NBA Finals, Game 3: Miami 98 - Dallas 96

Game 3 of the NBA Finals finally delivered some of the intensity that one would expect from a championship series. Miami and Dallas traded blow for blow for much of the first half, with Miami maintaining the lead. But Dallas, pulling ahead in the third period thanks to a 34-16 jolt, began to take charge of the game.

In the end, the Heat turned themselves up (bad pun fully intended, and delivered with shameless enthusiasm), and managed to stay alive and avoid a generally insurmountable 3-0 series deficit.

For the outsider, it's probably hard to decide who to root for (that is, if the outsider is watching at all). Both teams are in the Finals for the first time. Pat Riley returned to coaching after Stan Van Gundy resigned in December, and Dallas coach Avery Johnson is enjoying not only a banner first season, but has the Coach of the Year trophy to prove it. And upon his arrival to Miami, Shaquille O'Neal promised the city and team an NBA championship, with all the confidence of Babe Ruth calling a home run.

But up until now it's been fairly lopsided.

Let's talk about game 2 for just a second. It was a clean spanking delivered to Miami, with no room left for argument. That's to be expected, to some degree, as Dallas was completing the second home game of their first ever Finals series.

Now back in Miami, the Heat need to reclaim some lost ground. Although barely eeking by, they turned around a fourth quarter deficit to deliver a win when it was needed most. This is a welcome sign for anyone following the Eastern Conference, as Shaq's measly 5 points in game 2, the result of dismal shooting, was a large part of the blame for the Heat loss.

But this best-of-7 series is now far from over, as Miami proves they can match the solid defense of Dallas, while allowing Wade to run the floor.

Dwyane Wade handily led Miami with 42 points... but unfortunately Shaq led with 7 turnovers, which was part of the Heat's undoing in the first three periods. A 12-2 run in the final minutes of the game brought them within 3 points of tying it back up, before the two teams hammered it out up until the final second of play, where Nowitzki's alley oop pass attempt to tie the game was blocked before the buzzer sounded.

The great thing about the fast pace of basketball is that no lead is insurmountable until the very end. Miami was up by 10 points at the half, Dallas was up by 13 points in the fourth... and all it takes is a run, and defense not getting rebounds for it to disappear. Game 3 was a great example of the energy you'd expect to find in a Finals match-up.

Dallas still appears to have the upper hand, as a narrow victory by the Heat was hard fought. Miami will need to tighten up their offense and not allow so many turnovers, in order to even the series before it returns to Dallas.

Article Author: David R Perry

Lost somewhere in the rolling hills of Tennessee, David R Perry can occasionally be found doing dark, unspeakable things to words. Printed words, spoken words, electronically mangled words... really any kind but twittered words.

Visit David R Perry's author page — David R Perry's Blog