NBA Finals Game 3: Miami at Dallas  (June 5)

Dallas was short a man as backup center Brendan Haywood was out with a
strained right hip flexor (Roddy Beaubois was activated in Haywood's
place, but Beaubois did not play).  This meant that little used Ian
Mahinmi got to play the backup role to give Tyson Chandler some rest.  It
was the 100th game of the season (playoff and regular season) of both
teams.  I did have a chuckle when they played the Finals video before the
player intros - the same one that has been shown on ABC, but for the video
shown Sunday at the AAC, they cut out the clips of the Heat celebrating in
2006.

The game got going with Dallas strangely opening with a post up of Jason
Kidd on Mike Bibby (not see much in the previous 2 games, and the team
normally doesn't run plays for Kidd) - but Kidd missed his short shot and
Bibby got the laugh on the other end where he drained an open (as in
Dallas was again doubling off of him) 3-pointer (but that would be his
only bucket of the game).  Dirk Nowitzki got Dallas on the board 50
seconds into the game.  a 3-pointer by DeShawn Stevenson gave Dallas a
14-9 lead with 7:35 - while Chris Bosh had been accidentally poked in the
eye on the other end, but Bosh was able to stay in the game - but Dallas'
lead would get no larger than 5 points.  Dwyane Wade had scored Miami's
next 8 points after Bibby's 3-pointer.  A 3-point play by Bosh tied the
game at 18-18 with 4 minutes to go as the game stayed close.  A baseliner
by Jason Terry with 1:30 left ended Dallas' almost 3 minute field goal
drought (with Dallas scoring just one free throw during that time) and 1-2
FT by J.J. Barea tied the game at 22-22 with a minute remaining.  But
LeBron James drove for a power slam and then hit 2 free throws and then
Mario Chalmers' 35-foot 3-pointer rattled in at the quarter buzzer to give
Miami a 29-22 lead after 1.  Miami shot 12-23 FG and 3-3 FT and Dallas
shot 8-16 FG and 4-6 FT - and both teams shot 2-4 3-pointers.  Note that
Miami attempted 7 more shots than Dallas.  They also had a 16-2 points in
the paint advantage.  Dallas had 4 turnovers in the quarter off of which
Miami scored 9 points.

But the good shooting did not last as both teams would struggle finding
the basket during the 2nd quarter.  Chalmers opened the 3rd with a
3-pointer and Bosh hit 2 free throws to give Miami a 34-22 lead with 10:40
left.  But Dallas scored the next 7 points as Miami missed 3 straight
shots and had 4 turnovers.    Wade did score the next 4 points to give
Miami a 38-29 lead with 6:45 left.  Both teams went scoreless over the
next 2 1/2 minutes.  After Kidd fed Terry for the short flip in, Wade
nailed a 3-pointer and then got a dunk on the break (making 9 straight
Wade Miami points) and then James hit 2 free throws to give Miami a 45-31
lead with 3 minutes to go - that was just 2 points by Dallas over a 4
minute period.  But Dallas was finally able to score some points and
closed the quarter with an 11-2 run (in part thanks to Miami getting in
the penalty as 6 of those points came from the line) [but Wade's halfcourt
heave at the buzzer nearly banked in].  Miami led 47-42 at the half.
Thanks to their end of the quarter run, Dallas actually out-scored Miami
20-18 in the 2nd quarter.  Dallas shot just 6-20 FG including 1-4
3-pointers and Miami shot 5-18 FG including 2-6 3-pointers.  Dallas shot
7-9 FT and Miami shot 6-6 FT.  Dallas only had 2 turnovers, but Miami
scored on both of them (for 5 points) while Dallas had 6 points on Miami's
5 2nd quarter turnovers.  But Dallas got the point in the paints problem
adjusted as the Mavs actually had an 8-6 advantage.  It was the Dwyane
Wade show for the Heat as he had 11 of Miami's 18 2nd quarter points.  On
the Dallas side, Nowitzki had 8 points and Terry had 7 points for 15 of
Dallas' 20 2nd quarter points.

Dallas had a poor start to the 3rd quarter as they missed their first 2
shots and had a turnover, while Miami scored on their first 4 possessions,
capped by a dunk by James on the break after the turnover, and Miami lead
55-42 with 10:10 to go.  Dallas got their act somewhat together while
Miami missed their next 3 shots and a 3-pointer by Kidd followed by a
3-pointer by Nowitzki pulled Dallas within 51-55 with 7 minutes remaining.
A layup by Marion on the push after a Miami miss completed a 15-2 Dallas
run to tie the game at 57-57 with 4:35 left - Miami shot 1-10 FG during
the run.  A Miami free throw was all that was scored over the next minute
and a jumper by Terry (with a friendly bounce) briefly gave Dallas a 59-58
lead with 3:10 to go, but James answered with a 3-pointer and Chalmers
connected on another 3-pointer to give the Heat a 64-59 lead with 2:15
remaining.  Miami led 67-64 after 3.  Dallas again had a slight edge in
the quarter in out-scoring Miami 22-20 in the 3rd quarter.  Dallas shot
7-16 FG including 3-5 3-pointers and Miami shot 8-21 FG including 2-4
3-pointers.  Dallas shot 5-6 FT and Miami shot 2-4 FT.

