Mavericks 99, Heat 93

I'm sorry, but to me this was much more than a mere game in the schedule. It was going to be that way until they kept showing footage of the Miami Heat winning the championship. That was supposed to be for the Mavs, but they blew it. That bothered me. The Mavs essentially had this one bagged and they were cruising, but the Heat pushed late. Sure, you had Josh Howard getting 25 and 9 and Nowitzki getting 22 and 11, but it was Jerry Stackhouse who owned the show tonight. He got 23 points, but it wasn't his sheer amount of points, but how he turned it on late. It was great to see. He took control for the Mavs on offense and defense and kept the Heat at bay as they tried to rally late. It was a dang good effort. You know Wade's gonna get his (and he did, with 31) but if you keep the game in check as much as possible, it's winnable. The Mavs win again, and they beat the team that beat them last year in the Finals. A little revenge is tasty sometimes.