Dallas was down 1-0 in the series and down by 15 with a little over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Their chance at a title seemed to be winding down, but Dirk Nowitzki would not let them die. After a 3-10 first half with just one rebound, Nowitzki came alive late to score his team’s last nine points in a frantic 22-5 run late in the fourth and even the 2011 NBA Finals at a game a piece.
Until the last few minutes, the game appeared to belong to Dwyane Wade. Wade led all scorers with 36 points on 13-20 shooting and filled up the box score with five rebounds, six assists (to just one turnover), three steals and two blocked shots. Miami also got a big game from Mike Bibby, who hit four of seven three pointers.
But it was Nowitzki who came through down the stretch. After hitting a layup and a three-pointer to give Dallas its first lead of the fourth quarter, Nowitzki answered a game-tying three from Mario Chalmers with a driving layup past Chris Bosh to give Dallas the lead, 95-93, with 3.6 seconds remaining. Wade’s desperation heave at the buzzer went off the rim and Dallas headed home with the even series they sought.
Game three in Dallas is Sunday at 7:00 CDT, 8:00 EDT on ABC. See you there.