The NBA fined Dirk Nowitzki $5,000 for kicking the ball in to the stands following game 5. Game 5: Dallas at Miami (June 18) Dallas was without Jerry Stackhouse due to the suspension and Devin Harris remained as a starter. Josh Howard scored the first 4 points of the game, but Antoine Walker hit a 3-pointer to put Miami on the board with 10:15 remaining. But Dirk Nowitzki then hit a fade away and Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 6 point lead. The teams traded buckets and Miami then scored the next 10 points to go up 15-11 with 5:15 to go. Miami held a small lead the rest of the quarter, none larger than 6 points. Walker picked up his 2nd foul with 8 minutes left, DeSagana Diop picked up his 2nd foul with 7:20 left, Udonis Haslem picked up his 2nd foul with 6:25 left, and Erick Dampier picked up his 2nd foul with 2:50 left, and all then sat the rest of the quarter. Miami led 24-21 after 1. After Howard hit 2 free throws, Shaquille O'Neal got consecutive buckets inside to give Miami a 28-23 lead with 9:35 to go. Miami led 34-30 with 6:25 left and Dallas then went on 15-4 run, with all 15 points coming from Howard and Terry, to give Dallas a 45-38 lead with 2:05 remaining. Terry nailed a 3-pointer and Howard converted a 3-point play to give Dallas their largest lead at 51-40 with 55 seconds left. On Miami's 3rd shot attempt, Jason Williams nailed a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to cap the quarter scoring. Dallas led 51-43 at the half. Terry (14 points), Howard (13 points), and Marquis Daniels (3 points) scored all of Dallas' points in the 2nd quarter as Dallas out-scored Miami 30-19 in the quarter. Dallas shot 11-19 FG and Miami shot 6-21 FG in the quarter. Howard suffered a strained hamstring during the 2nd quarter and got treatment during halftime and was able to continue to play. Williams hit a 3-pointer to open the 3rd quarter, but Dallas then scored the next 4 points to go up 55-46 with 10:20 remaining. Diop picked up his 4th foul with 9:05 left. Miami did pull within 5 points, but Dallas then scored the next 4 points (but couldn't get their lead larger than 9 points). Dampier picked up his 4th foul with 6:45 to go. It was 5 against 8 as Miami had 5 straight trips to the line without a shot attempt and the Heat pulled within 59-63 with 4:35 remaining. Miami was called for their first team foul with 2:25 left (and their 2nd with 11 seconds left, both were non-shooting). Dallas was able to build their lead up to 8 points twice. Dallas led 71-63 with 2:10 to go, but Miami scored the last 7 points of the quarter, capped by a 3-pointer by James Posey with 25 seconds left (and Wade just missed a long 3 at the quarter buzzer). Dallas led 71-70 after 3. Dallas didn't attempt a free throw in the 3rd quarter while Miami shot 9-18 FT and the Heat out-scored the Mavs 27-20 in the 3rd quarter. Wade opened the 4th quarter with a jumper to give Miami a 1 point lead. Miami led 74-73 with 9:55 remaining, but Dallas then scored the next 6 points to go up 79-74 with 6:40 left. Diop picked up his 5th foul with 8 minutes left and Dampier picked up his 5th foul with 7:50 left (and Diop came in for Dampier). Wade did hit 4 straight free throws to pull Miami within 1 point, but Dallas was able to hang on to a small lead. Haslem picked up his 5th foul with 5:05 left. Hack-a-Shaq made it's first appearance of this series with 4:45 remaining and O'Neal hit 1-2 FT to pull Miami within 79-81. Gary Payton nailed a 3-pointer with 3:45 to go to pull Miami within 82-83, but Terry answered with a 3-point play. The 2nd use of Hack-a-Shaq came with 2:45 left as Diop didn't understand what his coach wanted and committed the foul - it was Diop's 6th. O'Neal missed the free throws (got 3 attempts on a lane violation - which was a good thing as Haslem got the rebound on the 2nd miss) - O'Neal was subbed out on the next dead ball and sat for a little over a minute. Dallas led 88-84 with 2:25 left and Wade converted a 3-point play and hit a turn around 15-footer to give Miami an 89-88 lead with 1:40 remaining. Nowitzki hit 1-2 FT with 1:25 to go to tie the game. Wade drained a free throw jumper with 1:05 to go. And Nowitzki answered with a turnaround 15-footer over Haslem to tie the game at 91-91 with 49 seconds remaining. Wade (finally) missed with 33 seconds left. Dallas called timeout. Nowitzki drove across the top of the lane with 2 players on him and Nowitzki feed Dampier for the easy dunk with 10 seconds to go. Wade drove and hit the short fade away banker with 2.8 seconds left. Dallas called timeout to advance the ball and inbounded to Terry and he missed the 15-foot fade away at the quarter buzzer. Overtime at 93-93. Wade had 17 points in the 4th quarter - all but 6 of Miami's 23 points in the quarter. Wade open the scoring in overtime with an 17-foot banker with 4:20 remaining. Neither team scored over the next minute, and Haslem picked up his 6th foul with 4 minutes left. Terry was fouled on the break and hit 2 free throws and O'Neal answered with a short floater. On Dallas' 2nd attempt, Harris hit a free throw jumper to tie the game at 97-97 with 2:25 to go. Dallas intentionally fouled O'Neal for the 2nd time in the quarter (not in the penalty) and Miami subbed out O'Neal with 2:15 left. Wade forced a bad shot late in the shot clock and Miami had a 24 second violation - and O'Neal came back in to the game (as there was 2 minutes left - O'Neal would have to have the ball to commit Hack-a-Shaq with less than 2 minutes left in a quarter). Terry had the nice feed to Dampier and O'Neal fouled him. Dampier hit 1-2 FT to give Dallas a 98-97 lead with 1:40 remaining. Walker drove across the lane and missed with 1:15 to go. Howard was hit inside and went to the line with 54 seconds left. But he missed both free throws. Harris did a good job defending Wade and not biting on any of Wade's fakes and Miami called timeout with 39 seconds left (and 7 left on the shot clock). Payton drove and the seas parted as the defenders were more worried about the pass and Payton got the high arcing layup over Dampier's finger tips to give Miami a 99-98 lead with 30 seconds remaining and Dallas called timeout (and had 1 left). The Mavs