Here’s the super-quick version of the recap: WOW!
Ok, here are a few more details:
Game Four: Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks, American Airline Center
- Final Score: Mavericks 86 – Heat 83
- The Mavs were down as much as seven in the fourth quarter but they made another comeback to tie the series at two. LeBron James was non-existent, especially down the stretch. He finished with eight points on 3-11 shooting while playing extremely passively. Dirk Nowitzki was battling a fever and sinus infection and struggled through a terrible shooting night, but he hit a clutch layup with 14 seconds left to essentially put the game out of reach. Dwyane Wade fumbled the inbounds pass with less than seven seconds left and the Heat down three, but he saved it to Mike Miller who was forced to launch a desperation three at the buzzer that missed everything.
- Mavericks – Nowitzki: 21 points (6-19 FG, 9-10 FT), 11 rebounds
- Heat – Dwyane Wade: 32 points (13-20 FG, 6-9 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 blocks
- Key Stats: Tyson Chandler finished with 16 rebounds, nine of which were offensive. Dallas only turned the ball over 10 times. DeShawn Stevenson hit three 3’s early to keep the Mavs close and chipped in 11 points as he moved to the bench. Dallas’ bench outscored the Heat bench 28-15. Jason Terry had 17. LeBron only took four free throws, making two of them. Shawn Marion, after scoring 16 points in three quarters, sat almost the entire fourth quarter and was only subbed in for defensive purposes in the final seconds.
- “I definitely didn’t play great offensively. I’ve got to do a better job of being more assertive offensively,” LeBron James said. “When I get two guys on me, I try to find my teammates. At the same time, I’ve got to keep myself in an offensive rhythm while I’m doing that.”
- “No, he’s physically fine,” Spoelstra said. “I just have to do a better job of making sure he’s in positions where he can be aggressive.
- “I think it was a matter of how the flow of the game was going and that’s what happens,” Marion said. “We pulled it out and that’s what it is,” he said. “I’m a competitor and I feel like I want to play 48 minutes a night. He cut my minutes down, it’s OK, we pulled out a good win and that’s all that matters.”
- “Just battle it out,” Nowitzki said. “This is the finals. You have to go out there and compete and try your best for your team. So that’s what I did […] There’s no long term. I’ll be alright on Thursday. … Hopefully I’ll get some sleep tonight, take some meds and be ready to go on Thursday.”
- Game 5 is this Thursday night at 9pm in Dallas on ABC
