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Howard, Mavericks beat Heat in Finals rematch

Jan 22, 2007 - 5:58 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Dallas Mavericks needed to wait nearly seven months to get another crack at the Miami Heat. Josh Howard did not waste the opportunity.

Howard scored 25 points and reserve Jerry Stackhouse scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the red-hot Mavericks held on for a 99-93 triumph over the shorthanded Heat.

It was the seventh consecutive victory for Dallas, which lost to Miami last June in the NBA Finals. The teams had not met since June 20, when Dwyane Wade scored 36 points to lead the Heat to a series-clinching 95-92 victory in Game Six.

Seven months later, the Mavericks exacted a measure of revenge thanks to the improving Howard, who hauled in nine rebounds and shot 9-of-18.

"It wasn't perfect, it wasn't great but a road game in our league," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "Especially against the world champions, you can't discount that."

Dirk Nowitzki scored 22 points and Jason Terry added 11 and 11 assists for the Mavs, who have won 20 of their last 21 contests to improve to 34-8, the best record in the NBA.

Dallas jumped out to a 51-40 halftime advantage, but Miami battled back in the third quarter and forged a 90-90 tie with 3:28 remaining when Wade drilled a 20-foot jumper.

The Mavericks bore down from there, however, reeling off six straight points over the next 79 seconds to take control.

"Obviously we are a team that tries to milk the hot guy, whoever it is," Stackhouse said. "A lot of nights it is Dirk, lot of nights it is Josh. It was my night tonight with (Terry), so we tried to take advantage of the opportunity. It's always great to know that you can turn it on when it's time."

Nowitzki snapped the tie with a jumper from the left wing with 3:16 left, and Howard finished off a fast break with a layup 28 seconds later to make it 94-90.

Terry drilled a jumper to push Dallas' advantage to 96-90 with 2:09 left, but Miami rallied once again, drawing within 96-93 on Wade's layup with 56 seconds remaining.

The Heat actually had a chance to tie the contest, but Wade missed a 3-pointer with nine seconds to go. The Mavs hauled in the rebound, and Stackhouse converted a three-point play with one-tenth of a second left to make it 99-93, sealing the victory.

"We trapped Wade two or three times near the end just to get the ball out of his hands," Johnson said. "We don't win the game if (Stackhouse) doesn't come off the bench and do what he did."

"Avery just started coming to me a little bit, and I was able to get my rhythm back," Stackhouse said. "That's a big win for us. We know that team's the world champs."

Wade scored 31 points and dished out six assists while Jason Williams added 17 points for Miami, which has dropped three of four since a season-high four-game winning streak from January 7-13.

"I think Jason Terry did a good job of getting his hand in there (on the final shot)," Wade said. "I had a good look and I'd take that shot every time. They went to a zone. ... We just didn't get good shots down the stretch like we normally do. They threw a different defense at us, so it was a good call by Avery."

The Heat once again were without star center Shaquille O'Neal, who has missed all but four games this season while recovering from knee surgery.

O'Neal raised the possibility of a weekend return by participating in practice last Wednesday, but Miami interim coach Ron Rothstein said the 13-time All-Star center would not be available to play until next week.

"We know they're not whole," Stackhouse said. "They don't have Shaq right now. When we see them later, it will be more of a real test."