spent some time setting up their play and Nowitzki got the ball at the free throw line and drove just outside the lane and hit the tough fade away 12-footer with 9.1 seconds to go and Miami called their last timeout. Miami advanced the ball and inbounded to Wade. He juked around and lost Terry (with a little shove) and Harris and Howard were still with him and he juked some more and drove and threw up a bad shot and was bailed out with a call, sending him to the line with 1.9 seconds remaining. He hit the first and Avery Johnson was yelling for a timeout after the 2nd free throw and Howard signaled a timeout and ref Joe Derosa gave Dallas the timeout right there - lots of controversy with this, but Derosa stood his ground and said a timeout was called. So Dallas' last timeout was used. Wade hit the 2nd free throw to give Miami a 1 point lead. And it was Dallas' ball under Miami's basket. The ball was inbounded to Harris near Miami's arc and he dribbled to hear halfcourt and threw up the prayer that wasn't answered - it hit the top of the backboard. Miami won 101-100 in overtime. Miami leads the series 3-2. I've heard comments from a few about this being a great game, and I definitely have to disagree. I've seen some great games in these playoffs and this was not one of them. There were so many questionable things that went on in this game, especially at the end, that it just left a bad taste in my mouth. The talk after the game was not about Dirk Nowitzki's incredible shot or Gary Payton's surprising layup or even Dwyane Wade hitting a great game winner - instead it ended with a thud with 2 free throws off an either-or call that you rarely see called as a game decider and the talk was about non-basketball plays, mainly revolving around the officiating. I guess everyone has their boiling point for this game. For some, it was the timeout given between Wade's last 2 free throws (argue away about whether or not Josh Howard was talking to his coach or actually calling for the timeout). A few complain that Wade pushed Jason Terry to get free. For Mark Cuban, it was the fact that Wade had not established position in the backcourt prior to catching the inbounds ball for Miami's last possession (which was an uncalled over-and-back). For others it was the foul called for Wade on that drive (which I also had a problem with - they had been letting lots go prior to that and all of the sudden they bail him out like that??? [And, yes, I also felt they shouldn't had called the foul on Josh Howard with 54 seconds left for the same reason.]) For me it was the entire 3rd quarter. 9-18 to 0-0. That's the free throw numbers for each team in the quarter. If one team was simply being aggressive and the other was not and settling for outside shots, that wouldn't be something to complain about. But that wasn't the case in this game. It was simply lopsided officiating and it changed the momentum of the game. Twice in a minute span, Devin Harris drove to the basket for layups (missed both) and got fouled both times without a call. That would have been okay except for the fact that on Miami's possession following each Harris drive, the Heat got the calls (this is also where Avery Johnson picked up his technical). Dallas had been playing very well, but the Heat were able to get back in to the game with the foul calling disparity in the 3rd quarter. Miami wasn't whistled for their first team foul of the quarter until 2:24 left. [That's not to say Miami couldn't have gotten back in to the game without the calls - they might have come up with a run of their own - that's the way I'd have rather seen it (I really do hate griping about the refs, but will call them out when they have a lousy performance).] I've always said that Bennett Salvatore and Joey Crawford are the 2 refs I never want to see officiate a game, but that's normally due to Salvatore's usual poor and inconsistent officiating and Crawford's many grudges and wanting to be the show. But this night they were worse - they weren't calling it the same way on both ends of the floor. [And this rant about the 3rd quarter was coming no matter the outcome of the game.] I hope the league one of these days wakes up and does something about the poor officiating as I'd rather be talking about great plays than calls and non-calls. As for the game numbers, it really does come down to free throws. Dallas made 6 more shots (and 2 less 3-pointers) and Miami (despite their poor free throw shooting) made 11 more free throws. Dallas can also look in the mirror for the loss as they shot 1-4 FT in the last 2 minutes of overtime. Overall, Miami shot 44.9% (31-69) FG including 7-17 3-pointers and Dallas shot 45.7% (37-81) FG including 5-19 3-pointers. Miami shot 32-49 FT - tying the Mavs playoff opponent record for free throws attempted. Dallas shot 21-25 FT. Dallas did out-rebound Miami 42-33 including 11-7 offensive. For a change in this series, it was only a small difference in points in the paint as Miami had 28 and Dallas had 26. Only 3 of Miami's 12 turnovers came in the 2nd half and overtime. Dallas had 16 turnovers. The assists numbers were low for both teams with Miami having 14 assists and Dallas having 13 assists. Neither team had a block in the game - the only time that the 2-team total for blocks has been 0 in the Finals. The largest lead was 11 points by Dallas and 6 points by Miami. Miami became the 2nd team since the league went to the 2-3-2 format to sweep the middle 3 games. Game 6 is in Dallas at 8:00 pm on ABC - and it's do or die time for the Mavs. Dwyane Wade was once again awesome. If the Mavs were to some how win this series, it would take a stellar performance by 1 player in both the next 2 games (and maybe a bad outing by Wade) for Wade not to be the MVP of the Finals, IMHO, no matter which teams wins the Championship. He had a poor 1st half where he shot 3-13 FG and had 13 points, but came on strong, especially in the 4th quarter where he carried the team, and scored 30 points in the 2nd half and overtime. He did benefit from many calls and set the Finals record for free throws made and had the 2nd most for free throws attempted (and both were Mavs opponent playoff records). Wade had 43 