MIAMI — With just one tick left on the clock, Dwyane Wade tipped away Dallas' final, futile attempt.

Of course he did. On this night, there wasn't anything stopping him.

Wade, plagued by foul trouble and slowed by a sore left knee, scored 42 points — 15 in the fourth quarter — to rally the Miami Heat to a 98-96 win over the Mavericks on Tuesday night in Game 3 of an NBA finals that seemed to be over with 6:34 remaining.

That's when Dallas had a 13-point lead and appeared to be on its way to a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Wade had other ideas.

"At that moment, I was looking up at the score thinking, 'No, I ain't going out like this.' We didn't want to go down 3-0, man. You just try to do what you can to help get your team get over the hump."

Consider it cleared.

Oh, and Game 5? Drop the if. It's necessary.

Showing off his full offensive arsenal in the biggest game of his young career, Wade single-handedly saved Miami's season. Despite picking up his fifth personal foul with 10:56 to play, Wade kept himself on the floor and kept the Heat in the series.

"As a team, we just came out and said this could be the season if they win this game," Wade said. "We came out, ran our offense to the crisp, locked down on defense and came back and won this game."

Dallas still had plenty of chances late, but Dirk Nowitzki missed one of two free throws with 3.4 seconds to go and the Mavericks couldn't convert on an inbounds play in the final second thanks to Wade.

"I had a chance to tie it, I just missed the free throw," Nowitzki said. "That's just a free throw I usually make. I don't know what happened. I just shot it a little strong."

When the final horn sounded, Heat fans simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated, tossed their "White Hot" white T-shirts and seat covers into the air, a celebration that seemed unimaginable just a few minutes earlier.

Now, after watching Wade's heroics, Shaquille O'Neal and Udonis Haslem make four crucial free throws in the final two minutes and the second-largest fourth-quarter rally in NBA finals history, they're coming back for Game 4 on Thursday.

"We had 2Z\x horrible games and now we can use this momentum and pick it up and just try to win four," said O'Neal, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds, atoning for a miserable five-point performance in Game 2.

Miami was down and almost done after Jason Terry's basket made it 89-76 with 6:34 remaining.

That's when Wade, conjuring memories of Michael Jordan's playoff miracles, took over.

First, he banked in a 14-foot jumper. Then he completed a three-point play and drilled a 17-footer to bring the Heat within five. Then, after a miss by Nowitzki, Wade drove the baseline, hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity, adjusted the ball in flight and hit a floater to make it 91-88 with 3:36 to go.

Dallas, meanwhile, which had shown so much poise through 3Z\x quarters, was coming apart. They rushed shots, missed others and blew a game they may later regret giving away.