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For three quarters and a half the Miami HEAT thoroughly outclassed the Dallas Mavericks and appeared to be on the verge of securing a 2-0 NBA Finals series lead.

Unfortunately for Miami the NBA game is about putting together a solid effort for forty-eight minutes – not forty-two.

The HEAT’s dynamic combo of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James were seemingly one step closer to winning a championship in their first season together as teammates, up fifteen points with a little over seven minutes to go in Thursday night’s contest.

From there things fell apart rapidly for Miami and the Mavericks were able to capitalize on a surprising opportunity to rally back from the huge deficit winning 95-93 on star forward Dirk Nowitzki’s game-winning drive to the basket with just under four seconds left in regulation.

After the dust settled, the HEAT appeared to be more shocked than panicked about what transpired down the stretch and their failure to close out a wobbly opponent on the ropes. 

“Obviously they played very well,” Wade told the assembled press.  “We pride ourselves on the defensive end, and they were able to break us down at the defensive end.  And we made some mental mistakes.  They got some open shots.  We said in the huddle, we were up 15, that this team is very capable of coming back.  They’ve proven it.  They’ve shown it.”

Most of the media will spin the blame for the HEAT’s latest setback on a premature fourth quarter celebration the team participated in when they stretched their lead to fifteen points

Wade wouldn’t endorse any part of that theory as to why the HEAT stumbled late.

“First of all, every team in the league when they go on a run they do something,” Wade explained. “Whether it’s a signal, whether it’s a chest bump.  It’s a part of the game of basketball.  A celebration is confetti, champagne bottles. There was no celebration.  It was a shot made going into a timeout.  Every team does something.  That’s the game.  If it pumped them up    they won the game.  Obviously it did something.  That’s not the first time.  It won’t be the last time that if we do a great play that we come and our teammates and we do something.”

“Don’t make nothing out of that celebration, like you guys (media) did in the Boston series.  It’s just being excited about the moment.  It had nothing to do with the outcome of the game for us. They made a lot of shots.  They’re a great team.  But we had a lot of breakdowns. “

The fact remains Thursday’s loss was all about failed execution in the waning moments, not overconfidence.

Closing games was a hurdle which most observers thought the team had successfully conquered as they were able to dismantle the aging Boston Celtics and upstart Chicago Bulls in emphatic fashion to reach the Finals.

During each of those series there were an abundance of dagger three-pointers, clutch defensive plays and resounding dunks each leading to a wide assortment of high-fives, chest bumps and towel waving from the HEAT.

The premature celebration angle is indeed a reach since Miami has been doing those things since the start of the postseason.

Ultimately, James chalked up the defeat to faulty defensive execution.

“I think offensively we just weren’t in a good rhythm,” James started to explain. “But it’s not even offensively we’ve been out of rhythm before.  At the end of the day, we hang our hats on our defense.  I think they were 1 for 10 the first four or five minutes of the fourth quarter.  It was 88 73; [they] end up scoring 22 points in the last seven minutes.  They only scored 24 in the whole fourth.”

“We’re up 15.  If they go on a 12 0 run for the rest of the game, if we don’t score another basket, we still win by three.  Jason Kidd had an open three.  Jason Terry had a leak out layup.  He also had a corner jumper.  Dirk hit a wide open three.  Defensively we just have to be more in tune and not allow a great team, a great offensive team to get as many great looks as they did down the stretch.”

James who had previously quieted a lot of skeptics who believed he couldn’t close games was totally ineffective during crunch time in game two scoring only two fourth quarter points. He missed from inside the paint, turned the ball over and bricked two long distance three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. 

On the surface at least there doesn’t seem to be a sense of panic in the HEAT’s locker room but the club is aware of the new energy which Dallas received from their shocking come from behind win. 

“I understand once you don’t close a team down, they get confidence and life,” Wade stated. “Like I said, this is a big challenge for us.  We’re going to have to live up to the challenge, the hole we dug for ourselves, and we’re going to see what we’re made of as a team.”

