Last night, the Dallas Mavericks took a giant step towards towards their first NBA championship with a 112-103 victory over the Miami Heat. With this victory, the Mavs take the lead in the best of 7 series for the first time as the teams head back to Miami with Dallas leading 3-2. It was Miami's first consecutive loss of the playoffs and gives the Mavericks a great opportunity to avenge their '06 finals loss against the Heat where they held a 2-0 lead before losing four on the spin.
Once again the star of the show for Dallas was Dirk Nowitzki, scoring 29 points and 100% from the free throw line. The big German has been his team's driving force in the post season, rescuing them from large deficits with his impeccable shooting. Although he didn't have his best game of the series so far, his offensive play allowed Dallas to score over 100 points against arguably the best defensive team in the league. He was ably assisted by Jason Terry, JJ Barea & Tyson Chandler as the Mavs hit 13 3-pointers in game 5 and they now look like they have the belief to go and claim their first title.