So, for the 3rd game in a row, it was all coming down to the 4th quarter.
James opened the quarter with a dunk on the break and then the game was
delayed for a couple of minutes as a drink was accidentally spilled on the
court.  Barea nailed a corner 3 (his first bucket of the game) 40 seconds
into the quarter and the game stayed close.  The game was tied at 72-72
with 9:40 to go and Miami rattled off the next 7 points, capped by
Chalmers' 4th 3-pointer of the game, to give Miami a 79-72 lead with 7:20
left.  Dallas actually had a dunk of their own on a putback slam by
Chandler and, after Wade got 2 up close, Nowitzki had a layup and 2 free
throws to pull Dallas within 78-81 with 5 minutes left and Miami called
timeout.  But Wade connected on a 3 late in the shot clock.  The teams
traded misses and Nowitzki was fouled, putting Miami in the penalty and
Nowitzki on the line.  He hit both free throws.  Bosh missed and Nowitzki
was fouled on the rebound - and he again hit both to pull Dallas within
82-84 with 3 minutes left and it was going to be another tight finish.
Bosh passed up an open look and then missed a tough shot at the shot clock
buzzer.  At the other end, Kidd fed Nowitzki for a dunk to tie the game at
84-84 with 2:30 remaining.  Wade hit a jumper with 2 minutes left and
Nowitzki hit a tough fade away to tie the game at 86-86 with 1:40 to go.
Shawn Marion blocked a 3-point attempt by James late in the shot clock.
But Terry missed a long baseliner with a minute remaining.  The Heat 
passed the ball and found Bosh near the corner for an open baseliner, 
thanks to a nice screen by Udonis Haslem, to give Miami a 2 point lead 
with 40 seconds left and Dallas called timeout.  But Nowitzki threw the 
ball away as the double-team came.  Miami ran the clock down and James 
side-stepped and missed a 3 late in the clock and Nowitzki grabbed the 
rebound and Dallas called their final timeout with 4.5 seconds left.  
But Nowitzki's high arcing free throw fade away bounced off the back of 
the rim and that was game.  Miami won 88-86.  Miami leads the series 2-1.


Well, crap.  Dallas gave right back what they got in Game 2.  And it
wasn't a great game by either team as both teams had trouble executing
down the stretch.  Miami had 2 buckets (and 2 24 second violations) on
their last 8 possessions.  And Dallas did not score on their last 3
possessions (though they did score on their prior 4 possessions).  The
difference of the game was actually the first quarter where Miami
out-scored Dallas 29-22 as Dallas actually out-scored Miami in the next 3
quarters (but just by 1 or 2 points - 20-18 in the 2nd quarter, 22-20 in
the 3rd, and 22-21 in the 4th).  I thought at the time that it might be
critical to the game, but Mario Chalmers' long 3-point runner at the 1st
quarter buzzer actually ended up being the difference in the game (poor
defense by Dallas resulted in Chalmers' getting a decent look for that
tough shot).  Okay, that's over-simplifying it.  The difference in the
game was that Chris Bosh hit a shot with 40 seconds left and Dirk Nowitzki
didn't hit his shot at the buzzer.  Crap.  But that's not to say that
Nowitzki was Dallas' goat - he was actually the Mavs hero as he scored 15
of Dallas' 22 4th quarter points.  It's just that he didn't get enough
help (only 2 other Mavs were in double-digit scoring).  While the Big 3
got it going for Miami (with a grand performance by Dwyane Wade) and
Chalmers was hitting 3s like crazy.  For the numbers, Miami shot 43.6%
(34-78) FG including 8-19 3-pointers and Dallas shot 40% (28-70) FG
including 8-21 3-pointers.  Dallas had the edge at the line in shooting
22-27 FT while Miami shot just 12-15 FT.  After a high number in Game 2,
the turnover numbers weren't bad - it was just that Miami was terribly
effective in converting what Dallas gave them.  Miami scored 19 points off
of Dallas' 14 turnovers.  Dallas had 15 points on Miami's 13 turnovers.
Dallas did have a 42-36 edge in rebounds including 12-9 offensive.  Miami
had 20 assists and Dallas had 18 assists (decent assist numbers for scores
in the 80s).  It was Dallas' 2nd home loss of the postseason.

As I said, Dwyane Wade was great and unstoppable at times.  He had a
couple of "Wow!" layups where you just have to give him props.  He had 29
points including 12-21 FG, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists.  LeBron James had
just 17 points but was a passer with 9 assists.  He did turn the ball over
4 times, but also had 2 steals.  Chris Bosh had the game winner and had 18
points and (just) 3 rebounds.  And Mario Chalmers hit 4 3-pointers for 12
points (he shot 4-6 3-pointers and 0-4 2-pointers).  Udonis Haslem gets
the unsung hero award as it was his screen that gave Bosh the open look
for the game winner and Haslem played good defense on Dirk Nowitzki that
results in the last shot being a very difficult one.  Haslem had 6 points
and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes.  When Mike Bibby picked up his 4th foul
during the 3rd quarter, I actually asked out loud if it was a good thing.
It wasn't as Bibby hadn't done much since his game opening 3-pointer and 
his foul trouble put the more effective Chalmers back in the game - Bibby 
did not play in the 4th quarter.  Bibby had 3 points on 1-5 FG and just 1
assist (he is their starting point guard) in 19 minutes.  Joel Anthony had
2 points on 1-4 FG and 6 rebounds in 23 minutes.  Mike Miller missed his
only shot and had 2 rebounds in 12 minutes.  Juwan Howard got in for 6
minutes and shot 1-2 FT and had 1 rebound and 1 assist.

