Miami – Since the NBA Finals began in 1947, there may not have been a more thorough collapse than the Dallas Mavericks’ breakdown in the fourth quarter Tuesday night.
The Mavericks blew a 13-point lead with 6:34 remaining in Game 3 of the Finals and suffered a 98-96 loss to the Miami Heat at AmericanAirlines Arena. The NBA and Elias Sports Bureau weren’t able to produce any statistic to show that big a lead being lost in that short a time in the fourth quarter.
“We always feel we can come back,” said Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who tied a career playoff high with 42 points and had a postseason-high 13 rebounds. “We’ve done it so many times.”
The Mavericks also wasted a chance to lead 3-0 in the best- of-seven series. No team in NBA history has recovered from that deficit.
Instead, the Heat can tie the series Thursday at home.
“We just had a really bad fourth quarter,” Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. “That’s what’s really disappointing.”
The Heat entered the fourth quarter – basically the most important quarter of its season – down 77-68. The white-clad crowd groaned as Jason Terry’s 16-foot jumper gave Dallas an 89-76 lead with 6:34 remaining. But while some fans headed for the exits, the Heat didn’t quit.
“I’ve been around 40 years,” Miami coach Pat Riley said. “I know when they look around they look up and say, ‘This doesn’t look very good.’ But you’ve got to keep trying to get them to dig, to dig, to dig.”
Down 93-88 with 1:48 left, Shaquille O’Neal was on his way to the free-throw line. The three-time Finals MVP entered the game shooting 2-for-16 from the line in this series and 2-for-4 in this contest. But O’Neal sank both to trim the Heat’s deficit to three.
“I just went back to the way I used to shoot it when I was in high school,” O’Neal said. “I got in trouble, say about ’94, ’95, just listening to people. And I was just trying to do things different.”
After a Dallas turnover, Wade made a 20-foot jumper with 1:16 left to get Miami within one point, at 93-92. After making a steal and getting fouled, Udonis Haslem sank two free throws with 1:03 left to give Miami the lead at 94-93, re-energize the crowd and force the Mavericks to take a timeout.
James Posey made 1-of-2 free throws with 42.8 seconds left and the Mavericks trailed by two. Dallas’ Devin Harris made a layup with 33.5 seconds left to tie the game. But Miami’s Gary Payton picked the perfect time to take – and make – his first shot, a 21-foot jumper with 9.3 seconds left to give Miami a 97-95 lead.
“You just have to stay focused,” Payton said. “My mind-set was focused.”
O’Neal was more clutch from the free-throw line than sharp-shooting Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a team-high 30 points. With 3.4 seconds left, Nowitzki went to the free-throw line with Dallas down two.
Nowitzki, who was fourth in the NBA in free-throw percentage during the regular season, walked to the charity stripe having made 9-of-10 attempts. But after making the first, Nowitzki missed the second and Dallas trailed 97-96.
“It was just a free throw that I usually make,” Nowitzki said. “I don’t know what happened. I just shot it a little strong.”
Wade made 1-of-2 free throws with 1.4 seconds left for a 98-96 lead. With one second remaining, the Mavericks tried an out-of-bounds alley-oop from Nowitzki to Josh Howard. But Wade blocked the pass, sealing possibly the greatest fourth- quarter comeback in Finals history.
“We just couldn’t get anything offensively going in the fourth quarter,” said Johnson, whose team was outscored 30-19 in the fourth. “So give them some credit.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
