Mavs beat Heat down the stretch 109-104
By Jaime Aron (Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-02 13:48

Dirk Nowitzki and Jerry Stackhouse got rolling in the final five minutes, just about the time the Dallas defense found a way to throttle Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat, leading the Mavericks to a 109-104 victory Tuesday night.

Miami Heat's Shaquille O'Neal (32) attempts a shot over Dallas Maverick's Shawn Bradley (44) in the first half, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005, in Dallas. [AP]

The Heat, who had won three straight, led 97-91 and had held the Mavs to just one field goal the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter when everything changed on both ends of the court.

Two straight baskets by Stackhouse and a jumper by Nowitzki got Dallas within one and revved up the large, vocal crowd drawn by O'Neal. Another jumper by Stackhouse put the Mavericks ahead 99-98, and they never gave up the lead.

Miami missed eight straight shots down the stretch, going from 4:34 until 11.6 seconds left between baskets. The meltdown included O'Neal missing twice after making 11 of his previous 12 shots, Dwyane Wade putting up two wild heaves (one to beat the shot clock) and Udonis Haslem blowing an open layup.

Stackhouse led Dallas with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Nowitzki added 19, nowhere near the 41 he scored against Miami earlier this season. Part of his problem was getting to the foul line just three times, compared to 13 in the last meeting.

Josh Howard scored 11 after missing three games with back spasms and Erick Dampier had 15 points and 14 rebounds while trying to defend O'Neal.

O'Neal, among the top scoring and rebounding foes in Mavs history, had 25 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Dampier got him to miss his first four shots, but then O'Neal got into his usual groove — until it mattered most.

Wade also was electrifying until the final minutes. He had several stunning dunks and a halftime buzzer-beater among his 29 points. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.

Udonis Haslem had 14 points and nine rebounds, and deserves much of the credit for cooling off Nowitzki.

Dallas was coming off an ugly home loss to Allen Iverson-less Philadelphia and is going into a stretch of five games in eight days. The Mavs also play seven of their next eight on the road.

Miami dominated the first half, but was outscored by nine while O'Neal was on the bench and the game was close into the third quarter. Dallas began to break away, then the Heat opened the fourth with a 9-0 run to tie it.

Avery Johnson, filling in for Don Nelson as coach of the Mavs, got his first technical for arguing a call against Howard in the game's opening minutes. ... Miami made 48.3 percent of its shots, after making a season-worst 37.2 percent in a 113-93 loss to Dallas in November. ... Forget the Super Bowl. This was the place to see Dallas Cowboys. Among those in the crowd: Former stars Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson, plus current stars Roy Williams, Keyshawn Johnson and Jason Witten. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt was courtside, too; he and Williams are frequent attendees.

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