The Dallas Mavericks will head to Miami with two chances to take the NBA championship after winning game 5 112-103 to take a 3-2 series lead. In another close contest, Dallas got away to a 9 point lead late in the third quarter before a Miami Heat surge in the fourth saw them take a 99-95 lead to the distress of the Dallas crowd. However, the Mavericks again stepped up under pressure at the business end, continuing to make 3-pointers (as they had done all night - 13 of 19) through the Jasons, Kidd and Terry, while Dirk Nowitzki continued to make clutch throws, finishing with 29 points. Terry had a big game finishing with 21 while Barea also provided crucial support with 17.
For the Heat, an injury to Dwyane Wade stripped him of court time, although he led their scoring with 23 after coming back to the court to spark their 4th quarter resurgence, while Bosh had 19 and LeBron James 17. James faced plenty of questions and accusations after his 8-point effort in game 4, and responded with a triple-double, but only contributed two-points in the last quarter to have just 11 last quarter points in the five finals matches. Once again, the Mav's old-timers had too much composure when the stakes were highest, and probably too much depth, although Haslem and Chalmers registered double-figure points tonight.
The Heat certainly have the firepower to win the last two games at home, but whether they can deal with the pressure remains to be seen. While LeBron was better tonight, he will need to be better again in Miami, otherwise Wade might be left with too much to do.
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