Strong three-point shooting sparks Miami Heat

That’s five in a row for the Heat against the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. The Heat won four in a row against Dallas to win the 2006 Finals. Five years later, the Heat began the rematch with a 92-84 victory on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Heat is 9-0 at home this postseason and plays again at AmericanAirlines Arena on Thursday before traveling to Dallas for Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 2011 Finals. After struggling against the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals,

Dwyane Wade returned to his more familiar postseason form Tuesday. He had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his first NBA Finals game since winning the 2006 Finals MVP. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 27 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Wade’s fifth assist of the night led to a dunk by Chris Bosh with 1:08 to play to give the Heat a 10-point lead. Assist No. 6 for Wade came less than a minute later when he found LeBron James for an alley-oop. James, who needs three more victories for his first NBA championship, screamed to the crowd and slammed his left fist against his chest. He scored a team-high 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Wade put the Heat ahead by nine points with 3:06 to play when he swished his second three-pointer of the game. Moments earlier, Wade blocked Shawn Marion’s midrange attempt to trigger a fast break. Wade’s three in transition was the Heat’s 11th of the game. Entering the Finals, conventional wisdom said the Mavericks’ stable of sharpshooters gave Dallas a distinct advantage from three-point range. That was not the case in Game 1. The Heat was 45.8 percent from three-point range compared to 40.9 percent for the Mavericks. James’ first exclamation point on the 1-0 Finals lead came after a powerful crossover against Shawn Marion. James followed with a driving dunk and was fouled by Marion. He converted the free throw to give the Heat an 85-75 lead with 2:48 to play. With three seven-footers in its rotation, Dallas entered Tuesday’s series opener with plans of dominating the glass. Instead, the shorter and quicker Eastern Conference champions consistently beat the Mavericks to loose balls and missed shots. Miami outrebounded Dallas 46-36, including 16 in offensive rebounds. Dallas had six. Mike Miller, playing with a protective sleeve over his left arm, pulled down a key offensive rebound with less than seven minutes in the game. The second-chance situation gave Udonis Haslem a clear path to the rim, which he converted into a three-point play to put the Heat ahead by six points with 6:36 to play. Haslem finished with seven points and six rebounds in 28 minutes. The Heat trailed the entire third quarter until James drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:09 left in the period. The shot gave the Heat a 60-59 lead after trailing by nine points early the second half. Dallas began the third quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 51-43 lead. Juwan Howard, who returned to the postseason rotation to play important minutes against the Mavs’ large frontcourt, made a pair of free throws with 32.1 seconds left in the third quarter, setting the stage for James’ buzzer-beating skills. Howard logged eight minutes Tuesday and had three rebounds. James has performed well in the clutch throughout the playoffs and did so again at the end of the quarter when he nailed a turnaround three-pointer with time expiring to give the Heat a four-point lead to begin the fourth quarter. James was 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range in the third quarter, which was the continuation of a trend for the Heat. The first 36 minutes of Game 1 offered one of Miami’s best three-point shooting efforts of the postseason (9 of 21 for 42.9 percent). James entered the fourth quarter 4 of 4 from behind the arc, and reserve Mario Chalmers went 3 of 3 from that distance in the second quarter. Miller made his second three-pointer of the game to begin the Heat’s fourth quarter scoring. It gave the Heat a 68-63 lead with 11 minutes to play. It was just enough of a cushion to hold off the Mavericks, who cut the Heat’s lead to three points with less than four minutes remaining but never got any closer.

NBA Playoffs: Roy Lifts Blazers to Game 4 Comeback

As comebacks go, this one was epic.

In more ways than one.

Brandon Roy(notes) bounced back from a rough start to Portland's first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks with 24 points, and the Trail Blazers rallied from a 23-point third-quarter deficit to tie the series at two games apiece with a thrilling 84-82 victory over the Mavs on Saturday in Portland.

The series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5, which tips off at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 25.

Portland's shooting was miserable in the third quarter, as the Blazers failed to hit a field goal until LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) connected on a hook shot with 1:31 left.

Portland trailed 67-44 after Peja Stojakovic's(notes) 3-pointer with 1:15 left in the third, but the Blazers cut the deficit to 18 entering the fourth, Roy's 3-pointer with 1 second left in the quarter making the score 67-49.

Roy was just getting started at that point.

The guard, who struggled mightily in the first two games of the series and voiced his frustration after playing less than eight minutes in Game 2, scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead Portland's comeback.

Roy scored Portland's final eight points of the game, converting a 4-point play after he was fouled by Shawn Marion(notes) on a 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining. He hit the free throw to tie the score at 82, and after Jason Terry(notes) missed a 3-point attempt at the other end, Roy drove to the hoop, pulled up over Marion and banked in a shot off the glass from just inside the free-throw line for the game-winning basket with 39.2 seconds left.

Jason Kidd(notes) and Terry each had 3-point attempts for Dallas in the final 30 seconds, Terry's shot at the buzzer just missing to preserve the win for Portland.

After Terry's miss, Roy was swarmed by his teammates and cheered loudly by the Rose Garden crowd. He's battled an up-and-down stretch since returning to the team on February 23 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on both knees in January, his struggles coming to a head after Game 2 in Dallas, when Roy logged less than eight minutes of playing time and went 0-for-1 from the field and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line in the Mavericks' 101-89 victory.

A frustrated Roy said afterward he was hurt and disappointed over not being used more in the game. The next day, he apologized to teammates for putting himself ahead of the team, and Roy went out and scored 16 points in 24 minutes off the bench to help Portland win Game 3, 97-92.

If his performance in Game 3 seemed to be a comeback of sorts for Roy, it was nothing compared with what he did in Game 4.

Roy's late outburst Saturday helped the Blazers become just the third team since the shot clock was introduced in 1954 to win a playoff game after trailing by 18 points or more entering the fourth quarter.

The Blazers had hit just three field goals in the third quarter, as Dallas took what appeared to be an insurmountable lead by starting the second half with a 27-6 run. The Rose Garden crowd, loud and boisterous throughout the first half, was virtually silent at that point, but after missing their first 15 field-goal attempts and scoring just seven points in the first 10:30 of the quarter, the Blazers tallied seven more points in the final 1:30, showing a little bit of life heading into the fourth.

A 10-2 Portland run got the Blazers within nine at 75-66 with 5:39 remaining, and after a pair of Dirk Nowitzki(notes) free throws, Portland rattled off a 12-2 run to make it 80-78 Dallas with 1:36 left on a jump shot by Roy.

Marion scored at the other end to put the Mavericks back up by four at 82-78, then Roy scored the game's final six points to give Portland the victory.

Roy went 9-for-13 from the field, and also had four rebounds and five assists for the Blazers. After going a combined 1-for-8 from the field in the first two games of the series, Roy has hit 65 percent (15-for-23) from the field combined in Games 3 and 4.

Aldridge had 18 points, Andre Miller(notes) scored 14 and Gerald Wallace(notes) had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Nowitzki led Dallas with 20 points, as the Mavericks went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line compared with 22-for-23 by the Blazers. Terry had 13 points and Marion 12 for the Mavs.

(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers

(All times Eastern)

Game 1: Dallas 89, Portland 81

Game 2: Dallas 101, Portland 89

Game 3: Portland 97, Dallas 92

Game 4: Portland 84, Dallas 82

Game 5: Monday, April 25 — Portland at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. (NBA TV)

Game 6: Thursday, April 28 — Dallas at Portland, 10 p.m.

Game 7: Saturday, April 30 — Portland at Dallas*, TBD