It was the Dirk Nowitzki show for Dallas as he simply did not get enough
help.  He had a game high 34 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  He scored
15 of Dallas' 22 4th quarter points (including the last 12 Dallas points
of the game), with J.J. Barea (5 points) and Tyson Chandler (2 points) the
only other Dallas scorers in the 4th.  Nowitzki hit all 9 free throws he
attempted, to up his free throws made streak to 37 straight.  Jason Terry 
had 15 points, but missed the only 4 shots he attempted in the 4th 
quarter.  After 3 strong outings, Shawn Marion did not have a good game 
with just 10 points including 4-12 FG, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in 43 
minutes.  No other Mav was in double-digit scoring.  Chandler did have 
double-digit rebounding with 11 boards to go with 3 blocks, but just had 5
points including 1-4 FG.  Jason Kid had 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 10 
assists, but also had 4 turnovers, including a couple of sloppy ones.  
J.J. Barea wasn't productive through 3 quarters (where he missed 4 shots 
and had no assists and 2 turnovers), but did score 5 points early in the
4th quarter.  He had 6 points including 2-8 FG and 1-5 3-pointers, 2
rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers in 19 minutes.  DeShawn Stevenson hit
his only shot, a 3-pointer, and had 1 rebound and 1 assist - but he is on
the court to chase after Dwyane Wade and help out with LeBron James.  Hey,
Peja Stojakovic actually hit a shot (his first of the series), but he only
attempted 2 and, as a result of his ineffectiveness, was only on the court
for 6 minutes.  The Mavs did miss Brendan Haywood as it seemed the only
thing Ian Mahinmi could do was collect fouls.  He had 5 fouls in 8 minutes
on the court (okay, he did had a rebound and hit 2 free throws (though the
refs incorrectly sent him to the line instead of Nowitzki)).  Brian
Cardinal briefly got on the court (7 seconds) and did not have a stat
(actually was on the court twice, at the end of the 1st and 2nd quarters).

I'd also like to say that I didn't like how the refs called the game.
Sure, it's the playoffs (and more so with the Finals) and the refs tend to
let some things go, but this night there was lots of contact inside that
they didn't call (on both ends) and you really do have to make the call
(even in the playoffs) where the contact is such that it is directly
affecting the shooter.  Though the refs were good at not calling any of
the flops in the game.


Quotes
Erik Spoelstra: "This series is turning out to be an absolute series of
endurance - mental and physical.  We didn't expect anything less than the
competitive physicality of this game tonight.  Our guys really competed.
At times it was a little uneven, but we found ways to make plays on both
ends of the court, to grind this game out in a very enduring win.  Now we
just have to move on.  The tough part right now is amnesia.  Both teams
are highly competitive.  This is a competitive series, as you can see.  We
have to really gather ourselves in 48 hours and get right back and do this
again."

Spoelstra on Miami's defense on Dallas' last play: "I don't want to get
into too many specifics.  Our guys know when there's opportunities for our
playmakers to make some plays.  That was a very similar situation to what
we saw the other night.  Had a different matchup.  That's a makeable shot,
even for him.  But UD [Haslem] did a great job of keeping his chest in
front of him and forcing him into a fadeaway.  Nowitzki is a tough player.
That shot hung up in the air about as long as it was in between Game 2 and
Game 3.  It was a good offensive play, and a good defensive play.  And he
happened to miss."

Spoelstra on the rebounding: "It was a fistfight under the glass.  We had
5 of those fouls on blockouts and we're giving up some size, but certainly
not giving up anything in competitiveness and fight.  That's the way it
will be.  Both teams understand how important finishing off your defense
is.  And 2nd chance opportunities, relief points.  Our guys were getting
into that fight.  It will continue to be that battle.  In terms of the
3-point shooting, yes, we shot a good percentage, but, again, it was
within the context of what we wanted to do.  That was to be aggressive,
set the tone, to attack.  We didn't necessarily get to the free throw
line, but we were getting to the rim.  And then we have rhythm shooters.
So those guys have proven long enough that they'll make timely open 3s,
especially when we're able to get some other things that are important for
our game."

Spoelstra on Miami's defense: "We have to continue to be active.  We did
have some breakdowns.  Look, you have to give that team some credit, too.
They have shooters.  They have a great quarterback who will make you pay
for mistakes.  They have the shooting.  And Nowitzki obviously draws a lot
of attention.  So we wanted to be active, create opportunities by making
plays, keeping our bodies in front of them.  This is a competitive series.
When one team makes a run, usually there's a timeout and the next team
comes right back.  It will be a possession game virtually every game,
probably to a fan's delight."

Spoelstra on going to Bosh late in the game: "The important thing about
that that we didn't necessarily do in Game 2 was trust.  That play wasn't
designed for him.  It was a couple of triggers, ball moved, put the ball
on the floor, some rotations, and we hit the open guy.  There was a
handful of those possessions in the 4th quarter, big plays where the ball
moved, and it found the open man and make or miss, it's the right play.
Chris has done that several times in this playoff run in those corners.
When we need a big one, he hits it.  I don't care what happens up to that
point.  Makes some winning plays and he's able to knock down a big one for
us."

Spoelstra on Bosh's game winner: "First it started with Dwyane.  He threw
it to LeBron, LeBron threw it to Chris.  And that's fundamental basketball
at its best.  When you see an open man, you hit an open man.  And like I
said, we made a few of those plays down the stretch.  It was good to see
him knock that one down."

Spoelstra on Chalmers: "He's a tough kid.  He's a gutsy player.  We all
know in big moments he doesn't shy away.  He gave us some big plays,
especially when Dwyane was on the bench.  He was able to create some
opportunities for us, hit a big 3.  He's not afraid of the moment.  So we
needed those minutes, every bit of them."

