The Dallas Mavericks scored 22 of the last 27 points in Game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals, and Dirk Nowitzki scored his team’s last nine. But it was Nowitzki’s driving left-handed layup against Chris Bosh with 3.6 seconds remaining that won the game for Dallas.
After a Mario Chalmers three-pointer evened the game with 24 seconds remaining, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra opted to defend Nowitzki one-on-one with Bosh. Miami had a foul to give early but allowed Nowitzki to get the ball and start his move. With the court spread, Nowitzki received the ball at the three-point line and backed Bosh down to the left elbow. A spin to his left and then a stutter step move caught Bosh off guard and gained Nowitzki enough separation to get to the basket.
Miami was late in helping Bosh at the basket, as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade covered Jason Terry and Shawn Marion on each baseline and Udonis Haslem had to keep track of Tyson Chandler, who was moving toward the basket along the right baseline.
Bosh said the play was typical Dirk, but that his defensive lapse was to blame.
He does the move that he always does. He uses his body well. I got caught up in trying to cover his drive, and that’s what he wanted. For a split second I just played bad defense and it cost us two points.