Surprise Ending Won’t Be Forgotten

Thanks for the memory ...

As ABC’s moving, computer-generated “Legacy of Champions” opening suggests, the NBA Finals have been filled with magic moments. Of course, most of them took place a while back.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar running down the floor in triumph? That was in 1985.

Julius Erving’s go-behind-the-board-and-come-back-out-the-other-side layup? That was in 1980.

It was 1987 when Pat Riley guaranteed the Lakers would repeat, 1995 when Rudy Tomjanovich paid tribute to the heart of his champions, and 1998 when Michael Jordan froze his hand in the air after launching the series-winner.

In Brent Musburger’s trembling phrase from the 1980s, not many “unthinkable story lines” have unfolded in the Finals lately. Nor did any seem imminent Tuesday as the final minutes ticked down with Dallas leading by 13 points, about to take a 3-0 lead.

The comeback that gave Miami a 98-96 victory wasn’t the biggest fourth-quarter rally in the Finals -- the Chicago Bulls came from 15 down against Portland in 1992 -- but it was the most improbable.

The Bulls took the whole quarter to do it and they had Jordan. The Heat trailed by 13 with 6 minutes 34 seconds left and they had what was left of Dwyane Wade.

The Human Bull’s-Eye was limping on a sore knee -- Shaquille O’Neal fell into it in the third quarter -- after recovering from flu (for which he got B12 shots and intravenous fluids), got over a hip injury (for which he took anti-inflammatory injections) and after suffering leg cramps.

That’s just this postseason. That “fall seven times, get up eight” commercial starring Wade may actually be an understatement. He gets up eight times nightly.

Incapacitated as he was, Wade scored 12 of his 42 points in the game-ending 22-7 run, demonstrating that even if there are bigger names here -- Shaquille O’Neal, Pat Riley, Mark Cuban, Dirk Nowitzki -- there’s no better player.

By Wednesday, Wade was being compared to Jordan, but that’s easy to explain. Jordan has retired. Wade is here.

“Like I always say, no one should be compared to M.J., man,” said Wade, who is, happily, calmer than the media corps. “There will only ever be one M.J. That’s it. I’m not him.”

Since Jordan won six NBA titles and five MVPs and Wade has won none of either, you’d think Jordan’s legacy would be safe for another decade or two. Like his fellow phenom, LeBron James, Wade is in only his third season.

Wade and James, the stars of the 2003 draft (which included Dallas’ Josh Howard at No. 29), are good friends. James text messages encouragement to Wade, who needs all he can get.

“We’re two of the front-running guys that a lot of people talk about,” Wade said, “myself and him and Carmelo [Anthony] and the other young guys in the 2003 draft....

“I mean, he [James] is younger than me -- well, that’s what they say.”

Wade’s 15-footer with 6:15 left cut Miami’s deficit to 79-68, but by then it looked as if the Heat couldn’t stay with the Mavericks. Dallas had outscored Miami, 46-24, in the second half, after winning the four previous meetings by 13, 36, 10 and 14 points.

Teams that win are presented as heroic, while teams that lose become objects of scorn. Nevertheless, it takes only a few baskets at one end and a few misses at the other to trade places.

“Again, that happens,” said Mavericks Coach Avery Johnson, trying not to wallow in the mire. “ ... You know, we win one game, we’re supposed to sweep. We win two games, the series is over. It’s just

Actually, nothing like that had happened for 14 years and no matter who said what, if the Mavericks hadn’t folded like a TV tray, they’d be in control of the series.

If the Heat wins tonight, the Finals will be just beginning. Otherwise, it’ll be a 3-1 series and the great moment will become a footnote.

Thanks to the miracle of modern broadcasting, the great moment occurred as the clock struck 12 on the East Coast and Tuesday night turned into Wednesday morning, with the game ending at 12:03 a.m. EDT.

It’s holy writ in television that the later you start, the better ratings you get. If that’s so, someone is going to have to explain how this game got a 9.0 overnight ... down from a 9.1 for the Mavericks’ blowout in Game 2.

Maybe the league isn’t factoring in ABC’s pre-game show, which runs from 8:30 p.m. EDT to 9:16 p.m. when the game ... finally

Nevertheless, even if not as many people saw it as might have, we diehards are grateful for even a footnote to Finals history.