Two Superstars, Two Separate Stories, Series Now 2-2

What a terrible great game. Seriously. The final few minutes were just piles of missed shots. We kept waiting for that dagger. It never really came. Eventually, Dirk Nowitzki made one more bucket than Miami did, wheeling to his right side around Udonis Haslem and hitting the go-ahead layup to send the Mavs to a 86-83 win and a 2-2 series tie. This game, whether it should’ve been or not, was about two superstars, one who rose to the occasion (sort of) and one who wilted (sort of). Dirk and LeBron. One had a terrible fever (100-102 degrees) and probably infected every media member in the building during his snuffle-filled postgame press conference (seriously, we hope they disposed of that mic). The other showed up 100% healthy, but then never really showed up, playing with as much aggression as Stanley from The Office. LeBron (eight points, nine rebounds & seven assists) had never scored so few points in a playoff game, and it was his lowest total since January, 2007. Down the stretch, Dwyane Wade had two key errors – first clearly pressing on a free throw and missing and then fumbling a pass on the Heat’s final possession – but he was a monster all game long (13-for-20 from the field, 32 points) and kept Miami in front for much of the second half. LeBron was in full-on facilitator role, to the point where it was becoming obvious. It got to a point in the third quarter where we thought, wait a second…is LeBron not shooting at all so that after the game he came vehemently claim that he’s not ANYTHING like MJ? It started to get weird when the only shots he wanted were pull-up threes. Odd. Even Mike Wilbon asked later: “I wanted to know if LeBron was sick” … Dirk made his first three shots of the game, like “Gimme that thing and get the #$%^ outta my way.” The rest of the half? There was a lot of “shrinkage” going on; he scored just two points from there until the break. By the third quarter, Dirk was spending more time complaining to the refs than getting back on defense, and seemed to be stuck in a losing battle with his fever. Then, he missed a free throw and we knew something was up. Dirk doesn’t miss free throws. Once in a while, he will during the regular season, but that’s for fun, to make things interesting. He was legitimately sick and weak. Still, Dirk fought through some terrible shooting (6-for-19) to finish with 21 and 11 and the biggest shot of the game … Trailing in the fourth, Jason Terry (17 points) finally woke up, scoring twice off staggered screens against LeBron, chewing him out after the first two buckets he’s scored all series against him in the fourth. Terry’s layup with five minutes left put the Mavs up. Miami didn’t score for five and a half minutes until two Bosh free throws with under two minutes left. Dallas had SO many good looks at the end of the game: DeShawn Stevenson (11 points) missed 2 threes, Dirk, Terry had two shots on one possession in the last minute, all wide open. Still, they survived … As the TV guys mentioned, the Mavs’ game is on the floor, and when that’s the case, you better box out. Early on, Miami couldn’t make anything, shooting just 29%. But they had nine offensive rebounds and somehow after one, the game was tied. Chris Bosh started early, making the Heat’s first three shots and hitting jumper after jumper on Dallas’ bigs. He had 16 in the first half (24 for the game), scoring in basically every way possible … Where was the emotion? The passion? In the first half, Dallas had the look of a team that didn’t believe. Stevenson was their best player in the second quarter. Seriously. He made three huge treys that kept Dallas within range, and a quick 9-0 run before the half finally grabbed some momentum for the Mavs … So Jim Carrey‘s reward for J.J. Barea sucking and shooting worse than Dennis Rodman after four Screwdrivers is to start? When your ace in the hole is Barea, you’re beyond desperate. Twice, he drove to the rim and missed easy layups. Even his perimeter shot, which was never a strength, was way off. But while he didn’t have a great game, the rest of the Mavs supporting cast won it for Dallas. Tyson Chandler (13 points, 16 rebounds), the JET and Abe Lincoln all brought it. For once, you can say Soulja Boy > Jay-Z … ‘Bron really struggled, but he did connect with Wade on a sick oop … At one point, Mark Jackson called D-Wade the third-best shooting guard ever, behind only MJ and Kobe. How does everyone feel about that? … Remind us to start a flop count next game. Over/under of what? Maybe…77? Does that sound right? … And interestingly, every Miami starter had a negative plus/minus, while everyone on their bench had a positive one … We’re out like Terrelle Pryor.