NBA Finals 2011: Heat @ Mavs Post Game Three Quotes "Missed"

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat said 
after Game 3.

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Carlisle

(On Nowitzki's task) "Well, he knows that he's going to have to carry a certain load. Not just a scoring load, but he's going to have to make plays. He's going to have to facilitate. He's going to have to get guys involved. I don't think this is anything that he doesn't expect. We would like to make it easier for him, but tonight was tough. Tonight was not one of those nights."

(On what night it was, then) "I think tonight one of the things that hurt us was we were digging out of holes all night, with the exception of the very beginning of the game. We get down five or seven, climb back into it, get a one-point lead or get it tied, and then we were a minute of two later back digging ourselves back again. It’s very difficult playing from behind."

(On Haywood's absence) "It made it tougher for us because Haywood is a regular rotation guy.  I thought Mahinmi's energy was good. At times maybe a little too energetic, but that was expected. We'll see how Brendan is for Game 4, and that's a day and a half away now. He's been doing better, so when we get to that point, we'll see where we're at."

(On Chalmers buzzerbeater) "They throw in a halfcourt shot that may have been a backcourt violation at the end of the first. That’s a great play for them, and it’s a tough one for us."

(On Holes) "And then we climbed out of that. Again, I don't know the number of times we climbed out of holes, but it's just always going to make the game harder. So our overall game, yes, is going to have to be better from start to finish. Our balance has been one of our calling cards, and I believe it will be better as well.

(On Losing the First Quarter= Game) " Look, it's as much a first quarter league as it is a fourth quarter league. It's something I've talked about a lot of the year. Again, things that happened in the first, they add up and they count in the total number of events that happen through the course of the game. Yes, we have to be better in the first. Again, our overall game has to be better.

(On Miami's scoring off Turnovers) "They were the best in the league during the season. No. 1 at converting steals into points. In many cases it’s just turnovers in general. So, you know, we only had six in the first half. It led to 14 points, which is an inordinate number. So, it’s a good example of the importance of taking care of the ball."

(On Lack of Scoring outside of Dirk) "I think when we look at it we'll find out there were some difficult ones, but there were also some very good opportunities that we couldn't get down. And so, look, it's a long series. One of the things is there are ebbs and flows. The shot making, it comes and goes. The defense has to be consistent overall for the whole game. We can argue that 43.6 is a good enough number to win. It's below 90s. But this is a team you have to score in the 90s to beat them in most cases. So, one or two untimely turnovers and the inability to get the ball in the basket in some of the better opportunities cost us."

(On Dirk shooting 52% with three guys on him and his Teammates 35% on basically open looks) "You know, our guys just they have to be systematic and approach each game with the same kind of aggressiveness they approached every game leading up to this. There's going to be some nights you don't shoot it good, but to sit up here and just bellyache about missed shots, that's never what the success of this team is going to be about. We held ourselves in the game in Game 2. We held ourselves in the game tonight. And we made some other mistakes that were uncharacteristic.  So we're going to have to eliminate some of those. We're going to have to look at our overall disposition in the game. Again, I really believe the fact that we were digging out of holes all night was something that, you know, it was difficult to overcome.

(On the Series) "Well, look, it's seven games. Any notion that it was going to be easy would have been foolhardy by us or anybody else. Every game has been extremely difficult. I think we have to look at this we'll break down the film, and I think one of the things we need to do is point out some situations where execution needed to be better. Point out that there were many positives. Sometimes missed open shots can be positives, because they're opportunities that we did create that were good. And we have to eliminate a couple of the turnovers that lead to the quick points.
It's extremely difficult when you're watching James go down the court and dunk the ball with his head over the rim. That makes it tough to win."

Dirk Nowitzki

(On the final Shot) " Haslem's fronting me everywhere, trying to keep the ball out of my hands. He does a good job. He's active, he's quick on his feet. Down the stretch, I think he stayed down and made me shoot a contested shot and a shot I can make, but unfortunately it didn't go."

(On the Look itself) "I think it was as good as you can get."

