NBA: Mavs and Heat Ready for Round 5

This has been the closest NBA Finals series in living memory and Al Dannity says that after the drama we’ve seen so far, expect some explosive offerings in Game 5.

Time to take over?
Did Sylvester Stallone direct Game 1 and Game 2, with Dallas playing Rocky to finally climb the mountain top in one of the greatest comebacks of all time? No that can’t be right because then they would have finished off the Heat soon after. Perhaps Oliver Stone directed Any Given Game 3? The Heat overcame their demons, sacrificing individual statistics for the betterment of the team. No that doesn’t work either because how can you explain LeBron’s genuine clunker on Tuesday night. Game 4 had to be the Terminator right? An unstoppable machine somehow prevented from achieving victory, at least for now, by the Mavs.

Oh to hell with it, just give Michael Bay the reins. I want to see some explosions. This is a series with no coherent narrative, no plotline to sum it all up. There have been memorable stories but it’s like they have been self-contained. The comeback by Dallas in Game 2, Miami’s cold blooded win in Game 3, and Dirk playing with the flu on Tuesday. None of these can tell us what is going to happen next. After 4 games there’s only a 5 point difference in scoring. It’s that tight. Unless someone takes over, for more than one game at a time, this is a trend that is likely to continue right up until Game 7.

But what about tonight?
NBA betting fans know both of these teams want to win badly, tonight the question is who needs to win more? Normally with this being their last game at home in the series my head would say the Mavericks and my heart would chime in with it. Not this time and for a few reasons.

The Heat know how important momentum could be in this series. So far no-one has won back-to-back games. A loss tonight and they would need to rely on winning both of their games at home. Dallas will go all out to win but if they lose they won’t lose hope. The Mavericks know they are capable of winning in Miami, twice if necessary. Tonight the Heat, especially LeBron, need to put things right. Bet on Miami to squeeze home in another tight game.