Mavs Game

With its 100-96 loss in Game 5 on Wednesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder became the 201st team that failed to come back from a 3-1 deficit to win an NBA playoff series.

The 1994-95 Houston Rockets are one of only eight teams to successfully come back and win. Thunder coach Scott Brooks won the world championship playing for Houston the previous season and was a reserve guard with the comeback Rockets, but he was traded on the night of that season’s trade deadline.

“And I’m still bitter,” Brooks said of former Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich. Mr. C (owner Donald J. Carter). The following season, Brooks’ trade from Houston became known as the “Scott Brooks Rule,” which prevents a player from potentially being traded at halftime on deadline day. Brooks was traded on Feb. 23, 1995. Rockets general manager Bob Weinhauer waved Brooks over to inform him.

Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, who rarely is chatty to begin with, gave short answers during his postgame interview session.

What was the difference between the two teams? “We’re not worried about Dallas.

Observations from Game 5.

• With 8:15 left in the second quarter, Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was whistled for his third foul while guarding Dirk Nowitzki. Nick Collison also contested the shot. • Thunder starters shot a combined 20 for 56 from the field (. 357). Meanwhile, subs James Harden (7 for 11) and Collison (6 for 9) shot a combined 13 for 20 (. 650).
“Do you guys tell them (game officials) to let them play, or do they make the decision to let them play?” Cuban asked with the Mavs trailing 55-52 at intermission. At the time, Dallas had 10 fouls to OKC’s nine. • Thunder center Kendrick Perkins, who played 25 total minutes in the Game 4 loss, played all but three seconds in the first quarter and 18 minutes in the first half, but just 10 after intermission when Brooks decided to go with a smaller lineup.

Team Spirit

Brooks, during his pregame interview session with reporters: “The spirit of this team is good. We’re going to play as hard as we can tonight. I have a locker room full of gym rats who love to play.

MIAMI -- If the Miami Heat are going to recover and win this NBA championship, they may want to put the Dallas Mavericks away before the final minutes.
Five games into the NBA finals, the Heat have had chances to win all five games. The score hurt worse than the hip after Game 5.
It's just one game, a couple of plays. _ Game 2, Dallas trailed 88-73 when Wade made a 3-pointer with 7:14 remaining. _ Game 4, Udonis Haslem's jumper with 10:12 left gave Miami a 74-65 lead. From there, Dallas went on a game-ending 21-9 run.
_ Game 5, the 99-95 Heat lead after Wade's 3 vanished quickly, with the Mavericks finishing with a 17-4 kick to move one win from the title.
Others are giving the Heat, well, heat.
"We've had a few breakdowns late in games in this series that we didn't have in the first three series," James said. We got two games left, and we worked hard all year to get home-court advantage. Had Miami not won that night, it would not have the home-court edge over the Mavericks. Now the Heat play at home with the pressure of needing to win twice for the NBA title.
"By definition, this certainly is a series of mental and physical endurance, and that's why it's a seven-game series," Spoelstra said Thursday night before the team left Dallas. "Each game is a possession game going down to the stretch. It's happened before in the NBA, teams coming home down 3-2 and recovering to win the finals. The series is not over. If you look at it really now, all that's happened, you can look they won their two home games, we won all three home games.

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