NBA Finals: If Mavs win, what will Cuban say?

It’s 53-51 Mavs at halftime, thanks mostly to 19 points off the bench by Jason Terry.

Nowitzki is 1 for 12 for three points, so Steve Nash is definitely a better passer than predictor. He tweeted earlier today that he thought the German would have a monster game.

Well, It’s ugly, but definitely not a monster.

And that’s part of the reason the lead is so little. The Mavs were up 12 early in the second quarter but quickly gave it all away by allowing a 14-0 run _ while LeBron James was on the bench.

A lead on the road at halftime of an elimination game is something you gladly take.

The Mavs just could have taken more.

That might’ve been a season-saving run for the Heat, and if so Eddie House gets plenty of the credit.

And the Mavs weren’t happy about it.

The Heat were down 40-28 before House opened and closed a 14-0 run with 3-pointers that put them right back in the lead at 42-40.

And when it forced a second Mavs timeout, DeShawn Stevenson objected to Udonis Haslem being in his path toward the bench and gave it little shove. That led to lots of shoving, two technicals on the Heat and one on the Mavs, allowing Dallas to end the run on Dirk Nowitzki’s technical free throw.

House just found his way back in the rotation, with Erik Spoelstra benching Mike Bibby for Mario Chalmers, then passing over Bibby for House.

So far, good move.

Maybe even season-saving.

___

DeShawn Stevenson is a pretty good trash talker, and at this point it wouldn’t be surprising if he went up to Jason Terry at some point and announced that HE was going for the Sixth Man award next season.

Story Continues →

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.