Posted by Royce Young



The Heat had finally taken control of Game 5 but after Jason Terry tied the game with a 3, Dirk Nowitzki caught the ball baseline and pulled out one of his very Dirk-ish moves.

A subtle head fake and he went hard along the baseline for a big two-handed dunk to put Dallas up two. And to cap off the sequence, Tyson Chandler stepped in to take an important charge on LeBron James, wiping away what would've been a tying layup.

This was the first time Dallas had regained the lead after holding one for almost the entire game. The Heat had battled back to take a five-point lead after a 9-0 by Miami. But the Terry 3, then the Dirk dunk put the Mavs back on top for good and they finished it off 112-103 to take the all-pivotal Game 5 and a 3-2 series lead.

Posted by Royce Young

Maybe it's just Mario Chalmers' shot.

For the second time this series, Chalmers nailed a half court shot to end the first quarter. This one though, unlike Game 3's, was entirely legal.

The interesting thing about it is that Chalmers' shot gave the Heat their first 30-point quarter since Game 5 of the Boston series. That's 24 quarters that have passed since it happened, and it took a miracle 3 from Chalmers to get it done in this one. Pretty crazy.

Also pretty crazy: How good Chalmers evidently is at this shot.

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade suffered a hip contusion during Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals.

Miami Heat All-Star guard Dwyane Wade exited Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals with 2:58 remaining in the first quarter and the Dallas Mavericks leading the Heat, 23-19.

Wade exited for the Heat locker room and remained away from the bench for the duration of the first quarter. Shortly thereafter, the Heat reported that he suffered a "left hip contusion" and was "questionable" to return. 

The injury apparently occured when he drove to the basket and was fouled by Mavericks reserve center Brian Cardinal. Wade collided into Cardinal and then crashed to the ground, also contacting Mavericks guard Jason Terry on the way down. At the time of his exit, Wade's line was 8 points, 2 assists and one turnover. 

With 8:52 remaining in the second quarter, Wade returned to the court. Upon his re-entry to the game, Miami was leading, 40-38.

Update: Wade did not start the second half. Heat forward Mike Miller started in his place. He reentered the game with 4:29 remaining in the third quarter after receiving treatment in the Heat locker room. The Mavericks were leading when he returned, 75-71.

Here's video of the injury courtesy of YouTube user DailyThunder.



A "contusion" is simply a fancy name for a bruise. 

This post will update if any additional information becomes available.

Miami Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade apparently mock Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki for being sick. Posted by Ben Golliver.



Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki impressed just about everyone with his Game 4 performance, scoring the game-deciding basket and 21 points and 11 rebounds to even the series, 2-2.

Among those apparently left unimpressed? Miami Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

In the video below, shot by CBS Dallas, Wade and James are shown heading for the team bus after shootaround, laughing and covering their mouths with their shirts, as if to protect themselves from being sick.

Wade turns to James and says, "Did y'all hear me cough? Do you think I'm sick?"

Were they making light of all the headlines about Nowitzki's heroic performance or taking a shot at Nowitzki? I guess that's all a matter of perception, but the television broadcaster provides the Dallas perspective, saying, "Wade and James were mocking Dirk's sickness today."

Here's the video courtesy of YouTube user FrownsUpsideDown.



Hat tip: ESPN Dallas.

Posted by Matt Moore

Two days after playing just over three minutes in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, coach Rick Carlisle announced before Game 5 that Brendan Haywood would be inactive against the Heat.

In his place, the Mavericks will once again turn to inexperienced Ian Mahinmi in an attempt to control the offensive glass. Mahinmi struggled in Game 3, getting dunked on by LeBron James, missing a layup and turning in a foul-ridden performance. Mahinmi's primary responsibility is to take those fouls responsibly when necessary and just allow the Mavericks to survive long enough for Tyson Chandler to recover. Chandler will no doubt play over 40 minutes in Game 5. He was a beast in Game 4, dominating the offensive glass and helping the Mavericks control the paint as well as playing expert defense on the Heat's pick and rolls.

Carlisle joked with reporters pre-game, saying Caron Butler would be active in his stead, before saying "I'm just kidding" when all the reporters in the room just about wet themselves. Carlisle also joked about questions regarding Corey Brewer's playing time, after affirming that the young wing was ready to go, saying "I appreciate everybody asking about him, because, you know, he's obviously well thought of."

