Heat sweeps season series from Mavericks

There was a time when the Miami Heat couldn’t beat the Dallas Mavericks. That would have been every single regular-season game the previous seven seasons, as well as the final three games of last season’s NBA Finals. A greater degree of revenge will have to wait. But at least the Heat finally can say they have the Mavericks’ regular-season number, if not the Larry O’Brien trophy that Dallas carted off in its previous appearance at AmericanAirlines Arena. Sprinting to a 13-point lead in the third quarter and taking care of business from there, the Heat made it a sweep of the two-game season series with a 106-85 victory Thursday night. The Heat entered the season on a 14-game regular-season losing streak against the Mavericks. This wasn’t quite the thorough domination of the Heat’s season-opening 105-94 Christmas Day victory in Dallas, but it went a long way toward soothing what had ailing the Heat. Not only did the Heat enter off back-to-back road losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers - the Heat’s first back-to-back double-digit defeats since LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh signed on to play together in July 2010 - but they entered having failed to outscored the opposition in 10 consecutive quarters. That drought ended when they outscored the Mavericks 36-24 in the second period to take a 60-53 lead into the intermission. The victory extended the Heat’s home winning streak to 15, now without a home loss since Jan. 22 against Milwaukee. The matchup was the Heat’s lone home game in a 13-day span, with the game the start of back-to-back set that concludes Friday in Toronto. It was a balanced effort from the Heat’s stars, with Bosh and James scoring 19 apiece and Wade adding 16. It also was a well-rounded effort, with Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier and Ronny Turiaf also having their moments in supporting roles. Dirk Nowitzki kept the Mavericks afloat early with 16 first-half points on 8-of-10 shooting. He closed with 25, at 9 of 19 from the field. But with Finals foils Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea having moved on in offseason free agency, Dallas simply lacked the pop they produced in winning the final three games of last season’s Finals. Like so many recent Heat opponents, the Mavericks came out firing from beyond the 3-point line. The Mavericks shot 5 of 11 on 3-pointers in the opening period, which tied their previous high in attempts for any period this season and was their high for a first quarter. That allowed Dallas to take a 29-24 lead into the second quarter. The Heat, though, did a better job of defending the 3-point line in the second period and, with Chalmers hitting a 3-pointer late in the period, were able to take a 60-53 lead into the intermission. It was a change-of-pace start for the Heat, with Bosh in the first period making his first 3-pointer since Jan. 25 and with Cole breaking out of his prolonged slump with a 4 of 6 first half from the field after shooting 4 of 25 in his previous seven games. Dallas loaded up with 3-pointers early to the point where they did not attempt a free throw in the first half, the second Heat opponent to go without one over the opening two periods this season, joining the Atlanta Hawks. Dallas had not gone without a foul shot in a first half since March 19, 2009. Among those in attendance was Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Asked prior to the game whether defending a title is more fun that chasing one, Cuban said, "Yeah, no question. Because you got one. There’s a lot of guys who came close and never got one. It’s certainly more fun." But he also acknowledged it’s an odd celebration amid the lockout-compacted schedule. "Again, it’s a funky season," he said, "so we haven’t had a lot of time to enjoy it. The games come so quickly that it’s an aberrational season. You just deal with it." Mostly he downplayed his team returning to the scene where they won the 2011 in Game 6 of last season’s NBA Finals. "Just another day at the office," he said.