Dwade Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh all celebrated exuberantly after their exciting brand of basketball led them to a 15 point lead late in the fourth quarter of Game 2 versus the Dallas Mavericks. After Wade hit a seemingly ‘nail in the coffin’ three-pointer and left both hands up, posing for the cameras and fans, Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki decided he’d seen enough.
Nowitzki fueled a furious 22-5 fourth-quarter run by the Mavs, including a game-winning, left-handed layup with three seconds remaining, to pull one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history.
The Miami Heat and its fans were stunned. Both Wade and James vehemently denied their celebrations had anything to do with the fourth-quarter collapse.
“A ‘celebration’ is confetti, champagne bottles. There was no celebration … Don’t make nothing out of that ‘celebration,’ like you guys did in the Boston series,” said Wade. “It had nothing to do with the outcome of the game for us.”
Regardless of what motivated the Mavericks, they managed to even the series at 1-1 behind Nowitzki’s 24 points and 11 rebounds. He got plenty of help from Shawn Marion (20 points, 8 rebounds) and reserve Jason Terry (16 points).
For the Heat, two of the ‘Big Three’ had strong outings, despite the loss. Wade led all scorers with 36 points and James added 20 points and 8 rebounds. However, neither was much of a factor down the stretch.
Game 3 is scheduled for Sunday in Dallas.
