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Mavs try to Heat up in Miami

Mar 29, 2012 - 2:50 PM (Sports Network) - A dislocated left ring finger will not keep LeBron James out of the lineup tonight when the Miami Heat welcome Dallas back to the shores of Biscayne Bay for a rematch of last year's NBA Finals.

This will be the first time the Mavericks will be in South Florida since earning the franchise's first world championship with a win in Game 6 of last season's finals.

James, the Heat's All-Star forward, confirmed on Wednesday that he hurt the digit during the first quarter of the team's 105-90 setback at Indiana on Monday but plans to play with a splint on his finger.

The injury, to James' non-shooting hand, occurred when he attempted to swipe the ball away from Pacers center Roy Hibbert. The two-time former MVP immediately shook his hand and grimaced in pain but played through the injury after the finger was wrapped with tape.

James and Dwyane Wade paced Miami against the Pacers with 24 points apiece, including a season-high four three-pointers from Wade, as they fell for the second time in as many nights. Chris Bosh contributed 14 points but only pulled down two rebounds as Miami lost the rebounding battle 49-33.

"Sometimes you go through these spells in an NBA season and it's a struggle. The last two for us were a struggle," said Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra. "The guys were out there competing, but we just couldn't get over the hump. We just have to stay the course."

Miami is currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, four games behind Chicago.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, have had an uneven season but have picked it up recently winning two straight against Houston and six of eight overall.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points on Tuesday as the Mavericks downed the Rockets, 90-81, in Dallas.

Roddy Beaubois added 14 points, Brandan Wright had 13 and Jason Terry finished with 12 for the Mavs, who were coming off of Sunday's overtime win in Houston and currently hold down the fifth slot in the West.

"We got off to a very poor start," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. "They're a high energy team and they came out with a lot of force and we just didn't play well. Odom, Terry, Wright, all of those guys that came in...Beaubois had a very impactful game. All of those guys did and they were the difference."

This will be the second and final meeting between Dallas and Miami in the regular season. The Heat dominated the first one after watching the Mavs raise their championship banner in North Texas on Christmas Day, leading by as many as 35 points en route to a 105-94 victory. That win also snapped a 14-game regular season skid to Dallas.