Spoelstra on the win: "It's just one.  We're not going to make it more
than what it is.  We have 2 wins under our belt.  We have to try to be
greedy and get another one.  But there isn't going to be anything easy
that comes in this series for either team.  After Game 2, that's so far
out of our mind at this point.  It's all about the win or the loss.  It
doesn't matter.  Even this, it's not a good win, it's not a bad win.  It's
a win.  We have to move on and we have to try to get the next one."

Dwyane Wade: "Tonight I just tried to be aggressive.  I didn't shoot every
time.  I passed it off to my teammates.  So this is a total win.  And if I
can say one thing, we wanted to win the game on the defensive end of the
floor.  And it came down to getting a stop."

Wade on losing Game 2 and winning Game 3: "You can't lose a game like that
and come and lose Game 3.  We felt this was a must win.  We had to put it
upon ourselves to try to take homecourt back in a sense, and by any means
necessary.  So it was a big win for us, but it was a big game.  I thought
we did a good job of withstanding all their runs, withstanding the points
in the game where it looked like they had momentum.  And we held on to our
lead and we made enough plays to win the ballgame."

Wade: "Yeah, just understanding the moment.  Took it upon myself as a
leader to try to lead my guys by example.  And I think for me it started
in practice yesterday.  I was very aggressive going to the hole
practicing.  My teammates seen it.  They can tell that I wanted this game,
and I came in with the same mentality today.  Like I said, I've been here
before.  So just trying to lead.  My guys did a great job of following
that lead.  We were able to come out with the win. 

Wade on Nowitzki's last shot: "Obviously, you know, we have a lot of
confidence in our team defense.  That was a man-to-man defense right
there.  It was Udonis putting his chest in front.  We had a lot of
confidence coming out of the huddle.  We wanted to win this game right now
on the defensive end with that stop.  Even more confidence than we had if
we were down 2 or tied and had it on the offensive end.  I was very
confident in UD, understanding he wanted that challenge the last game, and
he wasn't able to be put in that position.  Put him back in that position
this time.  I knew he was going to at least make it tough.  If Dirk makes
the shot, at least do his job and make sure he takes a fadeaway at the
end."

Wade on the win: "Well, confidence, you get to this point with neither
team confidence won't be an issue.  Obviously it's a great road win.  We
got 3 games in a row here.  So it's good to get the first one.
Personally, I moved on from this win already.  I feel like we did nothing
but get homecourt advantage back.  But the next game is a big game.  We
have to bring our hard hats, understanding it's going to be tougher to win
that game than it was to win this one.  I believe in this team.  If anyone
can do it, I believe we can."

Wade: "I mean, obviously a game of basketball is a game full of runs.  So
there was moments in the game where offense looked great and their offense
looked great.  There were points where neither offense looked great.
Obviously they did a good job of turning up their pressure.  I thought we
got ourselves in a little trouble by getting late clock.  When we do that,
they're able to turn up the pressure.  It makes us take bad shots or
settle for shots.  We always give teams credit where credit is due.  This
team worked very hard on the defensive end of the floor.  But we could
have did a better job and need to do a better job of making sure we don't
put ourselves in 911 situations or turn the ball over and let them get in
transitions like they did."

Wade on Nowitzki scoring and the other Mavs not: "Obviously Dirk is great.
A great 1-on-1 player.  A great shooter.  We understand Dirk is going to
get his numbers.  It's our job just to try to make it tough on other guys.
They have guys that can score the ball.  Shawn Marion has come into this
averaging 18 and 9.  Jason Terry was huge for them in Game 2 and an
unbelievable scorer.  They have other guys that can score.  It's our job
to make it tough.  They've shown they have a deep bench.  They've shown
they have a very good team.  They wouldn't be in The Finals without none
of them guys.  So we're not going to give Dirk all the credit at all.
This Dallas Mavericks team is very deep."

LeBron James on Bosh's game winner: "It's all about trusting your
teammates.  DWade, we ran a 2-3 pick-and-roll.  They put 2 on the ball.
DWade hit me first.  I had Tyson Chandler closing on me.  I saw CB wide
open.  I don't care if he missed 15 in a row, he was wide open and that's
his sweet spot.  He was able to knock it down.  It's the trust we have in
each other's ability, no matter what the point of the game is at."

James: "We play our defense.  This is the toughest offense we've played
all year as far as how many guys they put on the floor that can make
plays.  Not only for themselves, but for others.  Unbelievable shooting
team.  And they make you stay in tune.  You can never relax or they make
you pay.  Our defense always tries to extend offenses further than where
they usually start.  That's just our defense.  It has nothing to do about
them not being a paint presence or anything like that.  It's just our
defense.  That's how we played all postseason all year. 

James on his low scoring in the 4th quarters: "I think you're
concentrating on one side of the floor.  All you're looking at is the stat
sheet.  Honestly, I'm a 2-way player.  Since DWade had it going
offensively, so we allow him to handle the ball, bring it on offensively.
You should watch the film again and see what I did defensively.  You'll
ask me a better question tomorrow."

James on Nowitzki's last shot: "Like DWade said, we had all the confidence
in the world in our defensive scheme.  UD wanted that matchup in Game 2.
So we knew when he got this matchup, he was going to make Dirk take a
tough shot.  He made that shot before.  He will make it again.  At least
we just make him work for it.  Make him take a turn around jumper.  UD
stayed in front of him and it rimmed out.  It was a huge stop for our
team."

