Heat Lose, Series Even
DALLAS (CBSMiami) - In the end, it all came down to a nail biting 60 seconds, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat by 3 points to take game 4 of the NBA Finals, trying the series at 2-all and guaranteeing the Finals will end at the American Airlines Arena, on the Heat's home court, in front of a hometown audience. That was the only good news Tuesday.
Time seemed to stop as the 4th quarter wound down, with a strong effort by the Heat not enough to overcome a Dallas 17-4 run that gave the Mavericks the lead late in the 4th.
The Mavericks so dominated the scoring in the 4th that a Chris Bosh free throw with 1:53 remaining was the first point Miami had scored in more than 5 minutes.
It didn't help that the Heat gave 5 turnovers in the 4th, after not allowing a single turnover in the third quarter.
In the final minutes, Dallas missed a number of great looks before fouling Dwyane Wade, whose two free throws made it a 1 point Dallas game with 29 seconds remaining.
Following a Dallas time out, out of the gate Dirk Nowitzki, battling a fever, set up for a trey and made 3 from downtown. That brought a Heat time out, as Coach Erik Spolstra worked out a plan for the remaining seconds.
Dwyane Wade took it to a 1 point lead with a driving dunk, 9 seconds left, when Dallas took its final time out. When the clock started, Jason Terry was fouled, and made two 2 clutch free throws to take the Dallas lead to 3.
With just under 6 seconds left, The Heat made it's final run. Udonis Haslem was out, and Mike Miller was in. As the clock raced to zero, he tried for a 28 foot 3 point jumper, and missed.
With less than a second, Miami tried an offensive rebound, but missed as the buzzer sounded, causing Dallas fans to explode into cheers and taking the Finals to a tie.
D-Wade had a great night, putting 32 points on the board, and Chris Bosh was a game standout, shooting 50 percent with 24 points.
LeBron James had a poor night with just 8 points, shooting just under 30%