(On the Mavs) "Well, I thought we had opportunities. First of all, we can’t always fall down behind. I think we’re always reacting. We did in the first quarter. Third quarter we came out slow, fell down big. Obviously it takes a lot of energy for us to fight back. But even down the stretch, I think there were opportunities. I thought Jet had a good look at the baseline. I think it was to tie it or go up two. And we had a mental breakdown, that one play Bosh gets the wide open jumper the last minute. So I thought we had our opportunities, and just weren't good enough. We all know that basketball is a game of runs. We have to stop the runs a little quicker. We can’t get down 15 all the time and battle back. You can get like a five, six-point swing here and there. We can’t get in a deep hole like that."

(On the Heat's D) "You have to give them credit. Their defense is pretty good. They hold us to the low 40s every game, and they really take our shooters out of the game. "

(On Turnovers) "It's just going to happen. They're so fast, long, athletic. They do a good job swarming the ball once we put it down. We're going to turn it over some. I already thought we cut it down from Game 2 to this one, so hopefully in Game 4 we can cut down a couple more and we'll be OK."

(On Bosh's Gamewinner) "We had a mental breakdown that one play Bosh gets the wide-open jumper in the last minute. We messed up on the pick-and-roll in the middle and left I think James wide open. Tyson left the basket, had to rotate to LeBron, and he kicked it over to Bosh. I was over there with two-on-one, with Haslem and Bosh. Got to give Haslem credit, he set a good pick and Bosh was wide open. I don’t really know what happened there in the screen-and-roll, but we definitely messed it up."

(On Haywood/Mahinmi) "I think Ian gave us energy. He's very athletic. He's quick on his feet. I actually think he played all right. But Haywood has been big for us in the paint over the last year and a half we had him. He's a big guy, and he can change a lot of shots at the rim. I actually thought Ian did his job tonight."

(On the "You cannot get a split and get a huge emotional win in Game 2 and then go home and lose Game 3." Statement after the Win in Miami) "My view hasn’t changed. This definitely was a big game, and a very tough loss. Emotional game, fought back, and to fall short at the end is tough. But they need two more."

(On Offense) "If we have the open looks, we just got to make them. We haven't made enough of them. If we're going to keep shooting in the low 40s , it's going to be tough to win.

(On Dirk or Bust) "Yeah, I have to keep making plays, keep being aggressive and look for my shot.""

(On the next Game) "We have to be a little sharper at the beginning and not let them get their rhythm. And I thought the crowd pushed us forward. So, we’re going to need the same effort out of them. It’s basically a must-win situation.

Jason Terry

(On the Energy and  Bench play) "Our energy level was good for the most part. It's the turnovers and the opportunities we've given them in transition for them to get out and run and dunk on us. When we set our halfcourt defense, they struggle to score. That's something we're going to have to continue to do for 48 minutes. We haven't done that, and that's why we're looking at a 2-1 deficit right now. We've been very inconsistent. Obviously, offensively is where we like to get in the paint and finish plays, and we haven't done that. A lot of that falls on my shoulders, and so again in Game 4, I will be real aggressive. I have to be for us to be successful."

(On Dirk's last miss over Haslem) "He makes that nine out of 10. This was the one that he missed."

(On if he was thinking the Mavs would pull it out again) "Oh yeah. I believe we were going to do it. The ball in our hands with four seconds to go, we're either going to win or we're going to overtime. That's the way I feel. We got the shot we wanted, it juts didn't go in. It was disappointing to get off to the start that we did in the first and third quarters. They really came out and were more aggressive on both ends of the floor. That's what got them the lead, and we were playing from behind. You can't continue to play from behind in the NBA Finals."

(On Dirk's Game) "Well, we didn't really give him much help, and I take a lot of that on my shoulders. That's two out of three games, offensively in the fourth quarter, that I wasn't able to come up with some big plays and big shots. I'm looking forward to Game 4, and we're going to treat it like it's Game 7 and hope LeBron's not guarding me."

(On the Series) "Now we get to see who is going to step up, who’s going to really go after this thing."

(On his missing three with a minute left) "It would have been big. I make that shot all the time. It didn’t go down tonight. They did a good job of contesting and making it a tougher shot than it should’ve been."

(On his shooting) "A lot of my looks are contested, but hey, it’s the NBA Finals and they’re going to contest every shot. And hey, we have to be more and more aggressive, and we’ll see what happens."

