Nowitzki’s Mavericks move to brink of title

DALLAS (AP) ― Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points, driving for the go-ahead dunk with 2:45 remaining, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 112-103 on Thursday to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA finals.

Five years after going up 2-0 on the Heat, the Mavs finally got that elusive third victory, and can wrap up their first championship in Game 6 at Miami on Sunday.

“We’re a very resilient team, you know that,” guard Jason Terry said. “We’ve been in tough battles all playoffs long. It’s not going to stop. It’s going to get even harder. But we’re ready. We’re determined, and this is our time.”

Miami’s LeBron James, who called this game “now or never,” responded from his worst playoff performance with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Dwyane Wade battled through a sore left hip after a first-quarter collision to finish with 23 points.

The Heat get the final two games at home, but history is against them as they try to win a title in their first season together: In the 26 previous times finals that were tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner won 19 of them.

The Mavs shot 60 percent through three quarters, briefly gave up the lead in the fourth, then controlled the final few minutes, just as they had in thrilling comebacks in Games 2 and 4.

This time, they got to play from ahead thanks to some sizzling shooting: 56.5 percent from the field, including 13 of 19 (68 percent) from 3-point range.

“We made more shots,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “We did a lot of good things defensively, which led to good offense. ... You never know when the games are going to go that way. The thing we’ve got to do is we’ve got to make sure our defense is consistent.”

Jason Terry scored 21 points and J.J. Barea had 17 for the Mavs, with Nowitzki briefly throwing both arms in the air as he walked off the court surrounded by a sea of blue fans who hope he’ll bring home a championship trophy if they can pull out another victory in Miami.

James scored eight points, going just 3 of 11 in Game 4, the first time in 90 postseason games he didn’t hit double figures. It’s been a rough first finals in Miami for James, who has been accused of everything from “shrinking” to “checking out” in the fourth quarters, when he had just nine points through the first four games.

Trying to pump himself up, James wrote “Now or Never!!” on his Twitter page early Thursday morning, later calling this the biggest game of his career.

But they feel the same urgency in Dallas, where the slogan “The Time is Now” is printed on those blue T-shirts that surround the court, and where the Mavs are loaded with 30-somethings ― late 30s, in Jason Kidd’s case ― who could be on their last shot at an NBA title.

Nowitzki said early Thursday he felt “great,” having shaken his fever of Monday night. This time, the health concern was Wade, who banged his hip in the first quarter and appeared to be limping at various points from there.

He remained in the locker room to start the second half, coming back onto the floor about the midway point of the period. By then, the Mavs seemed in too good a groove to be cooled off no matter who Miami had out there.

A disgusted Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was already walking onto the court to call time out by the time Chandler went up to dunk after catching the ball all alone under the basket, giving Dallas a nine-point lead that matched its largest of the series. Miami trimmed it to 84-79 after three quarters, then stormed into the lead midway through the fourth with a 9-0 run, all layups, dunks and free throws until Wade’s 3-pointer made it 99-95 with 4:38 to play.

The Mavs tied it at 100 on Terry’s 3-pointer with 3:23 left, and after James missed, Nowitzki drove for a baseline dunk and a 102-100 lead with 2:45 to go. James was called for an offensive foul and missed a 3-pointer on Miami’s next two possessions before Kidd drilled a 3-pointer to make it 105-100, sending the crowd into a delirious chant of “Beat the Heat! Beat the Heat!”