points, besting his previous high of 42 points in game 3. He shot 11-28 FG including 0-2 3-pointers and 21-25 FT - matching exactly the free throw numbers for Dallas as a team. He also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 turnovers in 50 minutes. Shaquille O'Neal had a double-double with 18 points on 8-12 FG and 2-12 FT (including 1-4 FT on Hack-a-Shaq) and 12 rebounds. The next highest scorer had just 10 points. James Posey had 10 points and 6 rebounds in filling in for the foul plagued Udonis Haslem. Haslem had 2 points on 1-3 FG and 4 rebounds before fouling out a minute into overtime. Jason Williams was hardly noticed and had 9 points and 4 assists in 25 minutes - he only played 30 seconds in the 4th quarter and overtime as Miami went with Gary Payton. Payton had 8 points, including a couple of key buckets, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 30 minutes. Bad for the Mavs, Antoine Walker wasn't jacking up shots like crazy. He had 6 points including 2-7 FG, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 26 minutes. Shandon Anderson played 8 minutes and had 4 points. Only 3 players showed up for Dallas. Jason Terry tried to do it himself at times and other times he got help from Josh Howard. Terry had 35 points including 13-23 FG and 4-9 3-pointers in 50 minutes. He also had 5 rebounds, but had just 1 assist and 4 turnovers. Howard had 25 points, but only 2 of his points came in the 4th quarter and he did not score in overtime. He was playing with a strained hamstring, though. Howard also had a team high 10 rebounds. Dirk Nowitzki was off most of the game, but did turn it on late in regulation and hit a very tough shot near the end of overtime. He had 20 points and 8 rebounds. Nowitzki was great through the first 3 rounds and the Mavs really need for him to revert back to form and show up big in game 6. Devin Harris was the next highest scorer with just 6 points including a miserable 2-12 FG. He had just 1 rebound and 1 assist to go with 5 fouls in 34 minutes. DeSagana Diop continues not to show much nor last long on the floor before picking up fouls (including the dumb one that got him his 6th). He had 2 points and 4 rebounds in 21 minutes. Erick Dampier played better and had 5 points and 8 rebounds in 19 minutes (and 5 fouls). With Diop and Dampier's foul trouble and DJ Mbenga's return from his suspension, Mbenga saw his first action of the Finals. He didn't attempt a shot and had 3 rebounds and 4 fouls in 8 minutes. Keith Van Horn also saw a little center time and struggled and only played 4 1/2 minutes. He missed his only attempt and had 1 rebound and 2 fouls. Adrian Griffin didn't have a usual Griff night with just 2 points and 2 rebounds in 15 minutes. Marquis Daniels had 5 points on 2-3 FG and 4 assists in 14 minutes. With just 14 points off the bench (5 players), no question that Jerry Stackhouse was missed. Quotes Pat Riley on Wade exploiting Dallas' defense: "I don't know if he exploited anything. Their defense was, I think, geared to him. He was 3-13 in the 1st half. He was having a hard time finding spaces and gaps. And, you know, once we started to stop running plays for him and giving him the ball at the high post, he was making his jumpshots. So I think finally pulling up instead of trying to find airspace and the fact that he was making enough of them was what won us the game." Riley on the end of the 3rd quarter: "Well, we're down 8, you know, throughout the 3rd quarter. At 34-30, you know, I think they had this, you know, 21-9 run again on us just before the half, and that was big. It was huge to be able to close the gap. You know, my fear was that it would get into double-digits, and it's very hard to come back all the time. But, you know, we got it down to I think 71-70, or something like that, 1 point and then from there, it was probably one of the greatest games I've ever been around, part of. Everybody making big shots. You know, the shot that Dirk made to put them ahead by 1, I don't think you can defend it any better than that. There's no way that you could defend it and it was nothing but net. But then Dwyane made the play he had to make." Riley on the last play: "Well, they were in a zone the 2 possessions prior to that, and you don't know what they are going to come out in. And obviously the important thing for us was to get him the ball, make sure we got him the ball. Because I think if it went to anybody else first, they would have denied him, and he had to have it. So he ran into the backcourt to get it. And the last thing he said to me coming out of the timeout is, 'Coach, I want to go left, I want to go left.' And so I said, 'Well, tell Shaquille, you know, to move out of there.' And so he went right twice and came back left, anyhow. So that's, you know, that's what Dwyane is. Na, na, if there was an open man; but I think he was so committed - and I've seen him do it before - to try to find a gap that he would have created a shot, I think probably the best shot. But we did not have a 2nd option, believe me." Riley on Wade: "He's a great free throw shooter, first of all. And he's, I think his percentage in the last 8 or 9 minutes of the game or last 5 minutes of the game is up in the 90s, you know, so he's a winner. That's all you can say, he's just a winner. To make both free throws, hit nothing but net, is just what he's about." Riley on Wade between the 2 free throws: "Dwyane was pretty calm and, you know, while all that stuff was going on and he took that inadvertent time out, I think he did. But he just stayed right on the rim most of the time, he wasn't saying much." Riley on needing to win in Dallas where they haven't won in 4 years: "Well, law of averages. It's going to take a lot more than that, but we'll see. So, I'd much rather go down there this way, 1 game away from, you know, the Championship, instead of having to win 2 in a row. I mean, they played a great game tonight. They did everything they could to win. And now it's our job to go into a very hostile environment and do something this franchise has never done. That's what it's about." Riley on if he relies on his coaching experience: "Well, I know I can get through it. You know, I mean, I