Dallas Mavericks Beat Miami Heat In Game 4 NBA Finals 2011 To Tie Series 2-2

Let's call this game 4 as the fever game version of the Western Conference. I remember how Michael Jordan shrugged off his high fever to beat the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals. Dirk Nowitzki emulated that kind of fighting heart in their game today against the Heat. In this game 4 of the best of 7 NBA Finals series of the Heat and the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki played with a high fever. He said that when he woke up this morning he's already feeling bad. That's the main reason why he's defense against Chris Bosh and Joel Anthony is not that intense compared to what he's been showing in the last 2 games of the series. In fact, to further prove that he's playing sick, he just had his first missed shot from the free throw line throughout the whole 2011 NBA playoffs. But in the end it was his heart that lifted the Mavericks over the Heat. He scored 21 hard earned points to help his team win via 86-83. The series is now tied 2-2.


The problem for the Heat is that, LeBron James has been on a slump since game 3. In game 4 he picked-up his 3rd personal foul in the 9 minute mark of the 3rd quarter. He's really out of his rhythm in this series. In the first three quarters of game 4 he only had a 1 out of 4 field goal shooting and he inly had 0 out of 2 shooting from the three point area. But then again just like in game 3, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came to the rescue to cover up the waste that LeBron James has been scattering. Wade had 32 points to somehow keep his best friend's mistakes concealed. Bosh and Wade were just unstoppable in this game. Bosh is slowly getting the respect that he deserves. Many sports fans noticed his 12 points on 6 out of 6 field goal shooting in the second and third quarter of this game. That's an immaculate performance for a lefty center like him. He's really showing that he's part of Miami's Big 3.

If Miami had Wade and Bosh to help James in scoring, Dallas on the other hand had Shawn Marion, the Matrix to back-up Dirk Nowitzki. Marion tried his best to guard Dwyane Wade but the 2006 NBA Finals MVP was just too much for Marion. Marion just bowed his head down when Wade shoot a three pointer in front of him. But he didn't stop in defending Wade.

This game was very tight. No team in this game led by double digits. The biggest lead of Dallas was only 6 points while Miami's largest lead in this game was only 7 points. But the thing that separated Dallas and Miami are their turnovers. Those turnovers dictated the fate of both of this teams. Miami had 11 turn overs while Dallas only had 8 turn overs. Most of Miami's turn overs were forced by Dallas and their efforts paid off because in the end they won the game.

In the dying minutes of the 4th quarter, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, the two great closers of Dallas took good care of the ball. Dirk made a timely lay-up that gave them a more comfortable lead. Miami made quick 2 points to cut the lead of Dallas. Afterwards they fouled Jason Terry and Terry nailed both of his charities to give Dallas a 3 point lead. Miami's Mike Miller threw a desperation three pointer but it went wide. Dallas won this game 4 to tie the series. Game 5 will still be in Dallas on Thursday, American time and Friday here in Manila.

Here's the replay video highlights of Game 4 of Dallas vs. Miami NBA Finals 2011 courtesy of YouTube.