Heat hang on, barely, for win in Game 3

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Heat hang on, barely, for win in Game 3

6 June 2011 No Comments

Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki (L) is guarded by Miami Heat's Udonis Haslem during Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series in Dallas, Texas June 5, 2011. MIKE STONE/REUTERS

By Doug Smith
Sports Reporter

DALLAS—For having been pretty much a nonfactor for about 47 minutes and 30 seconds, Chris Bosh put an emphatic stamp on the biggest game he’s ever played in his hometown.

Because Miami made the right basket rather than try for the spectacular one, Bosh found himself as the offensive hero as the Heat scored an 88-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of the NBA final here on Sunday night.

And then Bosh moved to the background on the biggest defensive possession of the game as the Heat stymied Dirk Nowitzki at the buzzer to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Bosh took a smart pass from Dwyane Wade on the left baseline and calmly stroked a 16-footer with less than 40 seconds remaining that broke an 86-86 tie.

“There were a handful of possessions in the fourth quarter, big plays where the ball moved and it found the open man and, make or miss, it’s the right play,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. “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, (he) makes some winning plays and he’s able to knock down the big one for us.”

And when the Mavericks tried to go to their best player — Nowitzki — the all-world player, the big German who had been playing so wonderfully, came up short.

He committed an odd turnover right after Bosh’s basket and then, after a Heat miss, he was harassed by Udonis Haslem into missing an off-balance 18-footer at the buzzer that would have tied it.

In Game 2, Nowitzki was guarded by Bosh in a similar situation and scored the game-winning basket; Haslem took away his space and forced a far harder shot.

“That’s a makable shot,” said Spoelstra. “But (Haslem) did a great job of keeping his chest in front of him and forcing (Nowitzki) into a fadeaway. 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.”

Nowitzki gave no credit for being forced into a difficult shot.

“The look with four seconds to go, I think, was good as you can get,” he said.

Bosh had missed his first eight shots of the game and was just 4-for-13 from the field through the first three quarters in front of fans who used to cheer him as a Lincoln High star in the city.

But rather than shy away from the big moments, and with his teammates still trusting in him, he went 3-for-5 from the field while playing the entire fourth quarter.

“I seen CB wide open, I don’t care if he missed 15 in a row, that’s his sweet spot,” said LeBron James. “It’s the trust we have in each other no matter what point of the game it is.”

Bosh also took a shot to the eye early in the game — he had a shiner, and his left eye was partially closed when he met the media — but stuck it out.

“We’ll spit on it and put a Band-Aid on it and patch it up,” said Bosh.

The game-winning basket came off a broken play when the Heat tried to run a pick and roll with James and Wade. The Mavs forced the ball to move and Tyson Chandler had to close out on James, who calmly hit Bosh.

“It was the right play. We’ve been making the right plays, we trust each other,” said Bosh. “Our guys have been doing a fantastic job of showing that trust, especially in crunch time situations.

“This is a big as it gets. When you trust somebody to hit him real quick, I think that’s great.”

The Mavs were only in the game because they have a level of dogged determination few teams do. Dallas routinely found itself down double-digits only to fight back to tie the game, but they simply couldn’t get over the hump.

originally published on thestar.com