The Miami Heat jumped out to a 1-0 series lead on Wednesday, defeating the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 to win Game 1 of the 2011 NBA Finals.
The Heat trailed the Mavericks 44-43 at the half, but seemingly dominated the fourth quarter. The Heat only outscored Dallas 27-23 in the fourth, but Dallas did hit a three as time expired, making it seem closer than it really was. Further, Miami was dictating the pace of the fourth – and the Mavericks never really looked like they were in rhythm.
LeBron James led the Heat with 24 points and nine rebounds. James added five assists as well.
Chris Bosh also had an excellent game for Miami, scoring 19 points while grabbing nine rebounds as well. Dallas held Dwyane Wade to 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting, but still, it wasn’t enough.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points, but he went just 7-of-18 shooting from the field. Nowitzki was a perfect 12-12 from the free throw line – which is nothing surprising given how locked in he’s been from the line in the playoffs this year.
The pressure is now on the Mavericks to win Game 2, or else they’ll head back to Dallas needing to win all three games in order to avoid an elimination game in Miami.