think it's getting out all of us about right now. But I can get through it and I'll do the best job I can do to give them a chance, period." Riley on Dallas' timeout: "I don't know. You'd have to ask them. But I knew they had a 20 second left. So I don't know what happened, to be honest with you. I'm sure they probably would have liked to keep it, you know, and bring it in at halfcourt. But, something happened." Riley on Wade: "Well, I thought he looked a little fatigued early. They were denying the ball. They weren't making it easy for him. Probably he could have got off the ball a little bit more in the 1st half, you know, which is what we did talk about, if they were going to try to stop him, there'd be people open. But we began to open up the floor for him, that's all. You know, we have a set that, you know, he can run 2 or 3 things out of it, but at least everybody can see where he is and he can see where everybody else is in that situation." Riley on Wade's attack mentality to get free throws: "That's it. That's his personality as a player, and it was in college, and it is now and probably forever will be. I'm sure the fact that he makes pull-up jumpers now, he took what the defense gave him. But he's very, very smart when they're in the penalty. And they got in the penalty 3rd quarter, 4th quarter, a little bit early, and when they are in the penalty, he's not going to accept anything else but go to the basket, you know. So he gets fouled a lot on the floor and guys are bumping and banging on him and he gets to the line. So it's one of the benefits of actually having Shaquille - when they started to hack him, they got into the penalty, you know, rather quickly in overtime, and he gets to the line." Shaquille O'Neal: "Yeah, they took care of business at home, we took care of business at home. And now we just have to, you know, try to go there and just win the first one that we play." O'Neal on being 1 win away from the Championship: "It feels pretty good. But, you know, I told the guys that, you know, the job is not done yet. You know, we want to enjoy this win tonight, but, you know, we've still got to go to a hostile arena in Dallas and take care of business. And we look forward to doing it." O'Neal on sitting out possessions: "I mean, I've, you know, really, you know, been through that before. And, you know, I understand what Coach is doing. You know, he's just, you know, playing the, you know, percentages. But, you know, DWade, you know, he had my back tonight. He was a fabulous player. And everyone just played. You know, I've been in the league 13 years, I've been in every situation. And, you know, I just try to do the other things well. You know, I still shot the ball pretty well from the field, I still rebounded. I still played some pretty good defense. And, you know, we've just got to keep playing, just got to keep playing. You know, we've, you know, seen it all. We've seen it all, we've done it all, we've been through it all." O'Neal on Wade: "I have a lot of faith in him. You know, we all have faith in him. You know, we just give him the ball and he does what he does. You know, he's a very unselfish player, you know, a very great player. He started off slow, but, you know, when he starts off slow, you know, you have to worry about him heating up. You know, it's not too many times that he starts off slow and he stays, you know, slow. So, you know, he just heated up at the right time, and, you know, we played a fabulous game and everybody played well. And, you know, Dwyane is just a fabulous player." O'Neal on how Wade responses to pressure: "He's the best right now, and that's all you can say. He's the best." O'Neal on Payton's shot: "I mean, it's a big, big shot for GP. You know, he stumbled a little bit and he laid up with the left and I was right there for the rebound and it just went in. You know, I think at that point that put us up by 1, and then Dirk came down and hit a tough shot over Udonis and me to put them up by 1. So, you know, he's been playing great, you know, he's been good all year, helping out Dwyane, helping out some of the other younger guards. And I'm happy for Gary right now." O'Neal on if he'd consider retirement if they win the Championship: "Not really. I mean, I have 4 years left and, you know, I'll probably just, you know, play out my 4 years. And then I don't know what I'll do. I'll probably start dressing like him." O'Neal on if hack-a-Shaq was frustrating: "No, I just, I mean, I really wanted to hit them. You know, they felt good leaving my hand but, you know, it just didn't go in today. But, Dwyane Wade, he had a fabulous game. You know, he stuck up for me. I told him that I owe him one." Dwyane Wade: "Well, you know, with their defense, I think they, you know, probably pressured me a little bit more, tried to get into my airspace a little bit more, make it hard on me. But, the only difference I really seen was probably they made it, when I went to the basket, they made sure I didn't, you know, didn't finish too much. They knocked me down, put me on the floor, something I'm used to. So that was the biggest difference. And, you know, at the end, you know, the timeout just, you know, with the free throws, you know, just thinking about, you know, all the times you'd just stepped up there and made them, you're thinking about all the times you've been in the gym and you'd of made them and just positive thoughts. So, you know, it was no question in my mind I was going to make them. There was no question in any of my teammates minds I was going to step up there and make them." Wade: "Yeah, you know, we took care of business at home like we're supposed to do. You know, won 3 games, 2 of them in dramatic fashion. But like I said, we took care of home business, took care of home court, just like they took care of their 2. But, you know, we've got to win 1 on the road, you know, to reach our goal. So, we got a challenge ahead of us, and I'm excited about this team's chances, you know, with the challenge." Wade on wanting the ball on the last possession: "Oh no, yeah, I wanted the ball, you know, always. Once I got it, you know, once I seen it, it was like 2 or 3 guys coming at me, I just