(On the money for the rest of the Series) "I’m looking forward to it. I know where my opportunities are going to come. It’s going to be on me whether I’m going to take advantage of it or not. I put my money on myself."

Jason Kidd

(On the Game) "We have to have somebody step up besides Dirk. Dirk is doing his part. We have to figure out how to get up front and play up front. The big thing is we've got to be able to make plays late in the game. Game 2 we made the plays, Game 3 we just didn't."

(On the 4th Quarter:  Dirk w/ 15 Pts on 7 Shots, Rest of Team 7 Pts on 11 Shots) "Nowitzki loves that stage late. He wants the ball, and he’s always come through. So, again, somebody else has to step up and help him on the offensive end."

(On Stojakovic struggling) "Yeah, I think Peja can find a place. When he's open, he has to knock down shots just like everybody else. For that, we have to get him open shots and get him off some screens."

(On Haywood out) "We always miss Haywood. He's a guy that changes shots and rebounds, and also can score on offensive end."

(On adjustments) We have to make baskets. We had some great looks that didn't go down for us, especially late in the game. So we have to continue to take those wide-open looks, and hopefully in Game 4 they go down for us."

(On the Offense) "The big thing is when we have those open looks, we have to be able to knock them down no matter if it's our bench players or the starters. Right now, Dirk and Jason Terry are the only ones scoring."

(On Turnovers) "We have to take care of the ball against this team. Make or miss shots, you can't just give these guys easy layups on the other end. That's what they're doing to us right now."

(On falling behind) "Right now in the series, that’s pretty much what we’re doing. We have to figure out how to get in front and play from up front."

Tyson Chandler

(On the Loss) "Very disappointing. Anytime you play in a close game like this, you feel like you had an opportunity to win. So, it was a lost opportunity."

(On the Difference between Dirk's last look in Gm2 and Gm3) "He was able to get to the sweet spot in Game 2. In this situation we were down two, as opposed to be tied and having a little more leeway with the kind of play you can draw up."

(On Dirk's miss) "Any time you get the ball in Dirk's hands, you like what your opportunities are. It's tough that he's in that situation. A lot is going to be said about the last play, and other plays down the stretch, but if you look at the entire game, there are a lot of missed opportunities early in the game, where we were going on runs, then allowing them to go on runs with our careless turnovers."

(On Haywood's absence) "Haywood is definitely missed, because he brings a big presence for us. But I don’t want to say that’s the reason why we lost, because we definitely had opportunities to win."

(On what's the reason why) "It's like we'd fight so hard, you make a comeback, you tie the ballgame and we just roll the ball to them for highlights and they go up again 10 points, nine points, 14 points. And then you're fighting again uphill. We've got to quit that."

(On the Heat) "You can't give this team so many fastbreak points and the only way they got fastbreak points is off our turnovers. We're doing a good job of halfcourt defense setting up, but we're giving them running starts. We're giving them 11-point leads, 15-points leads off of turnovers. They do a good job of forcing a lot of turnovers. They're a very athletic group. We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball

Ian Mahinmi

(8 Minutes, 5 Fouls, Respect!) "I was very surprised by some of the calls. Some of the calls were good, some I didn't think I foul the guy, but obviously when they blow the whistle, they blow the whistle. There's nothing you can do."

Jose Juan Barea

(On Turnovers) "They're good deflecting the ball. They're athletic. They're intense. They're trying to get steals. They're doing a good job of that. We just have to take care of the ball."

(On 5-23 FG, 1-8 3FG, 5 Ast, 4 TO in 3 Games against Miami) "I think had some open looks, especially some 3s, and they felt great and some were long and some were short. They just didn't go down for me. I'm going to keep shooting them. This team needs me to make shots, and everybody needs to make open shots, and we kinda struggled with that tonight."

Heat

Coach Spoelstra

(On Dirk's Miss) "I don't want to get into too many specifics. Our guys know when there's opportunities for our playmakers to make some plays. That was a very similar situation to what we saw the other night. Had a different matchup. That's a makeable shot, even for him. But UD did a great job of keeping his chest in front of him and forcing him into a fadeaway. Nowitzki is a tough player. That shot hung up in the air about as long as it was in between Game 2 and Game 3. It was a good offensive play, and a good defensive play. And he happened to miss."

