Sam Smith

MIAMI -

The Dallas Mavericks Sunday moved ahead four games to one in the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat.

Or so it seemed, though the final scoreboard favors Miami three games to two with Game 6 in Dallas Tuesday.

"We know we can beat this team," said Dirk Nowitzki after the Mavs' discouraging 101-100 overtime loss to the Heat here in Game 5. "We showed in Game 1 and 2. It's a tough one to swallow. We had enough opportunities to win the game. We are a good home team."

Which is what is left for the Mavs, who need to sweep the Tuesday-Thursday home set in the 2-3-2 Finals format to win their first NBA championship.

This, again, was one of those kick-the-dog-when-you-go-home nights for the Mavs, though so no one throws paint on my mink coat, that was just a figure of speech. Though there does come a point in any series when if you give away enough games, you're just a good guest.

The Mavericks were, blowing that 13-point lead with 6:34 left in Game 3 before losing and then Sunday night leading virtually the entire fourth quarter before Wade's running eight-footer tied the game at 93 in regulation. This came after Nowitzki had seemingly redeemed himself from a bad week here with a turnaround 14-footer to tie the game with 49 seconds left, then gave his team the lead with a click pass to Erick Dampier for a dunk with 10.1 seconds left.

And then it was Nowitzki again in the overtime knocking in a 19-foot fadeaway for a 100-99 lead with 9.1 seconds left before Wade drove, split a triple-team and was fouled and made two free throws for the win.

Which was when the Mavs committed one of several gaffes that were coulda-beens.

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Coach Avery Johnson signaled for a timeout as Wade was shooting his first free throw, the intention to get the timeout after the second shot to advance the ball to half-court. But Josh Howard, who'd missed two free throws (after making his first nine) with 54 seconds left and the Mavs up one, apparently misunderstood and signaled for the timeout between free throws. In football, that's one of those ice-the-kicker things, which rarely is used in the NBA as players touch the ball with their hands.

"He (referee) thought I called a timeout," said Howard. "But I didn't make any contact with him or any eye contact."

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Lead referee Joey Crawford issued a statement after the game which read: "Josh Howard goes to Joe DeRosa and not only once but twice asks for a timeout. Forced to call it. Simple as that."

Johnson was furious after the game as was Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who was said to have had an ugly confrontation with NBA commissioner David Stern.

"The signal was for the timeout to come after the second free throw," said Johnson. "We've been in this situation a million times and it was assumed we wanted it at that time."

Johnson and the coaches were hysterical on the bench knowing they had no more timeouts left, but the referees, after a short conference, decided Howard called the timeout between the shots. The Mavs were left to go fullcourt with 1.9 seconds left for a wild desperation heave by Devin Harris.

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And plenty did go wrong for the Mavs as Howard again wilted in the fourth quarter. He has yet to score a field goal in the fourth quarter of any of the five games. And there were more free throws missed down the stretch: two from Howard, one late in regulation by Dampier, and one late in overtime by Nowitzki. There also were some curious hack-a-Shaq fouls by the Mavs, particularly in overtime when it appeared the Mavs were just getting themselves in the penalty sooner. And it was a prickly Avery Johnson fencing with reporters after the game, the Mavs portraying themselves as victims of NBA discipline and officiating, particularly in regards to the last foul call that allowed Wade to shoot the winning free throws.

Still, this is what happened: The Mavs had Jerry Stackhouse, their third leading scorer, suspended. Miami had to get 43 points from Wade, including 21 free throws, the same total the entire Mavs team had, to win at home. To win Game 3 at home, the Heat had to get 42 points from Wade. The Mavs outrebounded the Heat in Game 5 42-33, had 12 more field goal attempts while shooting 24 fewer free throws. And lost by a point in overtime. On the road.

Yes, it's still looking like Mavs in seven.

Though it was looking like Mavs in four, five and six before. There's not going to be a best-of-nine if the Mavs blow another one.

They've been the marathoner who breaks down at the 26-mile mark with the finish line in sight.

"We thought we had Game 3 under control with a couple of minutes left," said Nowitzki. "We made some mistakes we can't make and we'll go from there."

Still, the only Heat player who's been out of the Mavs control has been Wade, though hardly a little bit. But they shot 41 fewer free throws than the Heat in the three games here after getting three more than Miami in the two games in Dallas. O'Neal has yet to score 20 points in any game in the series and Wade has to get tired sometime, doesn't he? The last time a Pat Riley team was in the NBA Finals, the Knicks in 1994, they went to Houston for the last two games leading 3-2. Things could not have gone worse for the Mavs here, but you'd be making a mistake to not like their position in the series.

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