Chris Bosh on Wade: "First and foremost, he pushed himself.  He played
spectacular basketball.  He was aggressive and took good shots.  We rode
the wave for a little while.  He set the tone for us.  When a guy like
that is really getting on you and demanding more, that's what team is all
about.  I think that's what this situation is all about.  We have to push
each other.  It's all about how bad you want to win it.  We want to win it
very bad.  So if we have to get on each other, we're going to get on each
other.  And it going to be for the best."

Bosh on his injured eye: "I feel great.  Just as long as I feel as good as
I do now, I'll be all right.  Things happen.  We just have to take the
necessary precautions later, and get ready for Game 4."

Bosh on his eye: "It's not limiting my vision.  I can see pretty good.  I
guess, I don't know.  I don't know what it is.  We'll spit on it and put a
bandaid on it and patch it up later. 

Bosh on Chalmers: "Mario is a fantastic shooter.  When he's spaced and he
has time to gather, he can really shoot the basketball.  He's production
off of our bench.  We need him a lot.  We need him to play.  We need him
to get into the offense.  We need him to defend and just be himself.  When
he does that and he's hitting shots and he's aggressive, it helps out our
bench points and it spreads the floor, because he's knocking shots down."

Bosh on hitting the game winner: "It feels good.  I'm stuck in a place
where I don't feel too good, I don't feel too bad.  After every game I
just look at the game and think about how I can do better and how this
team can do better.  All in all, it's been okay.  Being back home and
everything is cool, but we're here to win a championship.  That's what
it's all about.  It's good and all, but I'm not going to read too much
into it."

Bosh: "I still have to work on the flow of my game a little bit more.  I
think I did a better job today than I did last game.  There is some
improvement there.  I just have to get down in the post.  If they kick it
to me, I just have to be aggressive.  I either shoot it or I move it or I
drive it.  I think when I just make decisive moves, I don't have to be
quick or fast.  When I make decisive moves, they're quick and I can get to
the bucket.  Or I have confidence in my shot, and my teammates have
confidence in me, too.  I just have to let it go."

Bosh on his game winner: "Just running the play.  It was just running the
play.  We run the play all the time, and I kind of I saw Tyson's body
language, and I saw Dirk's body language.  You could kind of tell what
they're about to do.  Especially when Dwyane and LeBron are running
screen-and-roll.  They both turn their head, I told UD who to hit.  He did
a fantastic job of screening me.  I knew I was going to have an open shot.
When I know I'm going to have an open shot, I know I have to shoot it.  I
just wanted to have good form, follow through, and I'm lucky."

Bosh on James passing to him: "Yeah.  It was the right play.  We've been
making the right plays.  We trust each other.  Our guys have been doing a
fantastic job of showing that trust, especially in crunch time situations.
This is as big as it gets.  When you can trust somebody to hit him real
quick, I think that's great."

Bosh on Chandler and Dallas missing Haywood: "Yeah, it's tough.  When you
know your backup center is down and you're the only center on the team,
yeah, it's extremely tough.  But I mean, he had a good game.  No matter
what happened, he still put his print on the game.  We're going to have to
do a better job of containing Tyson on the rebounds if we want to win this
series.  We're going to make the adjustments, and we just have to come out
and do a better job and pay attention to detail."

Udonis Haslem on Nowitzki's last shot: "He's a great player.  He's
obviously going to get his shot off because I'm not going to be able to
block it, so I've got to just try to slide my feet, beat him to the spot,
and stay straight up, and make him shoot a tough shot."

Haslem on defending Nowitzki: "You know, just anticipating his move and
reacting.  There's not much time to think.  He's a great player, 7-feet,
so, like I said, he's going to get his shot over me.  The key is I've
just got to try and make him shoot a tough one."

Haslem on defending Nowitzki: "I'm a competitor.  He's a competitor.  So
both of us probably look forward to that opportunity."

Haslem: "We've shown that we could win after losing a tough game, we were
able to bounce back.  We've shown that we can go on the road and win in a
hostile environment.  But we know it's just 1 win.  We're happy to get
one, but we've got to look forward to the next game because they'll come
back even better."

Mike Bibby: "We take pride in our defense.  The only thing was toward the
end of the game we tried to win the game with our defense, and we did."

Bibby on Wade hitting big shots: "He definitely did that.  He just kept
telling us to be aggressive.  Regardless of what he was doing, he was
making stuff happen."

Rick Carlisle on missing Haywood: "Well, not having Haywood was, you know,
it made it tougher for us because he's a regular rotation guy.  I thought
Mahinmi's energy was good.  At times maybe a little too energetic, but
that was expected.  We'll see how Brendan is for Game 4, and that's a day
and a half away now.  He's been doing better.  So when we get to that
point, we'll see where we're at."

Carlisle on Nowitzki: "Well, he knows that he's going to have to carry a
certain load.  Not just a scoring load, but he's going to have to make
plays, he's going to have to facilitate, he's going to have to get guys
involved.  And so, you know, I don't think this is anything that he
doesn't expect.  We would like to make it easier for him, and at times we
can give him some relief, you know, with some rest and some better
balance.  But tonight was tough.  Tonight was not one of those nights."

Carlisle: "Look, we've got a top 9 guys that are rotation guys.  I've
consistently pointed out that we don't have a specific pecking order.
We're a team built on balance.  We're a team where it may take 7 guys
scoring 4 points or more or 5 points or more or 8 scoring 3 points or
more.  We never know for sure.  I think tonight one of the things that
hurt us was we were digging out of holes all night, with the exception of
the very beginning of the game.  We get down 5 or 7, climb back into it,
get a 1-point lead or get it tied, and then we were a minute or 2 later
back digging ourselves back again.  It's very difficult playing from
behind all the time.  So they played a better game tonight for sure.  But
we're going to have to play more efficiently.  We're going to have to get
the ball in the basket more.  And overall we're going to have to play a
better game."