was trying to get a little space where I could use my quickness, you know, to get by them. Once I got by Jason, I was able to maneuver my way to the basket. And I got hit twice on my way to the basket - I heard that someone said that it wasn't a foul, but it was. And, you know, just tried to attack, didn't want to settle for a pull-up jumper. You know, wanted to, you know, go to the basket and either hit it or make them foul me, and that's what happened. So I was fortunate enough, you know, to get the ball and be able to attack." Wade on a conversation he had with his cousin: "He was just in my ear a lot, you know, after my workout, just shooting free throws and he was just standing next to me in my ear, telling me I'm not that good. Just all kind of stuff, stuff that cousin's supposed to do. And that's all I was thinking about, every time I stepped to the free throw line was, you know, him, his face, actually right there underneath the basket in my ear telling me, you know, that I wasn't that good and different things like that. So every little thing helps and every little thing gives you an edge, and that was my edge and look for another one in the next game." Wade on free throws helped him get in rhythm: "Yeah, no question. You know, when you make free throws, it puts you into a rhythm. Early on, you know, I missed some shots I normally hit, but give them credit, they did a good job of making me take tough shots. But, you know, I kept going and kept attacking. But, 2nd half I came out and tried to get to the hole more, didn't want to settle too much. And as I was going to the hole, like I said, their whole thing was to not let me get there. And you see it was like, you know, a segment where it was like 4 hard fouls in a row. And it got me into a flow and got me kind of mad at the same time. So after that, you know, I was ready. I told Shaq, 'I'm up and I'm with you now.' So that's the whole thing about the game." Wade on a turnover he had: "No, I never lose confidence, I was just thinking it was a stupid pass. You know, I threw a lazy pass. I saw Shaq trailing - and I did a couple of those today, you know, threw a couple of lazy passes and I was just think to go myself, you know, 'Stupid, stupid, stupid.' But, I'm hard on myself. I always bounce back. I'm never going to get that frustrated where I can't come back and make the next play. So that's a sign of a player maturing if you can come back and make the next play and I think I did that." Wade on how physically demanding getting to the line 25 times is: "It was very demanding, you know. I just was telling them in the back, I played 50 minutes and I felt good on the court, but I'm starting to feel it now. I'm a little tired. But, you know what, it's no time to be worrying about it. You know, we got a couple days left in the season. I got time to rest for a little while in the summer and I'll rest then. So I'm continue to do what I got to do to help my teammates get better and help the Miami Heat get better. And if it's attacking and going to the free throw line, then that's what it is." Wade on how he keeps pushing himself to keep attacking: "Well, you know, you got to have will, a strong willingness in this game if you want to get to where you've got to get to. And that's to the end, that's to, you know, to the final thing, and that's to the championship. So, they put the ball in my hands, so they expect a lot out of me, and I've got to come through, you know for Coach Riley and the coaches and my teammates who put the ball in my hand and say, 'Dwyane, go ahead, go to work.' So of course I've got to come through for them guys." Wade on going from 0-2 to 3-2: "Like, you know, like we said, we knew we didn't play any good games in Dallas. I mean, you know, when you go on the road and you don't play any good games, then you turn the ball over, it's hard to win. But we took our 2 losses to [something] and then came back home and got better and, you know, won a dramatic game in game 3. And our confidence got, really, really rose after that. And, you know, just been, we're playing on a high level. But we got to continue to do it. We're up 3-2, but we didn't did nothing but, you know, protect our home court. You know, like I said, for us to win everything, we got to go up there and we got to get 1 in Dallas. It's going to be very tough, but that's why we play this game, you know, for these moments. So looking forward to it." James Posey on how they changed the momentum since being down 0-2: "For the most part, you know, it was something we did out there. We just stayed together and we knew had to continue to just take it one game at a time. That's all we tried to do. We've put ourselves in a good situation, and we like where we're at right now." Posey on Wade: "Man, what do you want me to say. He's a great force. We kind of let him take over and he played the game real smart and made big plays." Posey: "Like I said, he's a great player, and he does it every night. You know, he's consistent with it and he does it every night." Posey on carrying momentum in going to Dallas: "I think so. Like I said, we've just got to take it one game at a time. And right now, we've just got to stay focused. You know, we know what the ultimate goal is. And if we continue to do that, we're going to have a good chance to win in Dallas." Posey on what he thought when Wade was at the line: "Game over. You know, we spend a lot of time on our free throws. You know, and down the stretch - you know, we miss free throws, but down the stretch with how he was going, I just knew he'd knock those down." Posey on Payton's shot: "Oh man, we was just laughing about it because it was a heck of a shot by GP, you know, old-school GP. And guys was giving him a hard time about it. But, hey, we'll take it." Posey on winning the middle 3: "We're still not done yet. We've still have to, you know, stay focused, and go to Dallas and get a win. Like I said, we're just taking it one game at a time." Antoine Walker on after being down 0-2: "I think that's what we talked about. When we lost the 2nd game, we talked about coming back home and getting all 3. We knew we had the opportunity to do that, and we did. So, now we've