Game 4: Live Blog

Categorized as: Dallas Mavericks, Live Blogging, Miami Heat, NBA Basketball, NBA Finals
Posted on: June 15th, 2006

Although Nels is unable to run with the live blog for Game 4 tonight (special event is really code for being ‘detained with a family issue’… just kidding there Nels), I’ll try to keep up with the Heat & Mavs for as long as I can. Being an East Coast guy who is not only old and married, but also has an actual real honest-to-goodness daytime job (talk about a triple threat), it’ll take a hella good game for me to stay up past midnight. Let me speak for everyone on the eastern half of our beautiful county by saying, “What the hell David Stern?” A fricken 9pm start and I have to be at work at 8am. Unless there’s free beer or stripers involved, I just don’t see the point.

See you at 9. Until then, I’ll be watching the Puerto Rican Day Parade on MTV. I hear Marc Anthony might get an award.

And were back…

John Carroll of Scouts, Inc is picking the Heat for tonight’s game. His rational?

I thought the Heat played a better game than the Mavs. If you negate Miami’s 20 turnovers and 14 missed free throws, the game would not have been close. If the Heat can clean up these two areas quickly, I feel that the energy and aggressiveness they demonstrated in Game 3 will allow them to win Game 4 and tie this series at two games apiece.

Yes, and if could make more money, I’d be rich. I’m gong with the Mavs to put this series out of reach.

Welcome to the American Airlines Arena, not to be confused with the American Airlines Center in Dallas. For a company that lost $162 million last year, American Airlines sure loves to flip for arena naming rights. I’d be pissed if I owned stock in them. Good thing I don’t own any stock. I prefer my money under the bed, right near my gun.

I love that finals intro, with all those playoff heroes from the past, but what can I say, I’m a sucker for history.

Our first Stuart Scott sighting of the night. I used to think he was the man back in the day on Sportscenter.

My Miami Heat? Really? They’re mine too? Thanks Miami.

The Heat can actually get the National Anthem singers (R-style?) to wear white. Pretty slick.

Did you guys see Michael Wilbon wearing those crazy sunglasses and waving some white flags like a crazy lunatic? And I always though Tony Kornheiser was the crazy one.

So, a “9pm” start has a tip-off at 9:16pm. David Stern, you dirty little bastard.

11:40 – Shaq hits the shot and draws the foul, but misses the free-throw. Where have we seen this before?

11:27 – Dirk gets mauled as he goes to the basket and hit’s his 2.

9:40 – J-will on Dirk, no chance.

9:22 – Terry takes one of the head. He’ll hear about that one. Don’t try that move on national television.

7:36 – Our NBA blocking lesson of the night. Let’s all stay out of the restricted area folks.

7:15 – Wade has definitely come to play tonight. The shot looks on, I like his touch.

6:32 – Stackhouse with the left-handed hook. I wish I knew how to quit you Stack

5:33 – Wade is officially on fire. He’s hitting 3’s, driving to the hoop, backing into the lane and abusing his man. I’m telling ya, the Heat are just a better team with Shaq on the bench.

2:55 – What’s more amazing – four offense rebounds by the Mavs. Or that they still couldn’t hit their shot!

2:19 – Loose ball fouls. I hate em. It’s just straight up hustle, that’s all. Don’t hate the hustle.

1:19 – Walker’s patented spin move to the basket. Good to see that he’s still got that going for him.

.16: The Heat go on a nice run to end the quarter – Zo with the block, Wade on the break.

.05: But Stackhouse hits the 3 as the quarter comes to an end.

End of 1st Quarter: Heat 30 Mavs 25

11:40 – The foul call on Haslem was weak. A little chest contact. LET THEM PLAY!

11:02 – Dirk is what 1 – 5 so far in the game?

10:34 – Well, he just hits the 3. Let’s see if that’s the start of something.

9:55 – Posey gets the charge called on Dirk with a little flop action. Save that crap for soccer.

Ted Danson – he just keeps that mojo working all these years later.

8:53 – Shaq misses 2 more free-throws. It’s got to be a mental problem for him now. He’s bad, but this bad?

8:01 – Let me finally state what Hubie has said about 10 times already. The Mavs are shooting 30-something percent compared to the Heat’s 50-ish and are still only down by 3 points. Not a good thing for the Heat.

7:06 – Two back to back threes by Posey and Williams put the Heat up by 9. Clearly, whatever I write in this space has the opposite effect on reality.

Superman Returns. I’m officially psyched. And a dork.

6:33 – I can see why they call Terry the JET (well, besides the obvious). He found another gear on that dunk.

4:57 – Wade counters with the 3 and then draws the foul the next time down the court. I admit it, I ‘m now a Wadeness. The kid can flat out play.