(On Bosh's Make) "That's fundamental basketball at its best. That play wasn't designed for him. We hit the open guy. It's the right play. When you see an open man, you hit the open man. It was good to see him knock that one down."

(On Rebounds and Threes) "It was a fistfight under the glass. We had five of those fouls on block outs and were giving up some size, but certainly not giving up anything in competitiveness and fight. That's the way it will be. Both teams understand how important finishing off your defense is. And second chance opportunities, relief points. Our guys were getting into that fight. It will continue to be that battle. In terms of the three point shooting, yes, we shot a good percentage, but, again, it was within the context of what we wanted to do. That was to be aggressive, set the tone, to attack. We didn't necessarily get to the free throw line but we were getting to the rim. And then we have rhythm shooters. So those guys have proven long enough that they'll make timely open threes, especially when we're able to get some other things that are important for our game."

(On Defense) " We have to continue to be active. We did have some breakdowns. Look, you have to give that team some credit, too. They have shooters. They have a great quarterback who will make you pay for mistakes. They have the shooting. And Nowitzki obviously draws a lot of attention. So we wanted to be active, create opportunities by making plays, keeping our bodies in front of them. This is a competitive series. When one team makes a run, usually there's a timeout and the next team comes right back. It will be a possession game virtually every game, probably to a fan's delight."

(On if the emphasis just has to be pretty much on Dirk? Do you almost feel like not certain that the rest of the team can beat you?) "No, that's absurd. I mean that in a respectful way. That team has shooters, scorers, they have the quarterback. They make you pay. Any defensive mistake...

(But they haven't shown that) "They can. They've proven it. If you leave those guys open, the three ball is a dangerous weapon for them. They also can make plays and break you down or try to make it as hard as possible on all of them, including Nowitzki, sometimes they make it better. Sometimes it's a better offense versus a great defense."

(On if this has been a more defensive series than expected) "No. When you get to this level, come on, you have to have the habits. I think Dallas has been an underrated defensive team all year."

(On the Win) " It's just one. We're not going to make it more than what it is. We have two wins under our belt. We have to try to be greedy and get another one. But there isn't going to be anything easy that comes in this series for either team. After Game 2, that's so far out of our mind at this point. It's all about the win or the loss. It doesn't matter. Even this, it's not a good win, it's not a bad win. It's a win. We have to move on and we have to try to get the next one."

(On the Series) "This series is turning out to be an absolute series of endurance, mental and physical. We didn't expect anything less than the competitive physicality of this game tonight. Our guys really competed. At times it was a little uneven, but we found ways to make plays on both ends of the court, to grind this game out in a very enduring win. Now we just have to move on. The tough part right now is amnesia. Both teams are highly competitive. This is a competitive series, as you can see. We have to really gather ourselves in 48 hours and get right back and do this again. ."

LeBron James

(On the Heat) "I saw a team that was ready for the challenge. We have had some games this year where we let it get away, but that next game we were able to bounce back. We are a desperate basketball team and that is the way we approach every game, any time we have any adversity. It was a great feeling to see that we always stayed confident, stayed positive, even though we let a game slip away in Game #2. We came in here tonight and got a huge road win in this building."

(On Bosh's Gamewinner) "I saw CB wide open. I don't care if he missed 15 in a row, he was wide open and that's his sweet spot."

(On passing) "It’s the trust we have in each other’s ability. No matter what the point of the game is at."

(On shrinking in the fourth quarter) "I think you’re concentrating on one side of the floor. All you’re looking at is the stat sheet. Honestly, I’m a two-way player. Since D-Wade had it going … we allow him to handle the ball, bring it on offensively. You should watch the film again and see what I did defensively. You’ll ask me a better question tomorrow."

Dwyane Wade

(On bouncing back)  "You can't lose a game like that Game 2 and come and lose Game 3. We felt this was a must-win. We had to put it upon ourselves to try to take home court back in a sense, and by any means necessary."

(On his Game) "For me it started in practice Saturday. I was very aggressive going to the hole practicing. My teammates seen it. They can tell that I wanted this game, and I came in with the same mentality today. I've been here before, so just trying to lead. My guys did a great job of following that lead."

(On the Win) "This is a total win. You want to win the game on the defensive end of the floor and we got a stop."