Carlisle: "Games get tougher as you get deeper into the playoffs.  We know
that.  Some odd things happen.  They throw in a halfcourt shot that may
have been a backcourt violation at the end of the 1st [quarter].  That
goes from 4 to 7.  That's a great play for them, and it's a tough one for
us.  And then we climbed out of that.  Again, I don't know the number of
times we climbed out of holes, but it's just always going to make the game
harder.  So our overall game, yes, is going to have to be better from
start to finish.  Our balance has been one of our calling cards, and I
believe it will be better as well."

Carlisle on Miami scoring 19 points off of Dallas' turnovers: "Yeah.  They
were the best in the league during the season.  No. 1 at converting steals
into turnovers.  In many ways it's turnovers and 2 points.  Steals into
points, actually.  In many cases it's just turnovers in general.  So, you
know, we only had 6 in the 1st half.  It led to 14 points, which is an
inordinate number.  So it's a good example of the importance of taking
care of the ball."

Carlisle: "Look, it's as much a 1st quarter league as it is a 4th quarter
league.  It's something I've talked about a lot of the year.  Again,
things that happened in the 1st, they add up and they count in the total
number of events that happen through the course of the game.  Yes, we have
to be better in the 1st.  Again, our overall game has to be better."

Carlisle on Dallas' poor shooting: "I think when we look at it we'll find
out there were some difficult ones, but there were also some very good
opportunities that we couldn't get down.  And so, look, it's a long
series.  One of the things is there are ebbs and flows.  The shot making,
it comes and goes.  The defense has to be consistent overall for the whole
game.  We can argue that 43.6 [% FG (Miami)] is a good enough number to
win.  It's below 90s.  But this is a team you have to score in the 90s to
beat them in most cases.  So, 1 or 2 untimely turnovers and the inability
to get the ball in the basket in some of the better opportunities cost
us."

Carlisle: "Well, look, it's 7 games.  Any notion that it was going to be
easy would have been foolhardy by us or anybody else.  Every game has been
extremely difficult.  We'll break down the film, and I think one of the
things we need to do is point out some situations where execution needed
to be better.  Point out that there were many positives.  Sometimes missed
open shots can be positives, because they're opportunities that we did
create that were good.  And we have to eliminate a couple of the turnovers
that lead to the quick points.  It's extremely difficult when you're
watching James go down the court and dunk the ball with his head over the
rim.  That makes it tough to win."

Carlisle on Barea's and Stojakovic's struggles: "You know, our guys just
they have to be systematic and approach each game with the same kind of
aggressiveness they approached every game leading up to this.  There's
going to be some nights you don't shoot it good, but to sit up here and
just bellyache about missed shots, that's never what the success of this
team is going to be about.  We held ourselves in the game in Game 2.  We
held ourselves in the game tonight.  And we made some other mistakes that
were uncharacteristic.  So we're going to have to eliminate some of those.
We're going to have to look at our overall disposition in the game.
Again, I really believe the fact that we were digging out of holes all
night was something that, you know, it was difficult to overcome."

Dirk Nowitzki: "Well, I thought we had opportunities.  First of all, we
can't always fall down behind.  I think we're always reacting.  We did in
the 1st quarter.  We fell down big.  3rd quarter we came out slow, fell
down big.  Obviously it takes a lot of energy for us to fight back.  But
even down the stretch, I think there were opportunities.  I thought JET
had a good look at the baseline.  I think it was to tie it or go up 2.
And we had a mental breakdown, that one play Bosh gets the wide open
jumper the last minute.  So I thought we had our opportunities, and just
weren't good enough.  You have to give them credit.  Their defense is
pretty good.  They hold us to the low 40s [% shooting] every game, and
they really take our shooters out of the game."

Nowitzki: "We all understand that basketball is a game of runs.  We have
to stop the runs a little quicker.  We can't go down 15 all the time and
battle back.  You can get like a 5, 6 point swing here and there.  We
can't always get in a deep hole like that."

Nowitzki on Game 4: "Well, be a little sharper at the beginning.  I think
they came out and were really attacking.  I just thought it was a little
too easy there.  Wade got to the basket 3 times there in the 1st quarter.
James did as well.  So we have to be a little sharper at the beginning and
not let them get their rhythm.  And I thought the crowd pushed us forward.
So we're going to need the same effort out of them.  It's basically a must
win situation."

Nowitzki: "Like I said, they do a pretty good job on our shooters.  If we
have the open looks, we just got to make them.  We haven't made enough of
them.  If we're going to keep shooting in the low 40s, it's going to be
tough to win.  Yeah, I have to keep making plays, keep being aggressive
and look for my shot."

Nowitzki on turnovers: "Cut it down a little bit.  We're going to turn the
ball over against that team.  It's just going to happen.  They're so fast,
long, athletic.  They do a good job swarming the ball once we put it down.
We're going to turn it over some.  I already thought we cut it down from
Game 2 to this one, so hopefully in Game 4 we can cut down a couple more
and we'll be okay."

Nowitzki on his turnover on the 2nd to last play: "Both good plays.  Shawn
Marion was in the corner, and Wade just left him.  I still actually kind
of wanted to shoot it.  I think Wade would have blocked it kind of from
the side.  So I wanted to swing it, and Shawn is more like slash, a
cutter.  He was cutting and left the corner.  So that was a tough play.
And the look with 4 seconds to go, I think it was as good as you can get
it."

