After Miami tied the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals at two wins apiece here last Thursday, Johnson decided to turn the Mavs into pitbulls, ready for a dogfight in Game 5 this morning (Manila time).
Johnson moved the team out of the plush downtown Four Seasons Hotel and into a less-busy Fort Lauderdale hole, far removed from the distractions of South Beach. He said the transfer should rock the Mavs out of their "vacation mentality."
Mavs owner Mark Cuban said he hopes the switch will bring back the fire in the team’s belly "Get away, feed’ em red meat and get focused," he ordered.
No doubt, the Mavs are preparing for war in a final bid to win a game on the Heat’s homecourt. They blew a 13-point fourth period lead and lost Game 3 by two then were pulverized in a humiliating 24-point rout in Game 4 as Miami came storming back from two straight losses in Dallas.
Under the Finals format of 2-3-2, Miami will host Game 5 with Game 6 and if necessary, Game 7 in Dallas. So far, the host teams are unbeaten in the series. Since the 2-3-2 format was instituted in 1985, only one home team has swept the three middle games, Detroit over Los Angeles in 2004. Miami hopes to become the second to accomplish the feat.
Game 5 is the Heat’s last appearance at home and over 20,000 white-clad fans are expected to jam the American Airlines Arena for a raucous sendoff. "White-hot" has been the Heat’s theme in its quest for the championship and the team has rewarded the Miami faithful with 10 home wins in 11 playoff games.
Game 4 unveiled the Heat at its fiercest. Coach Pat Riley’s charges played physical from start to finish, zeroing in on Dirk Nowitzki who was banged up, bruised and battered. Nowitzki scored only 2-of-14 from the floor, both medium-range jumpers, and had no layup or dunk. Miami’s unforgiving defense limited Dallas to just seven points in the fourth period, a new playoff-low record.
The battle was so intense that Dallas reserve Jerry Stackhouse was slapped a flagrant foul for abusing Shaquille O’Neal with a forearm to the face in an attempt to stop a dunk in transition. Stackhouse was later suspended for a game and will sit out this morning’s contest.
Curiously, it was Stackhouse who was brutalized by O’Neal in Game 1. O’Neal elbowed Stackhouse in the face as he attempted a shot in the lane and opened a cut on his nose. The cut took three stitches to sew up.
Stackhouse is the third Dallas player to be suspended during the playoffs. Jason Terry was suspended a game in the San Antonio series for punching Mike Finley and D. J. Mbenga was in the freezer for five games, dating back to Game 6 of the Phoenix series, for confronting a fan in the stands. Mbenga will be reactivated this morning.
Miami’s James Posey was suspended a game for a flagrant foul in the Chicago series.
Stackhouse’s absence leaves a gaping hole in Johnson’s rotation. He’s the first Maverick off the bench and his 13.0 average in the Finals will be missed.
"I disagree with the ruling," said Johnson. "I don’t think it’s consistent with what we’ve seen in the playoffs. All we want to be able to do is come out and just play the game, no preferential treatment. Let the players determine who is going to win."
Johnson said he’s disappointed that the Mavs aren’t playing the kind of physical defense on Dwayne Wade that the Heat is using on Nowitzki.
"Wade has hurt us in the worst way," said Johnson. "We’re not being as physical with him as we should. And conversely, I just don’t think we’re making him play enough defense. They’re wrapping up Dirk. They’re putting a blanket over him and he’s going to have to get that blanket off of him. I think overall, our team has to get it together and play better. And we haven’t started well and we haven’t finished well."
Johnson said he expects the Finals to go all the way.
"This is a seven-game series," he said. "Two teams that are very closely matched and I don’t know if somebody has the edge or not. I know it’s still a series and we have 2-out-of-3 games at home and we have Game 5 in Miami."
Wade, who is averaging 32.3 points in the series, said he’s back in the flow after the flu slowed him down in the first two games. He scored 78 points in the last two outings.
As for Stackhouse’s absence, Wade said he couldn’t care less.
"We’ve had a guy suspended in the playoffs so we don’t care about that," he said ’They have other players who are good on their team (like) Marquis Daniels, other players who can come in and fulfill the role. We’re prepared for the other guys on their team. We don’t care if they are ticked off because their guy got suspended for hitting our guy."
Johnson said for the Mavs to win Game 5, they’ve got to be mentally tough to endure the Heat’s physical defense. That only means one thing—it’ll be a war to end all wars this morning.
The team that wins Game 5 gains a twice-to beat advantage and has a chance to clinch in Game 6 in Dallas on Tuesday night (Wednesday morning, Manila).