Dirk Nowitzki again led the Mavericks in scoring with 29 and added six boards but this time it was guards Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and JJ Barea who came up big down the stretch to snatch victory.
Terry and Kidd scored 13 of Dallas' final 17 points as the home side broke away from a 100-97 deficit on a 15-3 run to close it out.
Terry (21 points, six assists, four rebounds) played an all-round game and Dallas ran its offence through the man nicknamed "Jet", while star forward Nowitzki took a breather.
The 2009 Sixth Man of the Year scored or assisted on 13 of the Mavs' final 15 points as Nowitzki soaked up much of the Miami defence's attention and freed up his backcourt.
"He played great and during periods where Dirk was out of the game we were going to him and he was delivering," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters.
"Those are tough stretches for us because it's just tough when Dirk is out of the game.
"It's the total game we've all been preaching to Jet since the play-offs began and he did a great job tonight."
Nowitzki was relieved to have had some assistance on the offensive end.
"JJ Barea was phenomenal behind screens, making shots, but obviously in the fourth he made the big three at the top of the key to tie it and the tough one on the right wing to put the game away," he said.
"We've kinda been waiting on an offensive night for us, we shot the ball well [56.5 per cent from the field, 68.4 per cent from downtown].
"We felt we had opportunities in the first four games but we couldn't knock anything down, so it was encouraging to see that we can hit some shots."
The Heat had not lost back-to-back games in this post-season and the Mavericks had never had the upper hand in this series so far as the series returns to Miami for Game Six on Monday.
Heat forward LeBron James, determined to make an impact in what he said was "the most important game of his life" after struggling in Game Four, posted a 17-10-10 triple-double but scored just two points in the crucial final period.
And it was Friday of all nights where Miami needed James' trademark aggressiveness taking it to the basket after shooting guard Dwyane Wade suffered a hip contusion and was out of action for stretches.
Two-time MVP James was better when Wade was off the floor, shooting 4-of-6 and committing no turnovers, than he was when his two-guard was in the game (4-of-13, four turnovers), but again "The King" was overshadowed by Nowitzki's fourth-quarter cool.
Wade's heroics were hardly in question - despite walking gingerly on his two returns from the locker room he played on and posted a team-high 23 points, 10 of which came from trips to the free-throw line, and eight assists.
Trading buckets
While tight defence has been the hallmark of the Finals thus far, both teams came out firing in the last game on the Mavericks' floor.
After Wednesday's Game Four produced just four made three-pointers from 19 attempts, Dallas fans were treated to an offensive showcase as the Mavs went 13-of-19 from beyond the arc.
The Heat were equally accurate from deep, especially through reserve guards Mario Chalmers (15 points, 4-of-6 from downtown) and Mike Miller (nine points, all from three-point range).
But the stars of the show were unquestionably Dallas' guards, with Terry playing a second straight aggressive game and Barea making the most of his starting opportunities.
Having come off the bench in the first three games of the series, Barea's insertion into the starting five at DeShawn Stevenson's expense has provided penetration off the dribble and a definite spark of energy for Dallas.
Barea, the smallest man on the court by far, had just 21 points combined in games one through four, but seemed to have found his shooting touch on Friday.
Again the two teams could barely be separated as one of the most closely contested series in recent memory continued to provide nail-biting climaxes.
Chalmers hit a running three from just inside the half-court line at the first-quarter buzzer to give Miami a 31-30 edge, but Dallas led 60-57 at half-time and 84-79 going into the final frame.
The Mavericks need just one more win to clinch their first NBA Championship, a title which would go some way to erasing the defeat they experienced at the hands of Miami in 2006.
Tags: sport, basketball, united-states First posted June 10, 2011 14:02:00
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