DALLAS \u2014 After two days of intense film study and painstaking analysis of the final 14 possessions in their end-of-game collapse in Game 2 of the NBA finals, the Miami Heat finally came up with the reason why.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a highly technical reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe let one go,\u201d Dwyane Wade said.<\/p>\n
And entering Game 3 of the NBA finals, the Heat will try to let Game 2 go again. The way Miami sees it, carrying over the stigma of that loss \u2014 one of the worst late-game collapses in finals history \u2014 would only doom them again today\u00a0 when the scene shifts to steamy Dallas for the first of three games on the Mavericks\u2019 home floor.<\/p>\n
Dallas rallied from 15 points down in the final 7 minutes to beat Miami in Game 2, outscoring the Heat 22-5 to finish the game and knot the series. Thanks to that win, Mavericks fans still may see another NBA championship celebration, only this time, by the Western Conference champions and not a Heat team that hoisted a trophy at Dallas after the 2006 finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the playoffs, it\u2019s a win or a loss. However it comes by, it\u2019s a win or a loss,\u201d Heat forward LeBron James said. \u201cWe\u2019ve moved on from Game 2, seen the mistakes we\u2019ve made. Seen some of the great things we\u2019ve done as well. It\u2019s a win or loss. The series is tied 1-1. We never get too high or too low in the series. We haven\u2019t gotten too high or low in the regular season as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Game 3 is crucial for so many obvious reasons, like the Heat wanting not to deal with another stumble and the Mavericks wanting to keep momentum rolling and retain home-court advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just can\u2019t let up. We\u2019re not good enough to just relax,\u201d said Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who led Dallas\u2019 late-game charge in Game 2. \u201cWe need to play with an edge at all times in every game. So hopefully, with the crowd behind us, we\u2019re going to have a great game. Just looking at this one game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was more succinct.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think both teams have bucked a lot of those numbers and odds up to this point already,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re a non-traditional team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s one of the reasons why the Heat were so loose on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Players arrived at the arena around noon, most with headphones on as they walked off the bus, bobbing heads in time with the music and nodding to people as they walked by. James and Wade were chatting and laughing, a few players checked out the turf that would host an Arena Football League game later Saturday and some stretched their arms to tap the goalposts as they walked across the floor where a basketball court will be on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The mood couldn\u2019t have been more different from when they walked off the floor in Miami on Thursday, stunned by what just happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DALLAS \u2014 After two days of intense film study and painstaking analysis of the final 14 possessions in their end-of-game collapse in Game 2 of the NBA finals, the Miami Heat finally came up with the reason why. It wasn\u2019t a highly technical reason. \u201cWe let one go,\u201d Dwyane Wade said. And entering Game 3 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1240,1227],"tags":[3870,478,3872,3871,479],"byline":[],"source":[206068],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n