MIAMI — Nobody does premature jubilation like the Miami Heat. At least nobody gets slammed for it publicly quite like Miami does when the Heat players let their hair down and unleash a primal scream or two.
Remember the public pep rally to introduce the superfriends last July? Oh, how Basketball America hated that night.
How about the sloppy hugfest that followed a second- round series win over the Boston Celtics? Too soon, the national media said.
The Heat’s latest crime came late Thursday night with the extended hoo-hah following Dwyane Wade’s 3-pointer with a little over seven minutes to play.
That ear-splitting sendup at AmericanAirlines Arena seemed to push the Dallas Mavericks’ buttons.
“What’s all the music and the dancing and all that kind of stuff?” Mavericks center Tyson Chandler recalled thinking after his team fell behind by 15 points. “I looked up and said, ‘Is the game over?’ “
Hardly.
One of the great comebacks in NBA Finals history was just getting started.
And get this: Plenty of folks outside South Florida are blaming the Heat and its home fans for igniting that 22-5 Mavericks run to the final buzzer.
“It was a turning point in the game,” Mavericks guard Jason Terry said. “Seeing them celebrate like that, man, it really was disheartening for us.”
OK, so Wade did strike a pose with his shooting hand that made you wonder if Madame Tussauds had opened a Miami location.
And, yes, he did that directly in front of the Mavericks bench, clearly pleased with what turned out to be his 36th and final points of the night.
A Dallas timeout — and the accompanying, drawn-out call from PA man Michael Baiamonte — only added to the moment.
LeBron James rushed over to deliver a mock three-punch combination to Wade’s chest.
Again, right in the front of the visitors’ bench.
But that was it. Really.
“There was no celebration,” Wade said. “A celebration is confetti, champagne bottles.”
Said James, “It was no celebration at all. I was excited about the fact that (Wade) hit a big shot and we went up 15. The same thing we’ve done over the course of the season.”
Ah, but this is the Heat we’re talking about. Public enemies of basketball purists everywhere.
Whipping boys of every blogger and washed-up NBA player-turned-broadcaster.
Surely, the great-great- great-grandson of Dr. James Naismith has a dartboard with James’ face on it.
“As far as celebration,” James said, “that word has been used with us all year.”
And it will be used for the rest of this series, especially if the Heat winds up losing.