Chris Bosh

(On his Gamewinner) "I told UD who to hit. He did a fantastic job of screening me. I knew I was going to have an open shot. I just wanted to have good form, follow through. And I’m lucky. We've been making the right play."

(On the pass from James) "We trust each other. Our guys have been doing a fantastic job of showing that trust, especially in crunch-time situations. This is as big as it gets."

(On Trust) "There is some improvement there. If they kick it to me, I just have to be aggressive. I have confidence in my shot, and my teammates have confidence in me, too. I just have to let it go."

(On Confidence) "I still have to work on the flow of my game a little more. If they kick it to me, I just have to be aggressive. I just have to make decisive moves. I don't have to be quick or fast. I have to have confidence in my shot, and my teammates have to have confidence in me, too."

(On Chandler without Haywood) "Yeah, it's tough. When you know your backup center is down and you're the only center on the team, yeah, it's extremely tough. But I mean, he had a good game. No matter what happened, he still put his imprint on the game. We're going to have to do a better job of containing Tyson on the rebounds if we want to win this series. We're going to make the adjustments, and we just have to come out and do a better job and pay attention to detail."

(On getting poked in the eye) "I can see pretty good. I don’t know what it is. We'll spit on it and put a Band-Aid on it and patch it up later. I think it’s just symbolic of our season, everything. You just have to keep overcoming. If you lose Game 2 at home, blow a 15-point lead and you’re out on the road and everything is against you, you have to get it done. I thought it was quite fitting that I got poked in the eye early."

(On how's it feeling) "Open your eye. I’ll poke you in it."

Udonis Haslem

(On Dirk's miss) "He's a great player, 7 feet, so he's going to shoot over me. I've got to make it tough on him."

Vids

Game Recap

Podium

Dirk

Better Questions, pls

Wames&Jade

A pained Bosh

Locker Chandler

NBA.com Postgamebits

Dirk | Jet | Kidd | Rick | Spo | DWhistle & Bron | Bosh | Bron arenalink | Chalmers arenalink

ESPN Audio

Links

MMB | Catcap: Can't Comeback

There was no balance, no steadiness. The pace ramped up and down gradually. The turnovers ebbed. The shots made varied from too easy to "holy crap, no way!" to none at all. The defense followed an easy blow-by with tight coverage and a contested jump shot.

Peninsula Is Mightier Big Win

[...] with 6½ minutes left in the game the Heat held a 7-point lead. 

That's when Dirk Nowitzki absolutely took the game over for the Mavericks.  He scored 4 quick point to get Dallas within 3, then following a clutch triple by D-Wade, Nowitzki put up 6 straight points in just over a minute to tie the game at 84 with 2½ minutes left.  Dwyane and Dirk then traded buckets and we went into the final minute with the game tied and the ball in Miami's hands.

[Dirk] would get one more chance with 4.4 seconds left, but Udonis Haslem played superb defense and while we've seen Nowitzki made tough shots before, this one didn't fall and the Heat came away with the amazingly stressful victory.  Udonis played him so close that he had barely any room to move, but didn't foul, very similar to the way U-D played Derrick Rose on that last play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

NBA.com Boshboshbosh

On Miami's most important play of the game, with time tick-tick-ticking and the game slip-slip-slipping, the ball snaked around the floor and plopped into Chris Bosh's hands -- which was the No. 2 surprise of the night.

Number 1? He made the shot.

ESPN Dime Heat D

Nothing -- nothing -- is hurting the Dallas Mavericks like Miami's withering D.

ESPN Dallas Mistakes, no Help

Dirk Nowitzki stated the enormity of Sunday's Game 3 immediately after the Dallas Mavericks pulled off the Game 2 Miracle on South Beach:

"You cannot get a split and get a huge emotional win in Game 2 and then go home and lose Game 3."

The Mavs did just that, stung again by turnovers and a runway of Dwyane Wade layups and LeBron James dunks in digging double-digit hole after double-digit hole. This time they ran out of shovels and game-winners from Nowitzki, who had to produce 34 points -- 40 percent of his team's points -- just for the chance to win another one in the final seconds.

His 16-foot fallaway, with Heat forward Udonis Haslem in Nowitzki's face and not Chris Bosh giving him space, bounced high off the back rim and the Mavs slinked away with a disappointing 88-86 defeat to a Miami Heat team that did little celebrating to the very end.

