Miami’s defense finally breaks

Dirk Nowitzki aggressively attacked openings as Miami's defense faltered. (Tim Sharp/Reuters)

LeBron James played a “B-” game when the Heat needed an “A” performance, and the Mavericks hit some incredible three-pointers to more than make up for the fact that Mario Chalmers cannot miss from half-court in this strange NBA Finals. 

Those are important stories, and the seriousness of Dwyane Wade’s hip contusion will obviously be a huge factor as the series shifts to Miami. But here’s an underplayed story from Game 5 that will be overlooked amid LeBron mania: the Heat’s defense finally broke. Part of Dallas’ offensive explosion Thursday night stemmed from the law of averages and some ridiculous shot-making, especially from Jason Terry and J.J. Barea. But what happened in Game 5 went beyond that. The Mavericks, as they have in every series so far, have figured out smart and subtle ways to attack Miami’s aggressive defense, and the Heat, perhaps a bit flustered, have started making uncharacteristic mistakes. 

Miami’s big men in particular made some weird choices in Game 5, and the timing of those choices was crucial. A few weird breakdowns late in the first and third quarters helped Dallas to manufacture points while Dirk Nowitzki rested, and those precious points allowed Rick Carlisle to hold Nowitzki’s playing time to a shade under 40 minutes for the second straight game. The Heat still outscored the Mavs by five points during the 8:23 Dirk sat, but the Mavs survived, and Dirk might have a little extra wind for Game 6. 

On two straight Dallas possessions starting at the 4:15 mark of the first quarter, the Heat botched their defense of that play where Terry dribbles around two consecutive picks and waits for something to open up. On the first, both Miami big men (Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem) ended up guarding the second screener (the illustrious Brian Cardinal), allowing Tyson Chandler to roam open to the hoop. Terry found Chandler, and the Heat fouled him. On the next possession, with Miami in a small lineup, Haslem and Mike Miller miscommunicated and double-teamed the first screener (Chandler) at the rim, leaving Cardinal wide open for a three. 

Dallas deserves credit for mixing up the way it runs this set; these two plays were very different, with the two Dallas bigs setting the screens in different places and varying the size of the gap between the picks. But this is the Finals, and you cannot repeatedly have your big men screwing this up. You cannot gift the Mavericks points while Nowitzki sniffles on the bench. 

Another breakdown: With 39 seconds left to go in the first quarter and Dirk still sitting, Terry tried a desperate isolation against Miller that ended in a spinning fadeaway jumper Miller defended perfectly. For some reason, Howard decided Miller was in trouble and slid off Chandler to double Terry. It was needless help, and the airborne Terry happily slipped a pass to Chandler for a dunk.

Needless help was a theme of the night for Miami. Joel Anthony was awful on Nowitzki, drifting several feet off Dirk toward the paint on several possessions even though nothing of consequence was happening there. Nowitzki hit at least two open jumpers as a result, and Anthony logged just 9:47 after the first quarter. Even Haslem, a better man-on-man defender against Nowitzki, slid a bit too far off Dirk on a few sets where Nowitzki was stationed in the left corner. Haslem left himself too much distance to close, and when the ball swung to Nowitzki, he dribbled by Haslem for scores or drawn fouls. 

Again, credit the Mavs and Dirk for some of this. They have learned they can do damage by using Nowitzki as a spot-up decoy on pick-and-roll plays, and Nowitzki is attacking openings more aggressively, before the Heat’s defense, caught in mid-rotation, can reset itself properly. But the Heat should know this is Dirk Nowitzki. Guard him closely.

Wade and James were not immune from the over-helping virus. On Wade’s very first defensive possession of the third quarter, he decided he needed to abandon Kidd at the top of the three-point arc to help guard Shawn Marion on a pick-and-pop about 18 feet from the rim. 

This is Shawn Marion, nearly 20 feet from the basket. He had some space to work with, but LeBron was closing, and Wade’s help allowed Marion to slip a simple pass to Kidd. The 38-year-old fossil, as Dirk calls him, nailed a three to put Dallas up seven. 

On the very next possession, Bosh and Haslem again miscommunicated on that Terry double-screen play, converging on Cardinal (!) and allowing Chandler to roll free for a dunk. 

Guess who was on the bench as Dallas piled up those five easy points? Nowitzki, resting up for another monster fourth quarter. He was still watching two minutes later when Chalmers, in a classic Chalmers move, tried to jump a passing lane to steal a pass that never came, freeing Terry to cut across the court for a wide open jumper. 

This stuff probably reached its nadir with 10:15 left in the game, when Bosh felt it was more important to guard Ian Mahinmi closely as Nowitzki cut to the hoop on a pick-and-roll with Terry. Bosh was in a tough position, forced to monitor both Dirk and Mahinmi, since Haslem had trapped Terry on the initial screen. But again, the guy rolling to the hoop is Dirk Nowitzki. The guy standing on the other side of the paint, with Wade already crashing on his back, is Ian Mahinmi. Make a better choice next time. 

Let me be clear: Dallas deserves credit for putting the Heat in position to fail. The Mavs have learned what gives the Heat defense trouble, and they are milking those things and adding new wrinkles to them in every game. Nowitzki, especially, has figured out how to get open and what to do when he gets open.

All of these things collided on that Nowitzki dunk that gave Dallas a 102-100 lead. As Terry and Dirk set up for a pick-and-roll in delayed transition, Nowitzki understood his guy (Haslem) was going to jump out on Terry. Dirk didn’t even bother to set a screen; he just slowed down for a tick and then cut to the baseline, where Terry found him open. 

Dirk knew what was coming next: Bosh would rotate to him. But Bosh was late, and Dirk had a window. He understood that, and he drove baseline, without pausing for even a beat. Bosh flailed, as he has on those rare times when he has had to guard Dirk, and Nowitzki slammed home the last two of his 29 points. 

This was good offense and shaky defense. The Dallas offense will be good in Game 6, too. This is what the Mavericks do. They learn, they execute, they put teammates in positions to succeed and they do not waste possessions. Will Miami’s defense be up to challenge again on Sunday?