Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Heat 99, Mavericks, 95
Goran Dragic seizes control.
MIAMI — The benefit when the competition comes at the bottom of the standings is that you know it will be competitive.
And when it’s again the Dal- las Mavericks, you know it will come with a bit of an edge.
In a game only the fans of the two teams could truly appreciate, the Miami Heat put together their fourth two-game winning streak of the season with a 99-95 victory Thursday night at American-Airlines Arena.
With guard Goran Dragic seizing control of the offense on a night the featured attraction was expected to be the matchup in the middle between Hassan Whiteside and Dirk Nowitzki, the Heat now are position for their first three-game winning streak of the season Saturday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, in the third game of this fourgame homestand.
Dragic led the Heat with 32 points, his third 30-point game of the season, shooting 4 of 4 on 3-pointers, supported by 23 points from Tyler Johnson.
Whiteside closed with 13 points and eight rebounds, with Nowitzki with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
A 3-point play by backup center Willie Reed staked the Heat to an 80-75 lead with 9:26 to play, with Reed then scoring on a transition dunk for an 82-75 lead to cap a 9-0 Heat run.
But the Mavericks came back with a 7-0 run of their own, capped by a Wesley Matthews 3-pointer to tie it 82-82 midway through the fourth quarter.
That’s when the Heat
moved into the bonus the balance of the night, although Tyler Johnson missed two of three free throws when fouled on a 3-pointer as the Heat fell to 13 of 19 at that stage.
A Deron Williams 3-pointer with 3:21 to play later drew Dallas within 87-85, with Whiteside forcing an errant 18-foot jumper on the other end.
But after a Nowitzki miss, with the shot clock winding down, Dragic stepped into a 25-foot 3-pointer with 2:18 left that lifted the Heat to a 90-85 lead.
Seth Curry, brother of the Mavericks guard, then scored on a driving layup to draw Dallas within 90-87, but Johnson responded with a 3-pointer on the other end for a 93-87 lead.
Later a 3-pointer by Curry and a pair of missed free throws by Dragic left Nowitzki at the line with 18.5 seconds to play, when fouled by Rodney McGruder on a 3-point attempt. Nowitzki made the first and third foul shot to draw Dallas within 95-92.
Even then it was a struggle for the Heat, with a pair of timeouts required to get the ball inbounded.
Later, a 3-pointer by Nowitzki drew Dallas within 97-95, with Dragic fouled with 3.6 seconds left, making both foul shots.
Nowitzki then fell to 1 of 5 on 3-pointers on the other end, with missed shots by the Heat’s Dion Waiters and Mavericks’ Williams following.
After falling behind by 10, the Heat moved back ahead 63-61 with 5:12 left in the third period on a 3-pointer from Luke Babbitt, his first points in two games.
But even with that 11-0 run, the Heat still went into the fourth quarter down 73-70.
The Mavericks shot 8 of 15 on 3-pointers in the first half, including 3 of 3 by Wesley Matthews, to move to a 53-44 halftime lead, despite Tyler Johnson offering 11 points off the bench for the Heat in the first half.
The Heat were outscored 31-15 in the second quarter, shooting 6 of 20 from the floor compared to the Mavericks’ 6 of 9 on 3-pointers in the period. The Heat closed the second period with two assists and four turnovers.
The Heat took a 29-22 lead into the second period, closing the first period with a 20-8 scoring advantage in the paint and 13-7 rebounding advantage.
Whiteside led the Heat with nine points in the opening quarter, consisting attempting to outmuscle Nowitzki inside.
The Heat went 10 deep in the first quarter, including the regular-season NBA debut minutes of former Florida State forward Okaro White, who got that opening-period call ahead of Derrick Williams and Udonis Haslem.
It was the first game of the two-game season series that concludes Feb. 27 in Dallas.
The Heat entered having swept last season’s twogame series and having won nine of the previous 10 meetings, with victories in four of the previous five meetings at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The game concluded a two-game trip for the Mavericks, who entered on a three-game winning streak, coming off Tuesday’s 99-98 victory in Chicago.
The Heat again were without Josh Richardson (foot), Justise Winslow (shoulder), Josh McRoberts (foot) and Chris Bosh (blood clots), with the Mavericks without Andrew Bogut (hamstring).