put ourselves in 1 game away, 48 minutes, from accomplishing the world championship. So we've just got to stay focused right now. Obviously we played great tonight, from everybody. Obviously, Dwyane's individual offensive effort was tremendous, but we got some big contributions from a lot of people. Gary Payton's layup down the stretch, Pose played huge. So we got different contributions from everybody. But now we need to play our best game to close this series out." Walker on Wade being at the line at the end: "I mean, when you're on a roll like that the way he was tonight, especially in the 2nd half. I don't think he missed a free throw in the 2nd half, so he was in a good rhythm. The biggest thing is getting the 1st one. The 2nd one is always easier. So just kind of capped off a great night. Tonight, he took over all facets of the game, kind of how like Michael Jordan did it back in '91 and '92, when he really dominated the Finals. It's a real treat to watch him and to be a part of it. Hopefully, he's got 1 more in him." Walker on Payton's shot: "I mean, it was huge. You know, if they're double-teaming, guys are going to have to step up and make big plays, whatever the play may be. So other guys are going to have to take shots down the stretch, especially going into game 6. They're probably thinking they're not going to let Dwyane beat them. The last play, you see, he just kind of gutted his way through there, but there was 4 guys on him that time. So, you know, they're trying their best to do it, but he's in one of those grooves right now where he feels it offensively, especially when he's hitting his mid-range jumpshot, he's got you at his mercy. So you're just watching a great player at work right now." Gary Payton on being 1 win away from the Championship: "Well, it feels good. I mean, but we've still got a lot of work to do. You know, we are going back to their home court where it's going to be very hard to win basketball games. We haven't won there all year. So, you know, what we're going to do is we're just going to come out and try to play a perfect game and hopefully we can win on Tuesday." Payton on hitting 2 shots at the end of 2 games: "Well, I'm just there and it's in the situation at the time. You know, I have the ball and, you know, I want to win. So, you know, the clock be winding down and, you know, I get the wide open shot or I get a look, you know, I'm going to take it. So I've been taking them and fortunately for me, they've been going down." Payton on his shot late in the game: "No, it was my mistake. You know, I was supposed to swing the ball to Posey, but I, you know, I thought that he was supposed to go through, and when he didn't go through and then everybody started crowding up, you know, the lane was wide open. So I took the lane and drove and, you know, I made a left hand layup." Payton on Riley: "Well, we both want the title. You know, he hasn't had one in, what he said, 18 years or so. You know, it'd be great for him to win one, great for me to win one. You know, but we've still got a lot of work, like I said. You know, we're not going to think about it right now. We're going to think about it on game 6 Tuesday night and if happened, I know me and him are probably going to hug each other and probably go out to lunch probably in the next couple of days when we get back to Miami, you know, cause we both hugged each other in the lockerroom today after the game. So I think we're both looking forward to it." Avery Johnson on the timeout: "Well, the signal was for the timeout to come after the 2nd free throw. We've been in this situation a million times, and it was assumed that we wanted it at that time." Johnson missing Stackhouse: "Yeah, we always miss Stack when he's not there. We miss him when he's not on the floor. But our players put up a valiant effort tonight." Johnson on Terry not driving on the last shot of regulation: "You know, he was kind of in between right there, pretty much his shot. We've seen it go in quite a bit. He didn't have much time to work with, so when he caught it, he was kind of in between right there." Johnson on Dallas' late missed free throws: "You know, obviously they are free and, you know, we normally make them. So we had 2 or 3 at that point that didn't go in for us. It's kind of disappointing, but I don't know if that's why we lost the game." Johnson on needing to win 2: "Well, we just need to focus on 1. That's what we've done a good job of all year. And it will be good to get a little home cooking." Johnson on Wade's last drive: "You tell me. What was your impression?" [Reporter: No one cares about my impression, what was yours?] No, you tell everybody here. You know, you tell us. What was your impression? [Reporter: My impression was he got 2 free throws out of it.] No, that's, all right, that's a political answer. So let me ask you the question again. What was your impression on that play? We're waiting. [Reporter: Did he get fouled?] I'm asking you the question: what was your impression? [Reporter: I don't know what to say. What do you want me to say?] No, I want you to give everybody an honest answer. We have people from Israel and Minnesota, Chicago, all over, Dallas, you know, Germany. [Reporter: I'll followup with another question if that's all right.] Yeah, well, go ahead." Johnson on if the timeout was supposed to be called after the 2nd free throw: "Yup. And pretty much most people who have ever been involved in the NBA for 20, 30 years know we wouldn't want one anyway with only one timeout anyway with only one timeout left. So we were pretty dumbfounded that that couldn't get relayed." Johnson on if having the timeout after the 2nd free throw was assumed by the refs or the players: "No, we gave the signal, 2nd free throw, timeout, and we'll have to look at the replay. One of our players was saying timeout, I said, yeah, after the 2nd one. So, but that's not, you know, that's not, you know, the game. There are a lot of other situations that we're disappointed with." Johnson: "Well, we were pretty confident for this game. We had great focus, we had great energy, we rebounded the ball well, had a chance to win at the end of regulation. And Wade got away