Heat Index: Thriving in the public eye

On the road, with a battered eye, amid one of the coldest shooting stretches he’s ever endured, Chris Bosh hit the game-winner on the biggest stage of his career.

Bosh was alone. With the game tied and 40 seconds remaining in Game 3, Tyson Chandler left the Miami Heat power forward on the left baseline in order to stop LeBron James’ penetration into the lane. As Chandler met James at the foul line, James immediately turned to his right and flipped a backhanded pass to Bosh, who had missed 11 of his previous 17 shots on the night.

Hoopdata Boxscore (Dirk 4-6 atR, Rest of Mavs: 3-10, Miami 16-25, GG) |  Notes for Mavs: Heat Dirk +23, Without Dirk -31

In the 20 minutes that Dirk Nowitzki has been on the bench resting during the NBA Championships, the Dallas Mavericks have been outscored by 31 points. In the 124 minutes that he played, Dallas has outscored the Miami Heat by 23 points. As strong as Miami has looked earning a big riding time advantage through three games, they're WAY down when Dirk is on the floor.

Here's the breakdown in plus-minuses so far from the Dallas perspective:
Game One: with Dirk -2, without Dirk -6
Game Two: with Dirk +13, without Dirk -11
Game Three: with Dirk +12, without Dirk -14

Because Nowitzki finishes every game unless he's fouled out, we've developed a pattern where the Mavericks fall behind during his rest time...then spend the fourth quarter trying to climb back to equality. They successfully rallied to equality in Games Two and Three, with coin flip endings splitting out one apiece to each team.

Postgame media coverage made a point of emphasizing that he needs scoring help. Be careful jumping to conclusions that it's the starters who are letting him down. The bench has played so well in the postseason that they're starting to get the benefit of the doubt when they don't deserve it. Look at the bench plus/minus tonight (expanded boxscore is here):

Peja Stojakovic: -11 in just 6 minutes
Ian Mahinmi: -6 in just 8 minutes
Jason Terry: -6 in 32 minutes
Jose Juan Barea: +3 in 19 minutes

Game Three was basically a replay of Game Two with a slightly smaller comeback from Dallas at a slightly slower tempo. Then, Miami scored the late tie-breaker instead of Dallas. Both teams are playing great defense. It's Nowitzki who's most able to "impose his will" on the series. He just can't do it for 48 minutes a night, and the team is falling apart when he's not on the floor.

An advanced Boxscore at Arturo

My first impression on seeing the Chalmers heave go in was that the game could very well come down to that one lucky break.

This game was played on the edge. It was a back and forth. Dallas was sloppy in the first half and Miami took advantage. Dallas turned up the pressure and cleaned it up and came back. Wade and Nowitzki dueled like masters all night. The refs made homecourt manifest.

Dallas came all the way back but the last shot was down two instead of up 1. Made all the difference.

SI.com Eye Opener

Bosh had made 15 of 52 field goals in these Finals, and all of them meant less than the 16-footer that came in the final minute Sunday. Never mind that the winner of Game 3 in these situations had gone on to win all 11 NBA Finals under the current 2-3-2 format. Neither Bosh nor James was thinking about any of the back-story numbers as the shot went up from the left elbow as if Bosh had made a career of enthusiastically mimicking Kobe Bryant.

BDL Wherewaitinghappens

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Basketballprospectus Slim Margin

Miami 88, at Dallas 86 (Series tied 2-1)
Pace: 82.8
Offensive Ratings: Miami 103.5, Dallas 106.8

Here's the thing about a two-point game: It can be lost in the second quarter as easily as the fourth. I suspect when the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff goes over the tape from Game Three of the NBA Finals, that will be the conclusion they reach. The Mavericks went down 12 early in the second, and while they overcame that deficit with a huge third-quarter run and were close throughout the final period, those extra points could have made the difference in a game that came down to the very final shot.

 

NBAPlaybook What happened on Miami's  Winner

With 56 seconds left in game three, the Miami Heat were coming out of a timeout with the game tied.  Instead of coming out of the timeout and playing "hero ball" the Heat decided to run a play, a play that got everyone involved, and resulted in an open shot for Chris Bosh, who knocked down the game winner.

