Once again we saw a tight contest. Game two was generally close throughout and like game one, saw an early lead squandered by the Dallas Mavericks and a late lead built by the Miami Heat. But this time the Mavericks solved the problems of game one. While the 3 pointers eventually dried up for the Heat, the Mavericks bench upped their contribution as guard Jason Terry scored 16 points – sans a single 3 point bucket. And they won both the offensive and total rebound battle.
But all of this only serves to bury the lead – the Mavericks staged an epic comeback from 15 points down with 6 minutes remaining. After Dwayne Wade sunk his final 3 pointer from the corner to put the Heat up by 15, the Mavericks looked finished. But after a timeout they started a 17-2 run that began with 8 straight points by Terry. At the end they finished on a 22-5 run with Dirk Nowitzki scoring the final 9 points.
Dirk’s only 3 pointer with 27 seconds remaining gave the Mavericks their first lead since the second quarter and his drive to the basket sealed the deal with 3 seconds to go. The funniest part? Wade’s flop fail on his desperation attempt at the end. Oh, I loved that. For once, the referees got one right.
The Mavericks head home with the series tied 1-1, mission accomplished.
Game three is Sunday @ 7 pm CDT in Dallas.