from us. Then Terry missed a shot, his shot. We had another chance to bottle up Wade. We pretty much sent 3 people at him, if you can remember that play, and we thought we had him bottled up. But, you know, he went to the free throw line again, pretty much the same amount that our whole team went to the line. So we thought we played good defense on that play, but just wasn't rewarded for our hustle." Johnson on game 6: "Well, again, man, we're a team that's tough-minded. I don't know if anybody could respond in this game even the way we responded. So, they're not many teams. That's why we're here in the Finals. That's why we're the Western Conference Finals Champion, and we're here. We're going home, and I know our fans are going to be really crazy. We play pretty good basketball at home. We've got home court advantage. So we know we have to play well and win game 6. There's no tomorrow, and I like that 'no tomorrow' feeling for our team." Johnson on Wade: "Well, Wade is obviously playing great. And we tried a lot of different things on him. And, you know, we've just got to stick with it. We've got to stick with it. We had a stretch there where we denied Wade, and then Gary Payton scores on a flip left handed layup over one of our centers. So, hopefully we can put together more of a complete game than what we've done here in Miami." Dirk Nowitzki on Miami's defense on him: "Well, I thought they did the same thing that they did in the first 4 games, you know, body up. If I posted up, Shaq was coming low. So they were just swarming me. Nothing new. JET had a great night for us, Josh was great. And we still had opportunities to win the game in regular play. And in overtime, we had some chances. So obviously a tough loss." Nowitzki on how Dallas bounces back: "Well, you know, we were confident. We're a good home team all season long. We won big games at home. So, obviously this one is a tough one to sit on for a day. But, you know, starting tomorrow, we'll get focused again, watch some film of what we can do better and just be confident. Our fans will be great at home. They pushed us in game 1 and 2 to 2 Ws, so we're looking forward to more of the same in game 6 and hopefully game 7." Nowitzki: "Well, I thought we had, like I said, enough opportunities to win this game today. So we know we can beat this team. We showed it in game 1 and game 2. So, you know, like I said, this is a tough one to swallow for a night, but starting tomorrow, we should feel a lot better about ourselves again." Nowitzki on the timeout: "Well, yeah, obviously I thought it was a tough call. You know, I thought Dwyane pushed off like 3 guys to get to the basket and I saw him coming running at me. And I kind of thought I went out of the way, and they gave him the call. So I thought it was a tough call. And then in the timeout, I don't really know what happened, you know. I was on the other side. Obviously we wanted a timeout after make or miss. That was obviously the plan. And I don't know who said what. But, you know, I think that's the referee, he needed to weigh a little bit, and obviously they should know too that we don't want to waste our timeout. So you need a little, you know, finger tips in a situation like that. And so it was tough." Nowitzki: "Well, obviously we've got to approach it the way that we need to win 2 home games, you know. We know we're down, our backs are against the wall, and we've responded to tough losses pretty much all season long. So, yeah, I mean, we're going to watch the film, obviously, what we did in the 4th quarter and overtime. You know, obviously we thought we had game 3 under control what couple minutes left, so, you know, we just made some mistakes that we can't make. So, we'll go from there." Nowitzki on tossing the ball at the end of the game: "Well, obviously frustration. I mean, that's a tough loss. You know, to lose a game like that where we went up 1, we went up 2 right before overtime, and they tied the game. And then, you know, we go up 1 with a couple seconds left and they get a call. So it's, ah, more than anything, it's frustration. And, you know, I'm an emotional player out there. And I don't think it was anything bad." Nowitzki: "Yeah, I mean, obviously we were mad already after game 4. I mean, we got embarrassed here. They suspended one of our players. So obviously we already were pretty mad. And I thought we responded, we were in the game, we had our chances. And, You know, now we go home and same attitude as we came into the game today and we'll see what happens." Nowitzki on Wade shooting as many free throws as Dallas did: "Yeah, I mean, he's a good player, obviously. He knows how to get to the basket and he knows how to draw contact. And he gets to the line a lot. You know, he's been doing this all playoffs long, and you've got to give him credit." Josh Howard on the loss: "It was tough. But like I said, we've got to get ready for game 6. We're not out of it yet. They're up 3-2, but were going back home." Howard on Dallas' defense on Wade: "All night, we was playing great defense on him. He got to the line 25 times. That's a stat I've never seen before, something new for me." Howard on the last foul on Wade (with the reporter saying it was a phantom foul): "Sheesh, you've seen it." Howard on what they need to do at home: "Win. It's plain and simple, I mean." Howard on what Johnson said after the game: "Nothing. We took it upon our team to know what we've got to do and that's it." Howard on the timeout: "[The ref] thought I called a timeout. But I didn't make any contact with him, or any eye contact with him. Like I said, he felt that I called a timeout and he gave it to us." Howard on the free throw difference: "I'm going to let you break that down. I don't have anything to say about that either." Howard on Crawford saying he called timeout twice: "No. I'm going to leave it at that. No." Howard on Crawford saying he called timeout twice: "If that's what he's saying, that's what he's saying. I know I didn't call a timeout twice. I didn't even say nothing to anyone. I just made a sign like that [showing timeout signal]." Howard on where he was looking when he made the signal: "I was looking straight