By JAIME ARON
Associated Press
MIAMI — Jason Terry didn’t like Dwyane Wade strutting his stuff in front of the Dallas Mavericks bench, and let him know it.
So what if the Miami Heat were up by 15 points with 7:14 left and had plenty to celebrate? Terry and the Mavericks weren’t about to go down 2-0 that easily.
Terry fired back with the first six points in a 22-5 run that ended with the Mavericks pulling off one of the most stunning rallies in NBA finals history, beating the Heat 95-93 on Thursday night. The next three games are in Dallas.
Terry went scoreless in the second half of the opener, and was a miserable 4 of 16 for the series before his key roll down the stretch. He scored eight points in the furious rally, finishing with 16 points, five assists, two steals and a huge smile.
It was especially sweet for him to stick it to the Heat, their fans and Wade because he and Nowitzki are the only players left from the 2006 Mavs who blew the finals by losing three straight games in Miami.
In ’06, the Mavericks didn’t have the resolve to recover when things were slipping away.
This postseason, they have proved time and again that they can.
Sure, they blew a 23-point lead against Portland, but they won their next seven. In Game 4 of the conference finals, they overcame a 15-point deficit with a little more than 5 minutes left, something they certainly were thinking about when down by the same margin but with even more time on the clock Thursday night.
Terry is one of the club’s emotional leaders. His fiery attitude and on-fire performance down the stretch were as crucial for Dallas as Dirk Nowitzki playing through an injured finger on his left hand.