Refcalls During the Day |  here are some topflops

For our review of Game 3 of the Dallas-Miami game, we’re going to do a few things differently from previous posts.

Rather than create one large video that takes tons of hours to put together and upload that’s published almost 24 hours after the game has ended, we’re going to break it up into chunks and spread their release throughout the day (Monday).

Before we describe the order we’ll be posting these videos, we have made some approximate calculations about the wrong and missed calls by the refs from Game 3. So let’s get to that:

Missed travels still are the big theme of this series. We calculated the refs missing approximately 14 travels by the Heat, and 9 by the Mavericks. Twelve points were scored by the Heat in those possessions where their travels were missed, and 7 for the Mavericks. That’s a 5-point deficit for Dallas in a very close 2-point game.

Excluding missed travels, we counted the refs missing or getting wrong 12 calls that favored Dallas resulting in 5 points being scored directly because of those calls, and 5 calls/no-calls that favored Miami resulting in 4 points. That’s a 1-point advantage for Dallas.

So taking into account the 5-point advantage the Heat had with the missed travels, and 1-point advantage Dallas had for wrong or missed calls not involving missed travels, you get a 4-point net advantage for the Heat. Please keep in mind this is an approximate figure.

PBT Homecourt Back | Run out of Comebacks | Miami endures

Still, Dallas refused to fold, and once again took Miami to the wire thanks to some superlative play from Dirk Nowitzki and some breakdowns by Miami. Miami only made one shot inside of five feet in the last 10 minutes of the game, and didn’t attempt a single free throw.

The Mavericks have made a living off of big comebacks to get to this point in the postseason, but at some point, constantly fighting back from behind gets to be too much.

That point may have been reached in Game 3 of the Finals on Sunday, when Dallas, for the second consecutive game, erased all of a 14-point Miami lead in the second half, but couldn’t finish the job as the Heat held on for an 88-86 victory that put the Mavericks at a two games to one disadvantage in the series.

Game 3 of the 2011 NBA Finals was a 48-minute spectacular. It was a heartbreaker and a series changer. It was valiant, defeating, and entertaining, and it was decided by an incredibly slim margin. With a single bucket — a Chris Bosh baseline jumper, to be exact — Miami topped Dallas, 88-86, in a riveting game between well-matched foes that no self-respecting basketball fan could soon forget.

Hoopshype  Tweets

Ron Artest "@allaboutfigures: @ronartest Ron, Nowitzki & Terry are going sweep Miami 3-0." I can't see that If that happens I'll run down Santa Monica blvd with electro shocks on my nipples yesterday

Jimmer Fredette: Heat still haven't lost back to back games in the playoffs, and I don't think they will. yesterday

LaMarcus Aldridge: That was a good game! yesterday

Charlie Bell: Yeah. I'm upset yesterday

Jeff Pendergraph: Another great playoff finals game! Glad its a series yesterday

Ron Artest: Dallas will score Not sure if a two or three But Dallas will score I can't wait for next year and the lakers Exciting ball!!! yesterday

Paul George: Dirk putting this into OT or Gettin a dub! yesterday

James Harden: Dirk? yesterday

JaJuan Johnson: this game is crazy! yesterday

Ron Artest: Dallas players fouling alot yesterday

Roger Mason: Great shot by Bosh, but great screen by Haslem. That guy does all the little things that help u win. yesterday

Ron Artest: Miami proves me right if they play team ball But bron looked lost I think the ball should do the dictating Dirk is playing great yesterday

Samardo Samuels: I'm watching a 7 foot larry birds.. I'm rolling with the mavs tonight. Cavs fans the Q is going to be popping next season I'ma see too that. yesterday

Jorge Sierra: Some redemption for Bosh there. Big basket for him. yesterday

Jamie Skeen: These refs must hate bron cuz we can't buy a call. But you can't lay a pinkey on dirk.. yesterday

Jorge Sierra: Stagnant offense by Miami. Memories of Game 2. No ball movement whatsoever. yesterday

