Heat is on for Dallas
MIAMI — Draped in white paper streamers that rained down from the ceiling, the Miami Heat hugged and danced their way off the floor following a win to remember.
Not far away, the Dallas Mavericks and their feisty owner were kicking, screaming and fighting mad.
These NBA finals certainly haven't been lacking for any drama. And they're not over yet, either.
Dwyane Wade scored 43 points, the last on a free throw with 1.9 seconds left in overtime after Dallas' Josh Howard asked for an untimely timeout, and the Heat won their third straight game in this homey and heated series, 101-100 over the Mavericks on Sunday for a 3-2 lead.
Wade's latest virtuoso performance — he's averaging 40.3 points in the past three games — sent the evenly matched teams to Dallas for Game 6 on Tuesday night. Game 7, if necessary, will be Thursday night.
When the Mavericks' final shot — because of Howard's error, all they could manage was a half-court heave by Devin Harris — went over the backboard, AmericanAirlines Arena, hosting its final game of the season, erupted in cheers and some chaos.
"We can smell it," Wade said. "Dallas plays well at home but we are a confident bunch so we'll see what happens."
As the Heat were celebrating the biggest win in franchise history, Dallas owner Mark Cuban stormed onto the floor, complaining about a non-call against Wade a few other plays in the final seconds.
Cuban, wearing a blue jersey bearing the name of suspended Dallas reserve Jerry Stackhouse, stood with his hands on his hips in disbelief as the Mavericks headed to the locker room to begin getting ready for Game 6.
All the Mavericks were hot, especially Dirk Nowitzki, who first punted the ball into the stands and then kicked a stationary bike in a hallway before turning his anger on anything in his way.
Afterward, Dallas coach Avery Johnson, already in a foul mood because of Stackhouse's suspension, was combative with the media and spent several awkward minutes avoiding questions about the now infamous timeout.
Wade made 21 of 25 free throws, matching Dallas' total, and came through again when the Heat needed their shooting star most.
After Nowitzki's jumper with 9.1 seconds to go gave the Mavericks 100-99 lead, Wade took an inbounds pass wove and dribbled his way seemingly all over South Florida — the Mavericks thought he pushed off and committed a backcourt violation — before he fouled on a drive to the basket by Nowitzki.
Wade made the first, and the officials awarded Dallas a timeout even though Johnson was arguing that he didn't want one until Wade's second attempt. The crew of Joe DeRosa, Joey Crawford and Bennett Salvatore huddled and decided the Mavs had asked for a timeout and gave them their last one.
"We gave the signal, 'Second free throw, timeout.' One of our players was saying timeout. I said, 'Yeah, after the second one,"' Johnson said.
Crawford, the crew chief, speaking for the officials, said: "Josh Howard goes to Joe DeRosa and not only once, but twice asks for timeout. Forced to call it, simple as that."
The timeout took away Dallas' ability to inbounds the ball at halfcourt, costing them 45 precious feet. Wade then knocked down his second free throw, and when Harris' shot was way off, this series had its latest controversy.
"Avery was trying to tell his guys after two, but one of them called it," Heat forward Antoine Walker said. "And once you call it you can't take it back."
After the Mavericks left the floor, Cuban continued to scream at DeRosa, then went to the scorer's table and stared at NBA commissioner David Stern.
