Dallas took a commanding 2-0 lead, dominating and leading by as much as 27 before finally securing a 99-85 win. The series now heads to Miami for the next three games.
The Heat failed to live up to their promises, with Shaquille O'Neal again a non-factor. Miami had said that they'd go through Shaq more after his touches were limited in Game 1, and again Shaq's touches were seldom, scoring 5 points on only 5 attempts, and was on the Heat bench for most of the second half. His free throw shooting was poor once again, with Shaq going 1-7 from the charity stripe.
The Mavericks used a balanced attack to demolish the Heat, led by Dirk Nowitzki's 26 points to go with 16 rebounds, Jerry Stackhouse with 19 points, Game 1 hero Jason Terry's 16, and Josh Howard with 15 points. Devin Harris also scored in double figures for Dallas, finishing with 11 including a key shot in the last 1:30.
Dwyane Wade led Miami with 23 points, but was 6-19 from the field. Wade did make 11-14 free throws.
James Posey's ability to draw the offensive foul - he took four charges in Game 2 - is a bright spot that the Heat can take from the game. Posey fouled out with just over three minutes remaining in the fourth.
Miami were able to make a run during the fourth quarter to get within 12 points with 4 minutes remaining and again with 2:30 remaining, but were never able to get any closer.
Teams leading the NBA Finals 2-0 have won the championship 93% of the time (25-2), showing that Miami have a tough road ahead should they be able to recover.





