Ouch!

OK, there's no sugar coating this one -- that hurts. "Stinging" is the adjective that jumps out of the keyboard do describe this 95-93 loss in game 2 at home.

A blow out by 20? Whatever. A 2 point job like this? Well, ouch... And it wasn't even the loss itself, it was the way it happened: completely out of character. Never mind that the Heat had assumed total control over this game in the 4th quarter. When Wade --who put on a one man show all night long-- hit a catch-turn-shoot 3 ball from deep in the right corner with just over 7 minutes to go -- the crowd erupted as the Heat lead grew to 15, and it seemed like the emotional dagger for the Mavs.

Ironically, it was the opposite. From that instant, the Heat stopped playing on both ends of the court. And that is the puzzling, pull your hair out inexplicable nature of this loss. They are the lock down team with 7 to go; they hold the opponent to squat at this point, force turnovers they convert to jams on the other end ... what happened to that team Thursday night we may never know. Instead, it was a rash of Mavs baskets and that gawd-awful halfcourt Heat quicksand where Lebron dribbles out the 24 second clock at the top of the key while 4 guys in Heat uniforms watch, until someone is forced to jack up a 3.

With Dirk on a tear (he scored the last 9 Mavs points) his 3 pointer with 26 seconds left put them up by 3. The out of bounds play Spo called next was brilliant, and it was wonderful to see Chalmers rise to the task, draining a 3 -- without a Mavs player within 10 feet of him to push it back to a tie.

That set up the infamous "last shot."The Heat had that 1 foul to give, and everyone there knew Dallas was going to Dirk. The rest is history and occupied the sports world news cycle for the next 24 hours so I won't recant every detail here, just my own musings.

I understand Spo's decision to put Bosh on Dirk, who had already been getting looks over both Joel and UD based solely on height. Spo didn't want a clean look at this point, and also with a possible bit of surprise element to it, Bosh made objective sense. The only problem with that, is, UD is so darn tough and particularly in crunch time, and has a proven track record against Dirk going back to 06. Pretty sure at this point, if it comes down to that again, and it almost certainly will, we'll see Haslem lining up against Dirk.

In any case, even the above logic breaks down when you analyze that play: Bosh fought through a tough screen and manned up against Dirk from the left free throw line extended, who now had the ball, put one move on Bosh and left him looking flat footed, beating him bad to the basket. Ouch.

I can see all that, what was amazing to me, all 10 times I TiVo'd that play over, was that Haslem, who was in perfect Help Defense position, failed to get over and take the charge, the way he has his whole career, including the time he's played healthy this year. He had plenty of time, was perfectly placed, but somehow ... didn't get there ... Ouch again.

And even still, with a few seconds left on the clock, the Heat pushed the ball up court and Wade put up a running 3 from somewhere between the 3 point line and halfcourt -- and was so hot, hit back iron and bounced out. How much distance is the difference between back iron and swish? After all that, Wade almost pulled off a miracle - Heat fans have seen it before ... hey, that's why we call it "The House of Highlights" ...

So Bosh? Haslem? Joel on Dirk? Whatever. In some respects, you gotta give props to the Mavs. This was the 4th time in the playoffs they've come back from double digits to win at the end of the game. And there you have it. With 7 minutes left, we controlled the game, and by extension, the series headed for a 2-0 lead. And then "it" happened. Now it's a 1-1 series going to Dallas for 3 games and a total dogfight. Statistically, with a 1-1 split in the NBA 2-3-2 format, the team who wins game 3 is heavily favored to win the series.

See you Sunday ...