Rick Carlisle, such a kidder.

Join us at 9 p.m. EST for an NBA LiveChat. We'll have Ben Golliver and Matt Moore live at American Airlines Center in Dallas as the Heat and Mavericks struggle in what looks to be an epic Game 5 for control of the 2011 NBA Finals before the series shifts back to Miami. 

Topics will include:

• LeBron!
• LeBron!
• Dry rub or sauce?
• LeBron!
• And could DeShawn Stevenson be the first player with a face tattoo to ever win the NBA title?

Chat starts at 9 p.m. EST on CBSSports.com.

 

Posted by Matt Moore

DALLAS -- The Heat are not going to go into a pivotal (okay, more pivotal than the other pivotal games in the NBA Finals) Game 5 Thursday with the same gameplan they went into Game 3 with. It would be natural to look at a game they lost by a bucket and think they don't need adjustments. But head coach Erik Spoelstra laid out some of the things they planned on doing differently Thursday after shootaround. For starters, Spoelstra followed up on what we wrote about yesterday -- the issue the Heat are having of running up against the clock due to the pressure the Mavericks are putting on the Heat both on the inbounds after a bucket and at mid-court. Spoelstra said the Heat had worked in the last 36 hours on not letting the Mavericks get them into what Mike Miller termed "9-1-1 shots." 

"Something we definitely worked on was to get into our offense earlier against their pressure so we have more time to exploit those options," Spoesltra said.

The Heat have constantly run up against the shot clock, with James as primary ball-handler sometimes having to run sets with less than 13 seconds left. In that situation, when the Mavericks shut down the initial set, be it pick-and-roll or otherwise, the Heat are trying to reset and run a second set with less than six seconds. That results in long jumpers, contested shots, and turnovers. Some of that comes down to composure, some of that comes down to execution, but a lot of that comes down to simply creating more time to give themselves outs. It's like poker: Never go in without the best hand if you don't have outs. And against a Dallas defense primed and ready to attack the Heat's best hands in LeBron and Wade, they need those outs. 

Spoelstra also commented on the work the Mavericks did against the pick and roll and how they have to counter Dallas' efforts. 

"We have to have all five guys live," Spoelstra said, "and sometimes a quick pass out of that to exploit it on the weakside. The right thing to do sometimes is to be aggressive and try and get around two guys. We've seen virtually every kind of pick and roll coverage you can see throughout the course of the year. We just need to do it better and more efficiently."

James' struggles with the pick-and-roll largely come from two angles. One, he's largely rollling passively up and out to the high baseline, forcing a jump-pass which is a turnover-probable attempt. Second, while Wade's burst gets him to split the double, James has the added complication of creating contact with the fact that he's the size of a freaking truck. The concern is that this can result in a turnover on an offensive foul if the Mavericks step in and take the contact. James needs to pass quickly out of the double team to burn them for employing it and then his teammates need to knock down shots. On the second, James can't be concerned about it and has to force the officials to make an offensive foul call in Game 5 of the Finals against one of the league's biggest superstars. 

The Heat's ability to convert these adjustments will be what determines their success in Game 5. It's more than effort. It's adjustments.

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki should be good to go for Game 5. Posted by Ben Golliver. 

DALLAS -- Obviously, it didn't compare to Michael Jordan's "Flu Game," but Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki played very well despite being very sick during Game 4 of the 2011 NBA Finals on Tuesday night.

Nowitzki battled a 100+ degree temperature and was hacking and wheezing during his post-game press conference. Despite the sickness, Nowitzki finished with a team-high 21 points, 11 rebounds and one assist.

After taking it easy on Wednesday, it sounds like he should be good to go for Game 5 on Thursday.

Nowitzki said simply: "I feel great."

"He’s feeling better, which is important," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "That’s a plus for us."

Carlisle said the bumps and bruises wouldn't affect any of his players' availability. "We have a couple of other guys that are banged up. At this point, you play. You have to."

There is one exception: Carlisle said that center Brendan Haywood, who sat out Game 3 and was limited in Game 4 with a right hip flexor injury, will be officially listed as a game-time decision on Thursday night.

As per his custom, Carlisle wouldn't divulge his starting lineup or the members of his active roster until closer to game time.