Jerryd Bayless: Dirk is amazin (pause) yesterday

Talor Battle: Dirk is the best in the worldddd yesterday

Elliot Williams: Dirk is silly with it yesterday

Brandon Jennings: Aston Martin Music........... yesterday

Tristan Thompson: Wow am I really seeing this. yesterday

Kevin Durant: Wow that was crazy lol yesterday

Bernie Lee: Diff between announcing & coaching, a coach would never under any circumstances tell a guy to force D Wade to drive as opposed 2 shoot a 3 yesterday

Brandon Rush: Put a damn hand up yesterday

Kyle Lowry: lmao mark Jackson is dumb funny yesterday

Ron Artest: Dallas will win this game Miami is on pause right now Dallas waiting for mistakes and forcing into mistakes Miami ball n bodies not moving yesterday

Ron Artest: Ok I started out saying Miami would win 4-1 Because I forgot 2-3-2 was the format So I changed my prediction to 4-2 Miami . But..... yesterday

Anthony Morrow: 3pt game going into the 4th let's go baby yesterday

Evan Turner: Marion for 3! yesterday

The Point Forward KISS

So the Heat, for much of the second half in Game 3, fell back on two plays:

1. A play I’ve nicknamed the “rugby scrum,” where two Heat players (usually big men) set a monster double screen for either LeBron or Wade. Miami probably ran this at least 20 times in Game 3, much more than it usually does. The Heat ran it for both players, and the set was mostly successful.

2. They gave the ball to Wade, especially in the post, and let him work.

2MG's The Difference

Dallas — specifically Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, and Dirk Nowitzki (yes, Dirk Nowitzki) — has played some incredible defense to halt Miami’s high pick-and-rolls in the same way that the Heat defense has halted theirs, and though that side of the court doesn’t come with the same loaded result of an elite offense facing off against an elite defense, both teams have created a reasonable facsimile. Maybe Dallas isn’t elite on D and perhaps Miami’s limitations prevent them from being a truly elite offensive team, but both teams have played at such a high level in this series that those designations are meaningless. All we have is the here and the now, and both Dallas and Miami are playing terrific basketball in an incredible series.

Stats

FT-Watch

Haywood bricked none of [twiceasmuch] from the line bench. Why oh why don't you chop that wood more, Portland Lakers Thunder Miami? He is now 20-43 on FTs in 16 games. Celebration for our third-best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

Dirk missed nil FTs on 9 Attempts.

Miami bricked 3 of 15, Dallas 5 of 27.

20-20-4 Watch

Chandler 5-11-3 Haywood  DNP-strained right hip flexor. Mahinmi DNP-Playoffs/French 2-1-0 (5 PF) The French need to bring more..

Field Goals

Mavs 28, Heat 34 That's it.

Boarding

Mavs 42 (12 O) Heat 36 (9 O) Not enough

PIP-Boys

MIA 40 DAL 22. Too drastic

Bench

MIA 19 Pts on 16 Shots DAL 25 on 24 Shots Doesn't help enough

Break it FAST

DAL16 (but allowed 'only' 19 Points off 14 Turnovers)

MIA 14 (allowed 15 Pts off 13 To) Running back, isn't good enough. You need to take care of the ball, y'all!...

The TEAM STAT

DAL 18 Assists MIA 20 Assists No way, Mavs, that Way

 Bonus(patience)

Ghostface has to drill

Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes. Also, Wade and Dirk were the only ones shooting above 50% from the Field in this Game. Furthermore, don't comment after Losses. Bad Mojo.

Finally....KneeJerk Recap (TM) Jonthefon v5.03

The Mavs (beat/lost to) [the Miami Heat]¹ tonight (thanks to/despite) totol reliance on Dirk’s Awesomeness in general and especially late in the 4th Quarter. The (cloud in the silver lining/major culprit) once more as usual was the (reliabilty/lack) of support from his team-mates, with the exception of Jason Kidd/Tyson Chandler ². Especially useless was Jose Barea/Peja Stojakovic/Brendan Haywood's hip flexor/DeShawn Stevenson/Shawn Marion/Jason Terry/Ian Mahinmi³ and it is (GUESS WHAT) THEY’RE ALMOST NOT ALL USELESS!

¹ Inserted Opponent

² Only one of them, mind you. Thou shall score more than 5 Points, Tyson...

³ Two at the minimum, up to all six seven of them. Cardinal gets a pass, 'Pfingsten' is coming..