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 It didn't matter. The Miami forward was at his best, posting 42
points, nine rebounds and six assists while carrying the Heat past
the Dallas Mavericks, 117-106.
The Heat earned their third consecutive road win and their fourth
victory in five games on a six-game road trip.
"It took a little time for us this season to get back to that mental
toughness," James said. "You can't take it for granted just because
you were able to do it last year. You have to learn how to win on
the road once again. We have been able to get some very key road
wins on this trip."
Dallas led 95-92 when swingman Vince Carter completed a four-point
play with 7:47 left in the game. Miami then turned to a swarming
defense that was missing for most of a very entertaining offensive
game. The Heat produced a 16-0 run, extending the lead to 106-95
with 3:21 to go. Dallas finally ended its drought when center Samuel
Dalembert hit the second of two free throws with 2:29 to go to make
it 106-96.
The Mavericks went five minutes without scoring and six minutes
between field goals as Miami closed out the game with a 25-8 run
that included an 8-0 spurt — all from James.
"At that point you're watching him make good plays," Heat coach Erik
Spoelstra said. "Throughout the course of the game, he made a lot of
two-way, impactful plays, setting guys up for easy baskets, scoring
himself when he needed to, and at the other end, he was guarding
literally one through five tonight. He did it on both ends, and that
one stretch at the end gave us a lot of confidence going down the
stretch."
Dallas had a chance to record a big home win in its first game since
defeating the East-leading Indiana Pacers on the road in the final
game before the All-Star break. However, the Mavericks' opportunity
slipped away during the opening four minutes of the final quarter.
James took a breather while Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who
finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, was hard
at work trying to extend Dallas' small lead.
However, Dallas could only extend the lead by three by the time
James returned. James scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and
wound up hitting 16 of 23 shots.
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"He was great," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He was great
in all areas. He is great and we know he is great. He scored a
bundle of points on us last time, and he was even better tonight.
But that's him, and I thought we played extremely hard and our heart
was in the right place all night.
"We just had some untimely misses, some untimely turnovers, and that
really hurt us. They are a team that takes advantage of those, and
they make you pay an exponential price. That's what happened in the
fourth quarter."
Miami guard Dwyane Wade was limited to 13 points on 4-for-7
shooting. He also had seven assists. Heat forward Chris Bosh added
22 points on 8-for-12 shooting, plus five rebounds. Forward Chris
Andersen scored 18 points, and guard Mario Chalmers added 10 points
and nine assists.
Dallas got 15 points from Carter off the bench. Mavericks guard
Monta Ellis, guard Jose Calderon and backup center Brandan Wright
each scored 12 points, but they combined to shoot 13-for-35 from the
floor. It just wasn't enough to overcome James' huge night that
included 4-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
"When we turned it off, he was gone," Mavs forward Shawn Marion
said. "He's one of the fastest guys in the league in the open court.
After his fourth open-court dunk, the matchups started to get bigger
on him. Then he started pulling up for 3s and started hitting some.
It just opened the game up."
Heat backup center Greg Oden had an impact at both ends in the first
half. He scored five points on a finger roll and a dunk that became
a three-point play with the foul. He also helped quiet Wright, who
had a fast run of three thunderous dunks before the insertion of the
7-foot Oden.
In five minutes of action, Oden finished with the five points and
one rebound.
NOTES: Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki requested limited minutes in
Sunday's All-Star Game and played just eight. The league's
13th-leading scorer all time was the only player on either team not
to score in a game that set an All-Star record for total scoring.
... The Heat played their fourth game of a six-game road trip
against all Western Conference teams. They wrap it up against the
Thunder in Oklahoma City on Thursday. ... Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
squashed a trade rumor earlier in the day that suggested Dallas was
attempting to put together a package for Minnesota PF Kevin Love.
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