Dirk plays through sinus infection to lead Mavs and tie NBA Finals series

It's hard to keep a warrior down.

Dirk Nowitzki battled through a 101 degree fever yet he catapulted the Mavs to an 86-83 win over the Miami Heat to knot the Finals series at 2 games a piece and boil their battle down to a best of 3 affair last night at Dallas Texas.

Nowitzki and the Mavs were very close to being down 3-1 until they made their run to outscore the Heat 21-9 after they went trailing 74-65 with 10 minutes left in the final period. Dirk scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter including six free throws.

LeBron James was the main missing link for the Heat after accounting for only 8 points, breaking his streak of 433 consecutive double figure scoring games and not only that he also was scoreless in the final quarter in which his team only scored 14 points.

Dwayne Wade scored 32 points but his costly mistakes in the homestretch like the missed freethrow with 30 seconds left and his faulty inbounds pass forced Mike Miller to take a hurried shot that didn't even come close to hitting the rim as the Dallas fans celebrated their team's victory.

Game 5 will ever be more crucial as both teams try to take the driver seat in the series and go up 3-2 still at Dallas' homecourt.

-details courtesy of yahoo! sports

Heat incinerate Bulls in OT to get 3-1 lead

A win away from the Finals.

Miami clawed within a game away from reaching the elusive NBA Finals by edging out the Bulls in Game 4 101-93 OT victory led by LeBron James with 35 points and they survived an off night from Dwayne Wade last night at Miami Florida.

Wade really struggled this game, scoring only 8 points from the 2nd quarter and scoreless in the 2nd half until the halfway point in OT but the other members of the Big 3 James and Bosh filled in for the void lest by D-Wade.

Bosh scored 22 points and is extremely dominant this series, scoring 30 or more in 2 games this series thus far and his improved performance was a key turning point as they will try to wrap up the series in Chicago.

The Bulls lost three straight for the first time this season and that is after winning the first 4 battles with the Heat this season including the opener of this East Finals.

MVP Derrick Rose scored 23 points but it wasn't even a decent performance as he only shot 8-27 and he even committed 7 turnovers. Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer both added 20 for the Bulls who will face a do or die game in their home floor on Thursday.

Heat seize 2-1 lead against Bulls

Stopping the dynamic duo clearly wasn't enough.

The Miami Heat emerged with an 96-85 victory over the Chicago Bulls to deal the No.1 seed their first losing skid since February and take the crucial 2-1 series lead last night at Miami.

Chris Bosh stunned the Bulls with 34 points, his second 30+ point performance in this series and it catapulted his team to the win although two of the "Big 3" LeBron James and Dwayne Wade combined for just 12-30 attempts from the floor.

Carlos Boozer led the Bulls with his double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds but MVP Derrick Rose struggled shooting once again, hitting just 8-19 shots and he didn't even have an assist throughout the first half.

The Bulls clawed to within 4, 78-74 but they allowed Miami 9 unanswered points and the latter cruised on to the victory.

Game 4 will be played in Miami, with the home team trying to win a 3-1 series lead while the embattled Bulls will attempt to steal a game to tie the series before heading back to Chicago.

Mavs win Game 3 on the road against Thunder.

They survived a furious comeback.

The Dallas Mavericks held on to a 93-87 victory against the home team OKC Thunder to seize 2-1 series lead last night after surviving a late game surge and once again gain series homecourt advantage.

The Mavs literally cuffed the younger Thunder in the first quarter only allowing 12 points for the period to lead by 15 points 27-12. The struggle went on for OKC until the halfway mark of the second quarter.

OKC 's performance towards the end second quarter improved but the lead was too big to overhaul and the first half ended with the Mavericks still in the driver seat 52-36 with Kevin Durant having evident offensive struggles.

Things started to turn physical in the third quarter as Russell Westbrook and Dirk Nowitzki exchanged shoves resulting in a double technical foul off a loose ball scuffle. Tyson Chandler elbowed James Harden in the face and by the end of the third quarter, Mavs lead 70-56.

Thunder make their run in the fourth, led by Westbrook,Durant and Harden to cut the lead to just four points but poor shot selection from OKC allowed Dallas to hold on and foil their end game rally.

Game 4 will be in OKC where the Thunder will try to tie it while the mavs try to take the commanding 3-1 lead