Caron Butler (above) led the way for Dallas against the Heat, scoring a team-high 23 points. The Mavericks used a 31-17 third quarter to break open the game, and led by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter en route to winning their fifth straight ballgame. (AP Photo/Mike Fuentes)One thing has become a constant in the NBA regular season: the Miami Heat (9-8) do not beat the Dallas Mavericks (12-4). Dallas beat the Heat for the 13th straight time - a span of over six seasons, not including the 2006 NBA Finals of course - handing the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh their eighth loss of the young season. At the same point last season (sans James and Bosh) the Heat were 10-7.
"It's tough because I know the potential of this team," Wade said.
What was a close contest in the first half turned quickly in the third quarter as the Mavericks were able to put it in another gear despite playing, and winning, their fourth game in the last five nights. Dallas outscored Miami 31-17 in third, after leading by two at the half, en route to yet another big win.
"It’s been a great week for us," Mavericks' coach Rick Carlisle said of his team, who have won five straight games overall. "To go through and win all four like this you have to be extremely tied together, you’ve got to be deep, you’ve got to have good guys and good players and you have to have a high energy level and a high spirit. We’ve been able to sustain that this week."
The Mavericks came out of the locker room in the second half with that high energy level, making it a priority to push the tempo against the Heat, and it paid dividends. Caron Butler scored 12 of his season-high 23 points in the third quarter, propelling the Mavericks to an 18-point lead with 5:35 left in the third quarter.
"We wanted to pick up the pace," Carlisle said. "Getting the game going up and down [the floor] was something that was going for us."
After Dallas went ahead by their largest margin of the game at 90-71 with 9:47 left in the fourth quarter, Miami tied to mount the comeback. Wade scored 11 points in the final frame, but key misses and turnovers down the stretch by himself, and the rest of Miami Thrice would be their undoing.
The Heat got as close as five points after Mario Chalmers' deep three with 4:18 left made it 94-89, but the Mavericks outscored Miami 12-6 to close out the game - led by seven points from Butler.
Wade and Bosh finished with 22 points a piece on 50 percent shooting, while James led the Heat with 23 - but made only 5 of 19 shots to get there. As a team, Miami finished the game shooting only 41.3 percent from the floor.
"Well, it's a disappointing loss here," Miami
For the Mavs, Butler scored a total of 19 points in the second half, providing the spark Dallas needed down the stretch to take care of the Heat. The Mavs' starting small forward finished with his best shooting percentage of the season, making 9 of 15 shots (60 percent) and all three 3-pointers he attempted.
"[Butler] is a talented player and for him this a different situation where he can get a lot of just catch and shoot because he's wide open," Mavericks' point guard Jason Kidd said. "...tonight we went to him and he delivered."
Kidd, who notched two assists on two of Butler's final three baskets of the game, led Dallas with 13 assists for the game; to go along with eight boards, five points and two steals. For the third straight contest, the Mavericks did a good job moving the ball around and getting open looks. Six Mavs scored in double figures and everyone who touched the floor made at least one basket.
"[The key is] ball movement, playing together, playing off each other, not forcing any shots and just reading what the defense gives us," Dirk Nowitzki said. "The ball movement has been great the last few games."
Nowitzki dished out four assists himself, the third straight game for him with at least four dimes, while also scoring 22 points, grabbing six boards and recording two steals in another great all-around game for the Mavs' MVP. The more Dallas can ease the burden on Nowitzki (especially on the offensive end where the Mavs tend to give the ball to Dirk and then proceed to stand around and watch) the better chance this team has to truly compete come playoff time.
Players Only
The Heat locker room stayed closed to the media for about 45 minutes after the game due to a players-only meeting. The media was told, after the locker room was finally opened, that the trio of Bosh, James and Wade - rather than being interviewed like common NBA players in the visitors locker room - would answer questions in the interview room. Well, Bosh didn't show up, then Wade and James answered questions for about five minutes before being rushed away by Miami's PR guy.
James had this to say about the Heat's disappointing start:
"It was a well-needed team meeting where everybody had a chance to get off whatever they had on their chest or in their head about us figuring things out," James said. "Right now we are a 9-8 team and we have to own up to that. Does our record speak of the quality of team we can become? I don't think so. But right now we're 9-8 and we're playing like that."
Wade, standing next to LeBron at the podium, pretty much said the exact same thing:
"We felt like we needed it. Sometimes it's a feel. We haven't had a team-only meeting. We're playing like 9-8 and we needed it," Wade said. "This is a new team, a new group of guys. Guys need to understand each other and hear each other talk. We all feel better after the talk we had."
Such insight!
Miami Thrice combined to score 67 of the Heat's 95 total points for the game, but also accounted for 13 of the team's 14 total turnovers and shot a combined 36.5 percent from the field for the game.
Anyone still think this team is going to break the Chicago Bulls all-time regular season wins record?
Anyone?
Didn't think so.
News and Notes:
- Dallas has scored over 100 points for the third straight game - the longest such stretch this season. The Mavericks are now 22nd in the NBA in scoring at 97.1 points per game, after dropping to 28th of 30 teams only one week ago.
- Tyson Chandler got off to a great start against the Heat, scoring the Mavericks first seven points of the game and finishing the first quarter with a hefty nine points and seven rebounds. Chandler finished the game with 14 points and 17 rebounds for his second double-double in the last three games and fourth overall this season.
- Miles Austin was in attendance for the game and fans cheered loudly when they showed him on the jumbo-tron. Austin signed a Mavericks basketball early in the second half, before tossing it into the stands for fans to fight over.
- This South Park reference was played a few times after James' fouls and miscues throughout the game. Cartman saying "What should I do" and "Should I admit that I've made mistakes" were both played over the PA in the second half.
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