Haslem 34 3-8 0-0 2-6 8 8-11 0 3 4 3 0 Antoine Walker 35 6-17 0-5 0-2 12 1-7 1 2 3 0 0 Shaquille O'Neal 37 6-9 0-0 4-6 16 3-11 5 7 3 1 2 James Posey 28 1-2 1-2 1-2 4 0-3 0 1 1 0 0 Gary Payton 19 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 2 2 1 1 0 Alonzo Mourning 9 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-1 0 1 3 2 0 Totals 48 37-76 4-14 20-34 98 16-49 13 20 23 9 2 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Adrian Griffin 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 1-5 3 1 3 2 0 Jason Terry 36 7-14 1-3 1-2 16 0-1 5 2 2 2 0 Dirk Nowitzki 45 9-20 2-7 10-12 30 0-7 1 3 5 0 0 Josh Howard 42 8-13 3-3 2-2 21 0-5 1 1 4 0 1 DeSagana Diop 11 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1-4 0 0 4 0 0 Jerry Stackhouse 31 1-9 0-1 2-2 4 0-1 1 2 2 1 0 Erick Dampier 29 6-7 0-0 2-5 14 5-9 0 1 4 3 1 Devin Harris 18 4-7 0-0 1-3 9 0-0 4 2 3 1 0 Keith Van_Horn 9 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0-2 0 2 2 0 0 Marquis Daniels 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0 1 0 0 0 Totals 48 36-75 6-16 18-26 96 7-34 15 16 29 9 2 patricia Go Mavs!