Game 5: Mavericks (first quarter, pick'em) vs. Miami
Miami and Dallas were in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and with the series tied 2-2, it was no secret how big of a swing game this one was. Dirk and the Mavs jumped out of the gate in fine fashion leading 15-8 midway through the first quarter and in live play action were actually as high of a favorite as $6 to win the quarter. So anybody who believed that Dallas was going to have a strong first quarter, and backed them at a pick, was looking about as good as could be at this point.
Jason Terry missed a 3-pointer with 1:23 to go in the opening quarter, which could have extended the Dallas lead to a whopping nine points as the score was already 27-21 Mavericks. With 39 seconds left the Mavs still led by a solid four points after a Tyson Chandler slam. So there was no way that the Mavs could come up short now in the waning seconds, right? I mean just do the math, 24-second shot clock, two-possession game, pretty much in the bag.
Right?
Old man Juwan Howard nailed a jumper with 25 seconds left to get within a bucket. Still not a problem. Obviously the Mavs would hold for the final shot meaning that a lead after a quarter was certainly in the cards with a make or a miss on this highly probable final possession.
Or was it?
With three seconds to go Mike Miller stole the ball from future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd and in almost impossible fashion former Kansas Jayhawk Mario Chalmers nailed basically a running 3-point shot halfcourt shot for the second straight game at the end of a quarter and the Heat in almost beyond impossible fashion owned the 31-30 lead after one.
Now that's a bad freakin' beat!