With the next three games being held in Dallas, the HEAT won’t have a cushion while climbing out of the hole they dug themselves.

Baron Davis Excited About Cavs Picks: The Cleveland Cavaliers lost a whopping 63 contests during the 2011 campaign. While the previously mentioned James was a key factor in the club’s record deterioration from 2010, Cleveland also suffered through a rash of injuries to guys who were expected to play pivotal roles in the post LeBron era.

{AUTHOR_BOX} Heading into 2012 the team appears to be positioned to acquire the talent to at least get them out of the Eastern Conference cellar.

The Cavs own the rights to the No. 1 and No. 4 overall picks in this month’s draft and hold a sizable Traded Players Exception (TPE).

The team is expected to select point guard Kyrie Irving with the top pick and is hoping he has the goods to be their future much like Derrick Rose in Chicago and John Wall in Washington.

One cheerleader of the move for the franchise is veteran point guard Baron Davis who the team acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers back in February.

“I’m great with that,” Davis recently told the press in regards to Cleveland potentially selecting Irving. “From what I’ve been through in my career, playing against all the top guards, it will be great for me to mentor a young point guard. It will be a great addition if we do get another point guard.”

Davis, an eleven year league veteran, averaged 13.9 points and 6.1 assists per game in 15 contests with the Cavs last season. Over the past three seasons his production has dropped dramatically due to a combination of age, physical conditioning and injury.

Obviously a long rebuilding process is something any established veteran with previous playoff experience wants no part of over the long-term, so there is a chance Davis is just saying the right things to avoid damaging his reputation.

For now the Cavs must be happy to have Davis singing the praises of Irving and publicly accepting of possibly playing a mentoring role. 

“He’s quick and explosive,” Davis added. “He’s a good all-around basketball player.”

Davis has battled an assortment of injuries as of late and was hindered significantly by back and knee problems in 2011. According to the report he feels fresh heading into the summer.

I’m feeling good,” Davis said.  “I’ve been getting myself in shape to build a foundation for this summer. I’m back to playing pickup. I can actually run and jump and do the things I wasn’t able to do when I was here.”

Davis is owed more than $28 million over the next two seasons and currently has very little trade value. If he reports to camp in shape and plays with a focused edge from the start of the season, the franchise may be able to flip him for even more pieces to speed up their rebuilding project.

At the very least he’s positioned to be one of the league’s best backup guards,  assuming the Cavs do indeed select Irving to be their floor leader with the top pick.

Rubio Will Thrive In The NBA? Ricky Rubio, the No. 5 overall pick of the 2009 draft, has reportedly signed to join the Minnesota Timberwolves next season after missing the 2010 and 2011 seasons playing professionally overseas.

There continues to be a split of opinion on whether Rubio will be an instant difference maker in the win column for the struggling Timberwolves upon his arrival.

However the young guard has impressed current Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders (also a former Timberwolves head coach) enough for an early vote of confidence.

“I think Rubio is going to be a better NBA player than a European player because it’s a much more open style of play, which is kind of his forte,” Saunders told Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “[Rubio's] very, very good in the open floor, great passer. He’s going to have a couple of highlight passes every game.”

Saunders continued.

“Are there other veteran players that are better than him right now? Yeah. But if you’re a team that’s building as Minnesota is, and you’re building for the future and you’ve got some young players, sometimes you have to let guys like that just go out there and cut their teeth and learn, as much as anything, through some of the mistakes that you make. That’s the situation they’ll go through.”

The Timberwolves, namely front office executive David Kahn, has been banking heavily on Rubio’s arrival being one of the final building blocks to go along with the young core he’s assembled.

Even if Rubio lives up to the hype a playoff berth for Minnesota next season is a huge stretch as the roster is currently constructed, but the team would be heading in the right direction to finally get out of the league basement.

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