Wade Puts Heat on Top

Well, that wasn’t a fun trip for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks seemingly had everything going their way in the NBA Finals when they arrived here, but Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat sent the Mavericks home frustrated and on the verge of elimination Sunday night after its 101-100 victory in overtime of Game 5 at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Wade scored a career-playoff-high 43 points to torment the Mavericks for the third time in as many games on the Heat’s home court, and made a Finals record 21 free throws -- including two with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime -- to lead the Heat to its third consecutive victory and a 3-2 series lead.

“There was no question in my mind I was going to make them,” Wade said. “There was no question in my teammates’ minds I was going to step up and make them.”

Don’t forget about the coaches.

“He’s a great free-throw shooter,” Miami Coach Pat Riley said. “His percentage in the last eight or nine minutes of the game is up in the 90s, so he’s a winner. To make both free throws, hit nothing but net, is just what he’s about.”

Forward Dirk Nowitzki made a clutch jump shot with about 10 seconds left in overtime to give the Mavericks’ their final lead. Nowitzki, however, was called for the foul that sent Wade, who again beat a double-team to get to the basket, to the line for the decisive free throws.

Veteran guard Gary Payton, who made a big shot in the fourth quarter that helped the Heat win Game 3, gave Miami a 99-98 lead with 29.8 seconds to play in overtime on a layup over Dallas center Erick Dampier.

Dallas -- playing without suspended sixth man Jerry Stackhouse -- got 35 points from guard Jason Terry, 25 from forward Josh Howard and 20 from Nowitzki, but couldn’t overcome Wade.

Mavericks Coach Avery Johnson appeared to signal for a timeout after Wade made the first free throw, which might have been costly for his team, because the Mavericks could have advanced the ball to half court had Johnson used the timeout after Wade made the second attempt.

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

The officials didn’t assume any such thing.

“Josh Howard goes to [official] Joe DeRosa and not only once but twice asks for a timeout,” crew chief Joe Crawford said. “Forced to call it; simple as that.”

Devin Harris’ 50-foot desperation shot wasn’t close, punctuating the Mavericks’ forgettable trip.

Wade only made three of his first 13 shots, but scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, including the Heat’s final 11 points to help force overtime after Miami trailed by eight points late in the third quarter.

The Heat appeared overmatched in Games 1 and 2 at Dallas, but now the Heat has the edge as the series returns to Texas for Game 6 on Tuesday.

“They took care of business at home, we took care of business at home,” said Miami center Shaquille O’Neal, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds. “Now, we just have to try to go there and just win the first one that we play.”

Miami finished with an 11-1 home-court record in the postseason.

It is only the second team to sweep the middle three games since the league adopted a 2-3-2 Finals format in 1985, joining the 2004 Detroit Pistons.

Wade asserted himself as the premier player in the series, scoring 42, 36 and 43 points as the Heat, who appeared headed toward an 0-3 deficit late in Game 3, now hit the road to claim its first NBA title.

There has been a significant shift in the series, and Wade has been a force for change.

“I have a lot of faith in him. We all have faith in him,” O’Neal said. “We just give him the ball and he does what he does. He’s a very unselfish player, a very great player. He started off slow, but when he starts off slow, you don’t have to worry about him heating up.”