at Coach." Howard on if he made eye contact with the ref: "Never. Like for real, never." Howard: "It's common sense - what would I tell him timeout for?" Jason Terry: "Well, we've got to come out in game 6 with a controlled anger. We're definitely disappoint about our performance in these 3 games here. So we'll put that behind us, go home to a great crowd, great atmosphere. That's what home court advantage is all about. So we know we'll be ready. Mentally we're a very strong team. And, you know, there's nothing we haven't seen." Terry on the last play: "I really can't comment on that last play. Didn't really know what transpired. So we have to watch the film and see. But overall, I just thought we came out, we answered the call. You know, we were facing adversity. I liked our energy, our focus. We were concentrating on every possession. And, you know, it's a game of mistakes. But come down to the last play and for it to be won or lost on a foul call is just disappointing, disheartening. But, like I said, this is the NBA Finals. We're definitely going to bounce back, we're excited about the opportunity, and we're going home." Terry on the last 3 games: "We're blessed and fortunate just to be, you know, in the position we are. And we know that. But, you know, they did what they had to do. Give them credit. You know, they took care of their home court, and now it's our turn to take care of ours. And we're definitely looking forward to it." Terry on if Dallas is angry right now: "Oh, yeah. There's no question about it. I mean, if you're feeling any other way, then you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be in a Maverick uniform. So, you know, we're disappointed, but when we go home, we're going to control that anger. We'll have Stackhouse back, and we'll be ready to go." Terry on if they're angry about the loss or what led to the loss: "A little bit of everything." Terry on if fatigue was a factor: "Oh, not at all. I mean, we're a very well conditioned team, we've prepared for this all year long. And you've got all summer long to rest. So, we're going to leave it out there on the court every night we step out there." Terry on Nowitzki's struggles: "Oh, no, we'll see, we'll go home and get some home cooking and Dirk will be ready. You know, we're not concerned about anything, you know, that Dirk does offensively. I thought he was there all night defensively. You know, the way that they're playing him, they're basically in a box-in-1 and bringing another guy over, so it's tough for him to get his shots. But, you know, when he does have the opportunity, he's being aggressive, he's taking the ball strong to the hole, and that's all we can ask out of him." Terry on if they're not used to the box-and-1: "Not really. I mean, teams have tried that on us before, San Antonio, Memphis. I mean, you know, we'll be ready. It doesn't matter. We still had our opportunities to win the game. We didn't take advantage of them, but like I said, we're going home, and we'll see in game 6." Devin Harris on Wade: "He got to the line 25 times. We got 3 guys smothering him and yet he still can get fouled, it just amazes me." Harris on Wade and the last play: "He was off balance, you know, we got 3 guys around him. I don't know how else we can guard him." Harris on the timeout: "It was clear that we said we were going to call it on the 2nd free throw. I don't know what the refs, what the dilemma was and why they gave it to us after the 1st one. I mean, I don't know." Harris on Wade's free throws: "I mean he shot 25 free throws. Our whole team shot 25 free throws." Harris: "You know, we've played really well at home. You know, we got 2 games that we have to push. We have to come out aggressive in this next game and just take care of business at home." Harris on the loss: "I mean, obviously we're not happy about it. We just got to control our anger and push the tempo and get back on our home floor and do what we do." Harris: "I thought we played great, you know. We just executed the game plan. You know, Wade hit some tough shots down the stretch, but we definitely had a chance to win it the end and that's all you can ask for." Joey Crawford on the timeout: "Josh Howard goes to Joe DeRosa and not only once, but twice, asks for a timeout. Forced to call it, simple as that." Game 5: Miami Heat 101, Dallas Mavericks 101 OT at Miami (June 18) 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT - Final 2FG 3FG FG% FT% Miami 24 19 27 23 8 - 101 .462 .412 .449 .653 Dallas 21 30 20 22 7 - 100 .516 .263 .457 .840 Halftime: Dallas 51-43 3rd Q: Dallas 71-70 4th Q: 93-93 Technicals: Avery Johnson 8:31 3rd, Miami defensive 3 seconds 9:19 4th Refs: Bennett Salvatore, Joey Crawford, Joe DeRosa Attendance: 20,145 (sellout) Did not play due: Jerry Stackhouse (suspended) IL: Wayne Simien (Mia), Josh Powell (Dal) Miami Heat REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Dwyane Wade 50 11-28 0-2 21-25 43 0-4 4 3 1 3 0 Jason Williams 26 3-6 3-5 0-1 9 0-1 4 1 1 0 0 Udonis Haslem 29 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2-4 0 1 6 0 0 Antoine Walker 26 2-7 1-4 1-2 6 0-2 2 2 4 0 0 Shaquille O'Neal 47 8-12 0-0 2-12 18 2-12 1 3 5 2 0 James Posey 44 2-6 2-5 4-4 10 2-6 0 1 5 2 0 Gary Payton 30 3-5 1-1 1-1 8 0-2 2 0 4 0 0 Shandon Anderson 7 1-2 0-0 2-2 4 1-1 1 0 0 0 0 Alonzo Mourning 4 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 53 31-69 7-17 32-49 101 7-33 14 12 26 7 0 Dallas Mavericks REB Player MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS O-T AST TO PF STL BLK Devin Harris 34 2-12 0-1 2-2 6 0-1 1 0 5 1 0 Jason Terry 50 13-23 4-9 5-5 35 1-5 1 4 2 1 0 Dirk Nowitzki 49 8-19 0-4 4-5 20 2-8 3 2 4 0 0 Josh Howard 50 8-17 0-3 9-11 25 5-10 3 3 4 0 0 DeSagana Diop 21 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-4 0 0 6 0 0 Erick Dampier 19 2-2 0-0 1-2 5 0-8 0 2 5 0 0 Adrian Griffin 15 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1-2 1 1 3 1 0 Marquis Daniels 14 2-3 1-1 0-0 5 0-0 4 1 3 0 0 DJ Mbenga 8 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0-3 0 1 4 0 0 Keith Van_Horn 5 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1-1 0 0 2 0 0 Totals 53 37-81 5-19 21-25 100 11-42 13 16 38 3 0 patricia Go Mavs!