Dwyane Wade kept soaring and scoring, doing everything he could to get the Miami Heat a crucial win towards an NBA title.
A one eyed Chris Bosh made a 16-foot, go-ahead jumper from the baseline with 39.6 seconds left and Haslem pestered Dirk Nowitzki the rest of the way as the Heat held on for an 88-86 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night for a 2-1 lead in the NBA finals.
“This is a total win,” said Wade, who led Miami with 29 points and 11 rebounds. “You want to win the game on the defensive end of the floor and we got a stop.”
Recent history says this is a huge win for the Heat. The Game 3 winner in a tied finals has won the championship all 11 times since the 2-3-2 format began in 1985.
The Heat are headed into Game 4 on Tuesday night with a chance to do what they did in 2006: win it all on Dallas’ floor. They’ll need to win that game and the next, on Thursday night.
2011 NBA Finals
Heat lead 2-1
GAME 1 Heat 92, Mavericks 84 | Highlights
GAME 2 Mavericks 95, Heat 93 | Highlights
GAME 3 Heat 88, Mavericks 86 | Highlights
GAME 4 at DAL, Tue. June 7, 9 p.m. ET, ABC
GAME 5 at DAL, Thu. June 9, 9 p.m. ET, ABC
GAME 6 at MIA, Sun. June 12, 8 p.m. ET, ABC*
GAME 7 at MIA, Tue. June 14, 9 p.m. ET, ABC*
* If Necessary
