This just in

[injuredinmelee]

It is 1:22 pm on Monday and Dwayne Wade was just fouled again. Rumor has it that He and Howard were seen in the same block and the NBA has deemed that unacceptable to Wade's well being.

[Adidas410s]

Howard will probably get suspended for this one...

[injuredinmelee]

Will Cuban wear his jersey to game 6?

[Adidas410s]

sure hope not...we are now 0 for 2 when a guy gets suspended and people wear that guy's jersey. You didn't see any DJ Mbenga jerseys out there after he got the axe...and sure enough we won the next game!

[injuredinmelee]

I thinkthe free throw differential was 49-25. Thats not even possible without the refs trying to influence the game. They had to call thatmany more on the mavericks because the heat were not taking advantage of the calls to take the lead for good.

The guys on the morning show on Fox Sports Radio (Sczaban and crew) were all over this this morning.

[lostaussie]

reminds me why i hate the NBA

dallas mavericks 25 free throws
dewayne wade 25 free throws

[PHS Wildcats]

Without the Mavs doing the Hack-a-Shaq and minus Jason Williams Technical Free Throw it was only 36 to 25. The heat only took 11 more fts than Dallas

[injuredinmelee]

You are saying that the game was called without Prejudice and that there were not some phantom fouls against Dwayne Wade?

[PHS Wildcats]

I say the Heat r up 3-2:clap:

[un b weavable]

Its bothering me so i have to correct it. His name is spelled Dwyane, not Dwayne. :)

[LH Panther Mom]

Originally posted by injuredinmelee
I thinkthe free throw differential was 49-25. Thats not even possible without the refs trying to influence the game. They had to call thatmany more on the mavericks because the heat were not taking advantage of the calls to take the lead for good.

This sounds awfully like the Mavs/Spurs series. :thinking: :rolleyes: :p

[Big Papa]

I didn't think that that the Refs were all that bad last night...I do believe that the last foul on Wade was real touchy...should've been called out around the halfcourt line when he was dribbling around the whole mavs team

[Maroon87]

Jun 19, 2:06 AM EDT

Mavericks don't get it quite right

By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer

MIAMI (AP) -- Avery Johnson complained about the refs, and his biggest adjustment - changing his team's hotel from South Beach to Fort Lauderdale - seemed more suited to a travel agent than a coach of the year.

Johnson and his Dallas Mavericks made plenty of news in Miami. They just didn't make any progress toward their quest of winning an NBA championship.

Now that they are headed back home, perhaps they can show their coach what they really came to do in the first place - play championship basketball.

The Mavs didn't do enough of that in Miami - certainly not in crunch time - and now are on the verge of losing a series that not long ago seemed one-sided in their favor.

"We're definitely disappointed about our performance in these three games here," guard Jason Terry said. "So we'll put that behind us, go home to a great crowd, great atmosphere. We know we'll be ready."

Dallas fell into a 3-2 hole with a 101-100 overtime loss to the Heat on Sunday night in Game 5, despite possibly playing its best all-around game of the series.

Less than a week ago, it seemed that the Mavs would be bringing a trophy with them when they went home. Up 2-0 after two easy victories in Dallas, all that was left for them to do was show up and wave to their fans along the parade route that had already been revealed.

Then the Mavs learned something: The NBA finals were a whole lot harder than maybe they believed after those double-digit victories to open the series.

"This has been a new experience for pretty much all of our guys except maybe one or two," Johnson said before Sunday's game. "So a lot of the things that we talked to them about before the series, they really didn't understand it until we got here to Miami."

They do now.

On the verge of a 3-0 lead and a certain title - no NBA team has ever blown that advantage - the Mavs had one of the biggest fourth-quarter collapses in finals history to lose Game 3.

They explained that one away by saying they were inexperienced and still developing a killer instinct. A horrendous performance in Game 4 that included a seven-point fourth quarter, the worst period in any finals game, followed.

Then, so did the excuses.

Johnson said his team was too distracted, so to get his players to focus better he moved them north to Fort Lauderdale and assigned two to a room. He spent two days blasting the NBA's decision to suspend top reserve Jerry Stackhouse one game for his flagrant foul on Shaquille O'Neal in Game 4.

In fact, the Mavericks talked so much that the Heat had no choice but to hear them - even though Pat Riley had told his players not to read the papers.

"Can't do nothing but hear it. It's crazy," Heat star Dwyane Wade said Sunday morning. "I just look at it like we took our two losses on the chin in Dallas and you didn't hear a peep out of us. They took their two losses and there's got to be something wrong. It's not Miami."

Sunday night was a reminder of why the Mavs deserve attention for what they do on the court. Josh Howard regained the form that has him on the verge of stardom. Terry showed why some team will compensate him well in free agency this summer. A bench that was still plenty deep even without Stackhouse made sure the Mavs were still fresh in the final minutes.

But all that wasn't enough, and the Mavs prepared to leave Miami the same way they spent much of their stay - complaining.

This time, it was over a foul called on Wade's drive to the basket that set up the winning free throws. Not to mention a called timeout that Johnson didn't want at that moment. Not that the officials could do anything but make the Mavs take it after Howard clearly made the signal asking for time.

Owner Mark Cuban complained about the first one in the Mavs' locker room shortly after the game. Johnson headed back up to the podium about the same time to rail at the officials one more time.

What the Mavs really should be mad about is their inability to come up with a way to stop Wade, who averaged 40 points in the three games in Miami.

Johnson blasted his team's "vacation mentality" during one of his rants this week. Now as they head home, the mission is to avoid taking that vacation.

"Hopefully we can put together more of a complete game than what we've done here in Miami," Johnson said.

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