It’s only one game apiece and before it’s all over, one team and its city will have to swallow even harder than Miami did following Game 2.
That giant gulp you heard was the city of Miami and the Heat basketball team. Why, because the loss in Game 2 was a tough one to swallow.
The Heat led the Dallas Mavericks by 15 points with just over seven minutes to go in the game and let the lead evaporate, allowing the Mavericks to register the first fourth quarter comeback of 15 points in finals history, since Michael Jordan's Bulls turned the trick in 1992
It's nothing strange to Mavericks supporters who witnessed their squad claw back from a seemingly insurmountable final period deficit for the fourth time in the playoffs. Just ask the Lakers (twice), Oklahoma City, it can be done.
So was it more of a collapse by the Heat or comeback by the Mavericks?
Well, a little bit of both.
The seven plus minutes of the final quarter revealed what the Heat squad, as this scribbler thought, would have problems against Boston and Chicago. It's the Heat team that doesn't move the ball and just tosses it to LeBron James or Dwayne Wade and says make a play.
After 20 assists on their 31 field goals in Game 1, the Heat had only 13 in Game 2 and mind you they had 20 assists in the form of Mavericks turnovers.
During the waning minutes of game two, there were few miscues from the Mavericks when they had the ball and the Heat shot itself out of the lead.
Here's the anatomy of the collapse, no ball movement, jump shots, jump shots, and more jump shots. The Heat were 5 of 18 from the field in the fourth quarter with 11 of those 18 attempts from behind the arc.
In the final seven minutes, the Heat made one more field goal than a dead man going 1 of 11 with the average distance of each jumper they launched just inside 21 feet, those are the cold hard numbers but there was a qualitative element to the collapse as well.
Although the Heat will not admit it, when Dwayne Wade knocked down the three point shot to put Miami up 15 points, he did Madonna proud and struck the pose.
However it lasted just a bit too long and that angered the Mavericks and it may have provided just the spark that they needed
But with the game winding down and the score tied, the Heat had one last chance to stop the Mavericks best player, Dirk Nowitzki, when he had the ball.
Although Udonis Haslem was on the floor, it was Chris Bosh guarding Nowitzki and the Heat chose not to double team him and take the ball out of his hands forcing someone else to beat them.
To make matters worse, the Heat had a foul to give and with Nowitzki expecting the foul and Heat assistant coach Ron Rothstein calling for the team to foul (watch in the background of the video) they didn't and Nowitzki who goes left about 70 per cent of the time, drove to the hoop for the winning bucket.
To chronicle the comeback for the Mavericks, it was pretty simple. Amped up by the Heats posturing as if they had just taken a 2-0 lead, they made 9 of their last 12 shots and stopped turning the ball over.
While the Heat was heaving from a distance, the Mavericks were knocking down shots that were on average, about 11 feet away.
So what happens in Game 3?
Well if the Mavericks can cut down on its turnovers and keep the pace at a reasonable tempo they have a chance to win the ever important Game 3.
In the 2-3-2 format of the NBA Finals, when the series is tied at one apiece, the team that has won Game 3 has won the title in every instance (11-0).
For the Heat to come out victorious, they need to move the ball and have better shot selection as over the course of the series the Heat have taken more three point shots than free throw attempts.
After Game 1, where the Heat went 11 of 24 from distance and raised eyebrows with its efficiency, some cautioned the Heat that if they were going to depend on deep three's they would ultimately not be successful.
Shooting 9 of 30 from three-point range in Game 2 may have validated those thoughts.
Finally, in each of its four playoff losses this season the Heat have been beaten on the glass, they'll need to be more consistent in that area.
So there is a lot to watch for in Game 3 with some subplots that may continue.
Can the Mavericks rebound to keep the tempo quick enough, with out turning it over, so the Heat can't always play them with a set five man defence?
What will the play of the respective benches contribute?
Will Shawn Marion continue to score with regularity helping the Mavericks offence and when might we see James guard Nowitzki, as currently he is trying to keep the Mavericks other threat Jason Terry in check?
It's only one game apiece and before it's all over, one team and its city will have to swallow even harder than Miami did following Game 2.