3:56 – The refs are just throwing out the technicals tonight.

3:43 – Nice pass by Shaq. Almost a no look.

3:14 – And the Mavs still can’t shoot. But they are grabbing those offensive rebounds. So, they got that going for them.

Wilbon just called out Dirk for having “no game”. Ouch. Don’t piss of a German, Michael. David Hasselhoff shows no mercy. He will break you.

2:15 – Say what you will about Zo, you got to love that full on, out of nowhere, balls-out rejection that Zo has always been so great at.

1:20 – One of the great things about Wade’s game is how fast he get in the air on his jump, which must sound weird, but it allows him to get up and above taller players to get his shot off before they can fully contest his shot.

.10 – Stackhouse has the same free-throw shot form that I did in high school. It didn’t serve me quite as well.

HALFTIME: Heat 54 Mavs 44

A nice story about Jason McElwain, the autistic kid who scored 20 points in his first and only high school basketball game, providing inspiration to other children with autism. And he’ll have a movie made about him, which should be everyone’s goal in life.

The Mavs are shooting 34% from the field. Miami’s shooting 58%. I can’t believe the Dallas is only down by 10.

10:58 – Antoine for 3! What an ugly release.

9:25 – Wade with the little hook over Dirk. See what I’m saying! Wade has got a quick jump.

7:36 – Has anyone else ever daydreamed about what it would be like to have to guard Shaq. All that body just backing down into you. Plus, he sweats like Niagara Falls, which can’t be pleasant.

7:20 – Dirk takes the hard fall to the ground. Looks like he lost his balance on his own rather than being manhandled by Shaq.

7:06 – Shaq with the powerslam over Doip and we get shots of Shaq’s Dad and wife reacting in the crowd. It’s certainly more entertaining than the way Dallas is playing right now.

6:29 – Damn! Stackhouse just TOOK SHAQ RIGHT OUT on the fastbreak. Right to the head! Flagrant foul. Shaq literally got up off the floor, stumbled around, and fell back down like he was in a heavyweight fight and just got a right hook to the face. Good move from Stackhouse (provided Shaq doesn’t kill him later), it might be the only way to get the rest of the team motivated for the second half.

Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. I love the show, should I see this movie? Any recommendations?

4:45 – The Mavs certainly seem to have more energy now, but energy doesn’t help shots go in. And the Heat lead by 19.

4:10 – Dirk badly misses the three and flops to try and draw a foul. No go.

3:37 – A very sweet alleyoop to Halsem from Williams. Couldn’t have been executed any better.

1:26 – Dirk misses again and is 2-12 on the night. There’s the Dallas loss right there.

:43 – Another turnover by the Heat and the game is starting to get interesting again. It’s down to a 13 point lead. And Walker misses a long three. Don’t let him take those.

:00 – And Stackhouse cuts the lead to 11 at the end of the 3rd.

End of the 3rd Quarter: Heat 78 Mavs 67

I was thinking about calling it a night when the Heat were up by 20, but an 11 point lead makes things a little more interesting. Let’s see if my deliberate disregard for the job the actually provides a paycheck pays off.

11:12 – Dirk, no amount of acting will change the truth. You can’t change the fact the ball just went through your hands.

10:46 – Wade hits the jumper off an inbounds pass with 1 second left on the shot clock. I shake my head.

10:00 – Horrible offensive charging call on Wade. Harris was totally running with him. How is that even anything like an offensive foul?

9:34 – Another offense foul called on the Heat. I’m starting to feel cheated.

9:04 – Dirk turns his ankle on a 3 attempt and leaves the game (but stays on the sideline)… Despite the fact that Dirk has had a pretty bad game, this could be the end for the Mavs tonight.

8:34 – O’Neal makes a free-throw. And another! It’s a pretty good time to start making them.

7:11 – Posey for 3! Dampier misses the putback at the other end. Miami is up by 15 now and time is definitely starting to run out for Dallas.

6:20 – Shaq is now channeling the spirit of Magic Johnson with a little no look pass action. He looks like he’s having fun out there – I’ll give him that.

5:47 – Dirk is back in the game, but misses the 3 again. He’s now 2-14.

5:22 – The Mavs are playing sloppy, throwing the ball around the court right now. Not the thing to do with 5 minutes left in the game.

4:17 – Call it! Walker for 3 puts the Heat up by 20. That’s the game for me folks. I think we can safely call this one. And I can finish this live blog off before the clock strikes 12.

See you for game 5! I believe American Airlines will be involved. Peace.

ADDENDUM: Final score, Miami 98, Dallas 74. My Dallas prediction for this game almost looks as good as Dirk’s shooting performance. As an indication about how important this series is, the top story on Yahoo Sports is the World Cup, followed by the US Open. See you on Sunday!

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