DALLAS ? The bench play for the Dallas Mavericks had been absent to start the NBA Finals, but Jason Terry was the spark in Thursday's 15-point comeback victory to even the series with the Miami Heat.
Terry began Game 2 by missing four of his first five shots. He ended it by going 3-of-5 in the fourth quarter of the 95-93 victory that helped the Mavericks steal home-court advantage.
By David J. Phillip, AP
The success of Jason Terry right, complemented the play of starter Dirk Nowitzki, left, to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their comeback victory Thursday vs. the Miami Heat to even the NBA Finals at 1-1.
By David J. Phillip, AP
The success of Jason Terry right, complemented the play of starter Dirk Nowitzki, left, to lead the Dallas Mavericks to their comeback victory Thursday vs. the Miami Heat to even the NBA Finals at 1-1.
"I've had games throughout my career where I've struggled," said Terry, who had two turnovers early in the fourth. "I struggled throughout three quarters in the game and then, boom, in the fourth quarter the lights came on."
Terry, with Dirk Nowitzki the remaining Mavericks from the 2006 team that lost the NBA Finals in six games to the Heat, had six consecutive points to cut the Heat lead in Game 2 from double digits to 88-79 with 5:21 left.
Once Jason Kidd drained a three-pointer, Terry responded with a 14-foot jumper to close the deficit to 90-86 at 3:54. His steal led to a layup by Nowitzki that tied the score at 90.
But Terry almost let his team down. After Dallas took a 93-90 lead on a three-pointer by Nowitzki, Terry feel asleep on the inbounds play. He allowed Heat guard Mario Chalmers to slip to the far corner for an uncontested three-pointer.
Nowitzki had some choice words for his teammate. The shot tied the score, but Nowitzki hit the game-winner with 3.6 seconds remaining.
"I'm sure there was a little cussing involved. If you're down 15, you make an amazing run like that and you're up three, you can't give up a wide-open three," Nowitzki said. "It just can't happen. So we got to go back and look at stuff like that."
The Mavericks lost 92-84 to the Heat in Game 1, but Shawn Marion complained the offense was too structured.
In Game 2, Carlisle reverted to his "flow" offense. Instead of calling plays, the Mavericks would react to whatever coverages shown by Miami.
They used the same approach to close out the Western Conference finals and knock off the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games.
Quick hits:
Mavs C Brendan Haywood has a right hip pointer and his status for Sunday's game is unknown as of Friday afternoon. He left Game 2 at 11:13 in the fourth quarter. ? Nowitzki's 24 points in Game 1 gave him 3,109 all-time for the playoffs as he surpassed Julius Erving for 17th place. ? Dallas' 15-point comeback in the fourth quarter is the biggest in the NBA Finals since 1996-97. The next best is when Miami wiped out a 13-point deficit vs. the Mavericks in the 2006 Finals. ? The Mavericks are scheduled to practice Saturday afternoon.
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