Nowitzki on losing Game 3 after winning Game 2: "My view hasn't changed.
This definitely was a big game.  And a very tough loss.  Emotional game,
fought back, and to fall short at the end is tough.  But they need 2 more.
Hopefully we can play a better all-around game and finally get some shots
to go down here at home and see what happens Tuesday.  Like I said, this
is a tough loss, and it's basically a must win situation on Tuesday.  We
can't go down 3-1."

Nowitzki on Haslem's defense: "He's fronting me everywhere, trying to keep
the ball out of my hands.  He does a good job.  He's active, he's quick on
his feet.  Down the stretch, I think he stayed down and made me shoot a
contested shot and a shot I can make, but unfortunately it didn't go."

Nowitzki on his turnover on the 2nd to last play, if he was between
passing and shooting: "Sometimes I do that a lot.  I go in the air and
still kind of probe if I can get the shot up.  If it's not there, I swing
it.  I do it all the time.  At that point, yeah, I wanted to shoot it.
But Wade really made a strong effort from the side, and I don't think I
would have got it up.  So I tried to swing it, and Shawn was cutting.  So
I guess it was a miscommunication."

Nowitzki on Bosh's game winner: "We messed up on the pick-and-roll in the
middle and left I think James wide open.  Tyson left the basket, had to
rotate to LeBron, and he kicked it over to Bosh.  I was over there with
2-on-1, with Haslem and Bosh.  Got to give Haslem credit.  He set a god
pick and Bosh was wide open.  I don't really know what happened there in
the screen-and-roll, but we definitely messed it up."

Nowitzki on Mahinmi and missing Haywood: "I think Ian gave us energy.
He's very athletic.  He's quick on his feet.  I actually think he played
all right.  But Haywood has been big for us in the paint over the last
year and a half we had him.  He's a big guy, and he can change a lot of
shots at the rim.  I actually thought Ian did his job tonight."

Jason Terry: "It was disappointing.  Again, we haven't put together 48
minutes of good basketball yet. "

Terry on Miami's defense and Dallas' turnovers: "A lot of it is us just
giving it to them.  It's one thing if they're forcing turnovers, but for
the most part we're a little careless - early on in the game with the
turnovers."

Terry on Nowitzki: "Well, we didn't really give him much help, and I take
a lot of that on my shoulders.  That's 2 out of 3 games offensively in the
4th quarter that I wasn't able to come up with some big plays and big
shots. I'm looking forward to Game 4 and we're going to treat it like it's
Game 7."

Terry on if Miami defended Nowitzki differently: "Nothing at all.  Well,
they didn't allow him to get all the way to the basket, but he still got
the look he wanted.  It just didn't go in."

Terry: "It was disappointing.  It was disappointing to get off to the
start that we did in the 1st and 3rd quarters.  They really came out and
were more aggressive on both ends of the floor.  That's what got them the
lead.  And we were playing from behind.  You can't continue to play from
behind in the NBA Finals."

Terry on if Dallas thought they were going to win: "Oh yeah.  I believed
we were going to do it.  The ball in our hands with 4 seconds to go, we're
either going to win or we're going to overtime.  That's the way I feel.
We got the shot we wanted, it juts didn't go in."

Terry: "Our energy level was good for the most part.  It's the turnovers
and the opportunities we've given them in transition for them to get out
and run and dunk on us.  When we set our halfcourt defense, they struggle
to score.  That's something we're going to have to continue to do for 48
minutes.  We haven't done that and that's why we're looking at a 2-1
deficit right now.  We've been very inconsistent."

Jason Kidd: "We have to make baskets.  We had some great looks that didn't
go down for us, especially late in the game.  So we have to continue to
take those wide open looks and hopefully in Game 4 they go down for us."

Kidd: "You know, I think we got down 15 again and we're fighting our way
back, and we cut it to 5 at halftime.  But the big thing is, you know,
they win the 1st quarter - if you want to look at it, that's the game
because we won the next 3.  We have to take care of the ball against this
team.  Make or miss shots, you can't just give these guys easy layups on
the other end.  That's what they're doing to us right now."

Kidd: "They were aggressive in the 2 games prior.  This is just like the 2
games before.  I mean, we turn the ball over, they lay it up.  They made
shots down the stretch.  They made some 3s that helped them.  For that, we
have to take away the 3.  But the big thing is we had the game there
86-86.  We have a good look, but we don't make it.  Coming down the
stretch you have to make plays against this team if you want to beat
them."

Kidd: "I think the big thing is we have had spots of turning the ball over
and giving them opportunities.  So we have to take care of the ball.  But
the big thing is we have to have somebody else step up.  Just Dirk - he's
doing his part - but everyone else has to pitch in."

Kidd on playing from behind: "Right now in this series, that's pretty much
what we're doing.  We have to figure out how to get in front and play from
up front.  But the big thing is we've shown that we can come back.  I've
said that the big thing is we have to be able to make plays late in the
game.  In Game 2, we made the plays and in Game 3 we just didn't."

Kidd: "You have to create your own momentum, and every game is going to be
different.  This game is different for us because we made the plays down
the stretch offensively and defensively, and then tonight we just didn't
do that."

Kidd: "We always miss Haywood, because he's a guy who changes shots and
rebounds and also can score on the offensive end.  But the big thing is,
again, we have to protect the paint, and we didn't do that tonight.  This
game is going to be different.  Every game is going to be different.  They
shot a lot of 3s prior to tonight, and the ones they did take they made.
So we have to protect the paint and also run them off the 3s.  That's a
lot to do with the talent that they have."

