Mavericks down Heat in finals rematch

Jerry Stackhouse poured in 23 points off the bench while Dirk Nowitzki netted 22 and pulled down 11 boards for the Mavericks, who have won four straight on the road, seven in a row overall and 20 of their last 21 contests. Jason Terry added 11 points and dished out 11 assists in the win.

Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 31 points and also grabbed six boards and handed off six assists for the Heat, who have lost two straight and three of their last four games. Jason Williams chipped in 17 points and Udonis Haslem had 15 points and eight boards in the loss.

This was the first meeting between the teams since Miami came from behind and won four straight games, defeating the Mavs in six games for the NBA championship.

Antoine Walker’s layup brought the Heat within four, 64-60, but Dallas tallied eight of the next 10 points, including Stackhouse’s three-point play, extending the lead to 72-62.

Miami countered with a 13-4 rally, spanning the third and fourth quarters, capped by Wade’s three-point play, narrowing the gap to 76-75.

The Mavs answered with seven straight points, all coming off the hands of Stackhouse, for an 83-75 margin with under 9 1/2 minutes left.

With Dallas leading 90-84, Miami fought back with six consecutive points, ending with Wade’s fadeaway jumper, tying the game with nearly 3 1/2 minutes to play.

However, the Mavericks then scored six straight of their own for a 96-90 advantage with 2:09 remaining.

Williams sank a free throw and Wade followed with a layup, bringing the Heat within 96-93 with 56 ticks left, but his game-tying trey attempt rimmed out. In the last two minutes Miami missed on 3-of-4 from the line.

After scoring 16 of the first 23 points for Miami, Wade came down awkwardly on his left ankle while trying to grab a rebound and headed to the locker room.

Stackhouse’s jumper as time expired gave the Mavericks a 31-23 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

Dallas opened the second quarter by scoring eight of the first 10 points, for a 38-25 lead, but then Wade returned with nearly nine minutes to play.

Trailing 42-28, the Heat reeled off an 11-4 streak, highlighted by an acrobatic layup from Williams, cutting the deficit to 46-39. The guard drove to the hoop with the ball extended in his right hand before switching to his left in the air and flipping it in off the glass.

Terry’s three-pointer with .5 ticks on the clock gave the Mavericks a 51-40 halftime lead.

Game Notes

Walker finished with 11 points and five rebounds...The Heat shot 49 percent from the field, while the Mavs connected on 47 percent of their shots from the floor...Dallas cleaned up on the glass, outrebounding Miami 48-35.