DALLAS — As exciting as it is to watch Dirk Nowitzki make shot after shot in the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks don’t want to keep doing that.
Nowitzki needs help — from someone. Anyone.
The supporting cast that helped carry Nowitzki and the Mavericks into the NBA Finals has shriveled under the pressure of this stage, the defense of the Miami Heat or a little of both.
The Mavs trail 2-1 going into Game 4 tonight mainly because they aren’t scoring enough. Their average of 88.3 points per game is down 11.4 from the previous three rounds.
Nowitzki is contributing 28.3 points, almost exactly his postseason average coming in. The dropoff is everywhere else, especially among the three guys who are supposed to provide instant offense from the bench: Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Peja Stojakovic.
Terry’s slump hurts the most.
He and Nowitzki were among the league’s top fourth-quarter scoring tandems this season. The Heat threw that off with the surprise move of having 6-foot-8 LeBron James cover the 6-foot-2 Terry. He was shut out in the fourth quarters of Game 1 and 3, the ones Dallas lost.
Terry was a big part of the Mavericks’ winning rally in Game 2, scoring the first six points in a 22-5 surge and eight overall. In Game 3, when Nowitzki scored Dallas’ final 12 points, Terry went 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter, including a 21-footer with the game tied in the final minute.
“Jet (Terry’s nickname) hasn’t really been a crunch-time, clutch player for us the way we need him to,” Nowitzki said Monday. “We have to find a way to get Jet some freedom and get him off some movement, and he’s got to make some shots for us.”
On Monday, Terry vowed that if he again gets the same shots he missed down the stretch in Game 3, “I bet I make them.”
Perhaps tempting fate, Terry also questioned whether James “can defend me like that for seven games” and claimed that first-round foe Portland played better defense than Miami. He also said that if Dallas can score 100 points, “they can’t beat us.”
“I’m going to tell you this: we will be there in Game 4,” Terry said. “I’m ready for the challenge.”
Miami is flustering Dallas with its combination of active, long-armed defenders who seem to always be in the right place at the right time. The Heat is always charging at shooters, making them fire quickly or opt to pass.
“I think our ability to spread the floor and shoot is a big reason why we made it to the Finals,” Nowitzki said. “We just looked at the film. We had some opportunities. . . . And if we get those opportunities, we got to make the most out of it.”
