If they keep slowing down Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat the way they did in the first two games of this series, the Dallas Mavericks will be returning home as NBA champions.
O'Neal and the Heat have many adjustments to make if they want to join the Mavericks back in Dallas, going into Game 3 of the NBA finals needing to quickly turn things around or see their season come within one game of ending very abruptly.
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"This series is far from over," Miami's Antoine Walker said. "We know that, and hopefully they know that. We're a veteran group of guys. A lot of us have worked our whole career to get to this point, and we ain't going to lay down now."
It almost looked like the Heat did Sunday. O'Neal set career playoff lows with five points, two field goals made and only five attempted before sitting out the final 15 minutes, watching the Mavericks roll to a 99-85 victory to take a 2-0 series lead.
Only Boston in 1969 and Portland in 1977 have rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win the finals. No NBA team has won a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.
"We feel that this is an opportunity for us," Dallas' Jerry Stackhouse said. "We want to do all we can to prepare ourselves to be able to fulfill a dream of ours, and fulfill the dream of our city. We're one more step closer to that."
The next three games will be in Miami, assuming the Heat force a Game 5, but even that appears to be in question after the Mavs dominated the first two contests, particularly Game 2.
That game was never very close in the second half and the final score was not indicative of how easily Dallas won. Stackhouse scored 10 of his 19 points in a 79-second stretch, highlighted by a four-point play, during the Mavs' 27-6 run to close the first half, essentially finishing the Heat.
"We haven't really done anything," said Dirk Nowitzki, who had 26 points and 16 rebounds. "We won two games at home. We know they are a different animal at home. Shaq and Dwyane (Wade), they are going to get their troops ready to play."
O'Neal, fined $10,000 for not speaking to the media after Sunday's loss, had failed to score in double digits just twice in 189 previous playoff games. As they did in Game 1 when the superstar center took only 11 shots and was held to 17 points, the Mavericks consistently double-teamed O'Neal and sometimes tripled him when the ball reached his hands in the post.
Instead of finding ways to score through the pressure, the 34-year-old O'Neal constantly passed out of the double team, sometimes even a bit before the extra defender arrived. His teammates failed to provide enough help, including a combined 4-of-14 effort from point guards Jason Williams and Gary Payton.
"(O'Neal) can't be as dominant as he wants to be right now," said Wade, who had 23 points but went 6-for-19 from the field. "He's been in this situation more than anybody, so I'm sure we'll bounce back."
O'Neal also isn't helping himself with foul shooting. He went 1-for-7 at the free-throw line on Sunday after going 1-for-9 in Game 1.
While Miami is 27-for-51 (53 percent) at the foul line in this series, Dallas has gone 43-for-54 (80 percent) and Nowitzki has hit 16-of-17.
"Free throws are killing us," said Walker, possibly the only Miami player off to a good start in this series with a combined 37 points.
The Heat also are struggling defensively against Dallas' versatile perimeter players, including Stackhouse, Josh Howard and Jason Terry. Howard had a double-double in Game 1 despite struggling with his shot, but looked better in Game 2 with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
When Howard and Nowitzki were off in Game 1, Terry led Dallas to a 90-80 victory as he scored 32 points. Terry came back with a solid Game 2, scoring 16 points and handing out nine assists.
Miami's defensive effort will be made that much tougher if Udonis Haslem isn't at full strength. Haslem, the best defender the Heat can throw at Nowitzki, injured his left shoulder in the third quarter of Game 2 and did not return.
Haslem, though, said he'll play in Game 3 as the Heat try to end a six-game losing streak to the Mavericks. Dallas has won 12 of the last 14 meetings overall, including five of six in Miami.
"They did what they had to do at home," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "We'll have to play the game a lot better than we played it here in Dallas. Whatever adjustments we make ... are going to have to work."
Game 4 is Thursday.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Mavericks - 4th seed, Western Conference; beat Memphis Grizzlies 4-0, first round; beat San Antonio Spurs 4-3, semifinals; beat Phoenix Suns 4-2, finals. Heat - 2nd seed, Eastern Conference; beat Chicago Bulls 4-2, first round; beat New Jersey Nets 4-1, semifinals; beat Detroit Pistons 4-2, finals.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Mavericks - F Howard, F Nowitzki, C DeSagana Diop, G Adrian Griffin, G Terry. Heat - F Walker, F Haslem, C O'Neal, G Williams, G Wade.
PLAYOFF TEAM LEADERS: Mavericks - Nowitzki, 27.6 ppg and 12.0 rpg; Terry, 4.0 apg. Heat - Wade, 26.2 ppg and 6.2 apg; O'Neal, 9.3 rpg.
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Originally Posted by Artis Gilmore
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