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James, Heat down Mavs

Nov 16, 2013 - 4:48 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks, Miami's opponent in the 2011 NBA Finals, are the last team to defeat the Heat in a playoff series.

Miami hasn't lost to the Mavs since.

LeBron James had 39 points, six rebounds and four assists as the Heat downed the Mavericks, 110-104, on Friday night.

Dallas defeated Miami in six games in the 2011 NBA Finals, but have dropped all five of their regular-season tilts to the Heat since. Miami beat Dallas in the 2006 NBA Finals in six games.

Miami has topped the 100-point mark in every game this season and has won five of its last six contests.

Dwyane Wade had eight of Miami's 19 steals and netted 17 points to go with eight assists in the triumph.

"It was a competitive game, that team can score," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Dirk Nowitzki poured in 28 points to lead Dallas, which turned the ball over 24 times and fell to 3-1 against the Eastern Conference this season.

"The turnovers doomed us," Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said.

A James jumper staked the Heat a 98-93 cushion with 5:22 remaining, but Miami played the final 5:01 without point guard Mario Chalmers after he was called for a flagrant-two foul on Dirk Nowitzki.

Chalmers swung his elbow at Nowitzki's head while trying to fight through a screen.

Nowitzki sunk both free throws and then knocked down a jumper to whittle the gap to 98-97 with 4:17 left, but an 8-2 Miami flurry put the game away.

After Bosh and Nowitzki exchanged jumpers, James nailed a tough one-footed step back from the high right elbow. A bit later, Monta Ellis came up short on a game-tying 3-point try from the right wing and Bosh and James both hit a pair of foul shots on back-to-back possessions for a 106-99 Heat spread with 46.7 ticks to go.

Dallas held a 32-31 edge after a quarter of play, but the Heat led by as many as 12 in the second before heading into the break with a 60-51 margin.

Jose Calderon's triple capped a 19-4 Mavs run, which gave Dallas a 72-70 lead late in the third.

Miami, though, closed the frame on a 16-6 surge to take an 86-78 advantage into the final frame.

Game Notes

Miami's Udonis Haslem sat out due to back spasms, while Ray Allen missed the tilt due to the flu ... Miami's 19 steals were one off the team record ... The Heat shot 54.1 percent (40-of-74) from the field.