This situation isn’t new to LeBron and Wade

“That’s about as tough a fourth quarter as you can have,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “When it started to slide, it just kept on going.”  Up 88-73 with a little more than seven minutes remaining in the final period, it looked like the Heat were on cruise control, eyeing a 2-0 lead.  When things start to go downhill, all that is needed to regain form or preserve a win is a couple of shots or a couple of stops – neither happened.  Thus, the Mavs did the unthinkable, storming back to rob game two in Miami, tying up the series 1-1; setting up the stage for three straight contests in Dallas.  We have a Finals on our hands, and the ratings tell us so.

“We didn’t play the way that we normally play, so they deserved it and we didn’t,” Dwayne Wade, who produced a game-high 36 points, said.  As much as Miami blew the game, much credit has to go to Dallas for playing a near flawless final seven minutes of basketball.  The last time a team overcame a 15+ point 4th-quarter deficit in the NBA Finals was June 14, 1992 in Chicago, when the Bulls came back to beat the Trail Blazers in Game 6 in Chicago.  That was the clincher, this however, was a game to get Dallas back into the series.  Right now, you can make a case for them being in the driver’s seat.  Let’s see if they can handle the pressure of being expected to win.

“There was no celebration at all,” LeBron James said. “I was excited about the fact that he hit a big shot and we went up 15.”  You cannot fault the Heat for getting giddy after going up 88-73.  I thought it was over, coach Spoe thought it was over, even Rick Carlisle knew it.  Though unexpected, there’s a feeling that the Mavs had something better for the Heat.  They delivered it.  The Mavs have now had their turning point, when and will the Heat have theirs?  I’m expected something special, and still haven’t seen it.  Well, I should say, I saw glimpses of it Thursday night, but it all went for nought.  Now’s not a time to get to emotionally invested of up and downs on a Finals.

“We’re a veteran team and we don’t get too high with the highs and too low with the lows,” Dirk Nowitzki, who led the Mavs with 24 points and made the game-winning left-handed lay-up, said.  So, the Heat were getting too high during the 15-point lead in the fourth quarter.  Pumping up the home crowd is nothing over the head.  From watching them all season long, they’re a team just like Dirk’s Mavs that doesn’t get too involved with the highs and lows of a game.  They have been there before.  Done that.  Now, it’s time to see how they respond to their most important challenge of the season.  We know they love playing on the road as the villains.

“We just didn’t execute down the stretch,” Chris Bosh said. “There’s no shock. There’s disappointment. But the reality is the reality. We might as well get used to it and focus on the next one.”  It’s been like this all season for the Heat.  They have went through disappointment, uninspired fourth quarters, and more importantly; losses just like this.  To think they cannot recover from the rocky closing moments of Game two is preposterous.  Now it’s time to rebound and move on to the next one, and that’s Game three in Dallas on Sunday at 8.  The reality of it all: we will find out soon if the “Heatles” are the superstar trio they have set themselves out to be.