Kidd on Nowitzki: "I mean, he loves that stage late.  He wants the ball,
and he's always come through.  So, again, like I said earlier, somebody
else has to step up and help him on the offensive end.  Again, we're
getting great looks, but they're just not going down.  We have to continue
to take those looks and hopefully they go down in Game 4."

Kidd on Stojakovic: "Yeah, I think Peja can find a place.  When he's open
he has to knock down shots just like everybody else.  For that, we have to
get him open shots and get him off some screens.  The big thing is when we
have those open looks, we have to be able to knock them down no matter if
it's our bench players or the starters, because right now Dirk and JET are
the only ones scoring."

Kidd: "We have to penetrate.  Doesn't always mean we have to score when
the ball is in the paint.  But we have to figure out how to get the ball -
start the play in the paint and work our way inside-out.  They do a great
job defensively of making you do something that you don't want to.  And so
we have to, again, when we do have those open looks, we got to knock them
down."

Tyson Chandler on the loss: "Very disappointing.  Any time you play in a
close game like this, you feel like you had an opportunity to win.  So it
was a lost opportunity."

Chandler on Miami's defense on Nowitzki's last shot: "He was able to get
to the sweet spot [in Game 2].  In this situation we were down 2, as
opposed to be tied and having a little more leeway with the kind of play
you can draw up."

Chandler: "They do a good job of forcing a lot of turnovers.  They're a
very athletic group.  We have to do a better job of taking care of the
ball."

Chandler on playinh from behind: "That was the entire game.  You can't
give this team so many fastbreak points, and the only way they're getting
fastbreak points is off of our turnovers.  We're doing a good job with
halfcourt defense.  We're giving them running starts.  We're giving them
11-point leads, 15-point leads.  Them getting out on the break, we have to
slow that down."

Chandler on the last play: "Any time you get the ball in Dirk's hands, you
like what your opportunities are.  It's tough that he's in that situation.
A lot is going to be said about the last play - and other plays down the
stretch - but if you look at the entire game, there are a lot of missed
opportunities early in the game, where we were going on runs, then
allowing them to go on runs with our careless turnovers."

Ian Mahinmi on his fouls: "I was very surprised by some of the calls.
Some of the calls were good, some I didn't think I foul the guy, but
obviously when they blow the whistle, they blow the whistle.  There's
nothing you can do."


2011 Playoffs - NBA Finals: Game 3
Miami Heat 88, Dallas Mavericks 86  at Dallas  (June 5)

             1st 2nd 3rd 4th - Final   2FG   3FG   FG%   FT%
Miami         29  18  20  21 -   88   .441  .421  .436  .800
Dallas        22  20  22  22 -   86   .408  .381  .400  .815

Halftime: Miami 47-42
3rd Q: Miami 67-64
Technicals: none
Refs: Danny Crawford, Scott Foster, Derrick Stafford
Attendance: 20,340  (sellout)
IL: 
  Dallas - Caron Butler, Dominique Jones, Brendan Haywood
  Miami - Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamaal Magloire, Dexter Pittman


Miami Heat                                             REB
Player                MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS  O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
LeBron James           45   6-14    1-4     4-4    17  0-3   9  4  3   2   0 
Chris Bosh             37   7-18    0-0     4-5    18  1-3   1  2  4   0   0 
Joel Anthony           23   1-4     0-0     0-0     2  4-6   1  0  2   1   2 
Dwyane Wade            39  12-21    2-4     3-4    29  3-11  3  0  3   1   1 
Mike Bibby             19   1-5     1-4     0-0     3  0-2   1  1  4   1   1 
Udonis Haslem          29   3-7     0-0     0-0     6  1-4   1  1  4   1   1 
Mike Miller            12   0-1     0-1     0-0     0  0-2   1  1  3   2   0 
Juwan Howard            6   0-0     0-0     1-2     1  0-1   1  0  1   0   0 
Mario Chalmers         29   4-8     4-6     0-0    12  0-4   2  1  3   0   0 
Totals                 48  34-78    8-19   12-15   88  9-36 20 13 27   8   5 

Dallas Mavericks                                       REB
Player                MIN FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS  O-T AST TO PF STL BLK
Shawn Marion           43   4-12    0-1     2-2    10  2-4   3  2  2   0   1 
Dirk Nowitzki          42  11-21    3-5     9-9    34  1-11  1  3  1   1   3 
Tyson Chandler         40   1-4     0-0     3-4     5  7-11  0  0  2   1   3 
DeShawn Stevenson      14   1-1     1-1     0-0     3  0-1   1  0  0   0   0 
Jason Kidd             35   3-8     2-5     1-2     9  1-6  10  4  2   0   1 
Peja Stojakovic         6   1-2     0-1     0-0     2  0-3   0  1  1   0   0 
Jason Terry            32   5-13    1-3     4-6    15  0-3   2  0  0   1   0 
Ian Mahinmi             8   0-1     0-0     2-2     2  1-1   0  0  5   0   0 
J.J. Barea             19   2-8     1-5     1-2     6  0-2   1  4  1   0   0 
Brian Cardinal          1   0-0     0-0     0-0     0  0-0   0  0  0   0   0 
Totals                 48  28-70    8-21   22-27   86 12-42 18 14 14   3   8 


Go Mavs!
patricia


----
  Patricia Bender                       pbender@eskimo.com
  For Trianglons puzzles: http://www.trianglons.com
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