Heat rally to force overtime, then defeat Mavs, 123-118

MIAMI – The Miami Heat closed the game on a 6-0 run and went on to defeat the Dallas Mavericks, 123-118, on Sunday night at the Kaseya Center.

The loss snapped the Mavs’ four-game winning streak and left them with a 9-8 record entering Monday night’s game in Atlanta. Miami, meanwhile, increased its record to 7-7.

Kyrie Irving led the Mavs with 27 points and six assists, PJ Washington finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Naji Marshall had 20 points and five boards. Also for the Mavs, Klay Thompson contributed 15 points and six rebounds, Dereck Lively II collected 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Daniel Gafford finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.

Miami was led by Jimmy Butler (33 points, nine rebounds), Bam Adebayo (19 points, 11 boards) and Tyler Herro (18 points, 10 rebounds). In addition, the Heat got 15 points from Alec Burks and 14 points from Pelle Larsson.

The Mavs had a 118-117 lead in overtime after Lively’s offensive rebound and dunk. Bur Miami tallied five straight points – on a triple by Adebayo and a bucket by Butler – to go up, 122-118, with 1:38 left.

The Mavs could have gotten closer, but Irving missed two three-point attempts and Washington also missed a three-pointer. Burks connected on a free throw with 12.2 seconds left to account for the final points of the game.

Dallas had an excellent chance to win the game in regulation play. Irving was intentionally fouled with 8.2 seconds left and he sank a pair of free throws that gave the Mavs a 114-112 lead and left the door open for Miami to need a two-pointer instead of a three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

After two timeouts by Miami, Butler somehow broke free for a dunk to tie the game at 114-114 with 4.3 seconds left. After that, a long three-pointer by Spencer Dinwiddie rimmed in and out, and the game went into the overtime period.

The Mavs got off to a quick start and led 18-10 after Irving buried a three-pointer less than five minutes into the game. Much of the Mavs’ early activity came from Lively, who contributed four points, five rebounds and three assists before the game reached midway through the first quarter.

It was a first half where a disproportionate number of fouls were called, and most of them did not go Dallas’ way. The Mavs were called for 16 fouls in the first half and the Heat turned that into 21 free throw attempts, making 13 of them.

Miami was charged with 10 first-half fouls. In fact, Butler (8-of-12 free throws) attempted more charity throws in the opening half than the Mavs (7-of-8).

A 20-5 run by the Heat that bridged the first and second quarters pushed Miami ahead, 38-28, with less than 10 minutes left before halftime. But the Mavs countered with an 11-1 run, thanks to a three-point play by Washington, a tip-in by Gafford and a pair of three-point plays by Irving to tie the game at 39-all with 7:20 to go in the first half.

Miami led, 56-51, at halftime 89-84 after three quarters. After that, the Mavs took charge and were in position to win down the regulation game.

But they just couldn’t come up with the plays they needed and the Heat, playing their first game since Monday, gained some momentum as they forced overtime.

X: @DwainPrice