LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade paced the Miami attack as the “Big Three” combined for 65 points as the Heat beat Dallas 92-84 in the opening game of the NBA Finals on Tuesday.
James finished with a team-high 24 points, Wade had 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Bosh scored 19 points for the Heat, who are a perfect 9-0 at home in the post-season.
“That’s who they have been their entire careers,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of James and Wade. “Every playoff game for us goes down the stretch. The more time you are in it, the more confident you get.”
Photo: EPA
After a low-scoring, tightly-contested first half in which the lead changed hands nine times, the Heat’s star trio seized control in the fourth quarter in front of the sold-out crowd of 20,003 at the American Airlines Arena.
Combining Wade with James and Bosh as a triple threat in Miami is paying dividends in their first post-season together, but it also made villains of them in some people’s eyes, especially James, who spurned his hometown Cleveland to join the Heat.
“We got guys who have closed games before, but we just had to figure out how to do it together,” James said. “It is my confidence. I’ve got to be a two-way player, get my teammates involved. My shot was working from outside, but more important, I helped my team win.”
Wade had his typical slow playoff start, but once again found his second gear late in the game. He helped clinch the win by combining with James on an alley-oop with 30.6 seconds left that made it 91-79.
“All I care about was he made a lot of winning plays on both ends of the court there in the fourth quarter,” Spoelstra said of Wade.
James made several plays in the second half that showed why he is the NBA’s most dominant player. He made a statement dunk with 2 minutes, 48 seconds to go that gave Miami a 84-75 lead. James also drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to give Miami a 65-61 lead.
Dirk Nowitzki scored a team high 27 points for the Mavericks, who were held to just 37.3 shooting.
“They have two very good closers, two of the best in the game, but what really killed us was offensive rebounds,” Nowitzki said. “We were just out of position sometimes to box out and get rebounds. We were scrambling so much we failed to get rebounds.”
Shawn Marion had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jason Terry came off the bench to score 12 points for the Mavericks, who are seeking their first NBA championship and trying to avenge a loss to the Heat in the 2006 Finals.
Nowitzki also tore a tendon on the middle finger on his left hand when he collided with Bosh. He said the X-rays showed their was no break, but he is going to wear a splint on it for the remainder of the series.
“It was a freaky play,” Nowitzki said. “I thought I stripped him clean, and then I looked down and I couldn’t straighten my finger.”
The Mavericks had home court advantage in 2006, winning the first two games, before dropping four straight.
Dallas won both regular-season contests over Miami this year, but in the playoffs the Mavericks are without swingman Caron Butler, who has been out since Jan. 1 after knee surgery.
The teams traded three-pointers just before the end of the first half, with Terry draining a 26-foot jumper with 38 seconds left to make it 44-40 for the Mavericks. On the next possession, Miami’s Mario Chalmers hit a three-pointer to pull the Heat to within one.
Part of the Heat’s game plan was to set the tone early with physical play under the basket. Both Terry and Nowitzki were fouled hard by James and Udonis Haslem in the first half.
Terry landed especially hard after being hit in mid-air by James, but he got up without any trouble.
“We have to attack. We have to be physical and we have to be on the edge for 48 minutes,” Spoelstra said.
The Mavericks looked like they might have some life when they went on a 7-0 run to begin the second half, but the Heat quickly answered and went on to outscore the Mavericks 27-23 in the fourth quarter.
“There were some critical situations where we needed to somehow come up with loose balls here and there or make a shot, but it didn’t happen,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said.
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