MIAMI -- The Dallas Mavericks were the last team to beat the Miami Heat 24 days ago on November 27 to drop them to 9-8, sparking a players-only meeting to address their shortcomings amid heavy criticism directed at their superstars and head coach Erik Spoelstra. Twelve straight wins later, the Heat had quickly turned their season around and were eager to not only keep their streak alive in the rematch in Miami (with only two more victories needed for a franchise record) but also to break a string of 13 regular-season games lost to Dallas. In the end, only one streak would survive. "It was a very good game, a very hard-fought game," said Dwyane Wade after the game. "It came down to them getting the breaks at the end that we didn't get."
Mavs Defense Proving Too Tough to Break Through
The Heat's opponents this month were unable to contain them in transition but the Mavs' length and zone defense proved to be their formula for success as Wade and particularly James (scoreless in the first half) struggled to break out and score in bunches near the rim.
"The last two games I feel like we played some great defense," said Mavs center Tyson Chandler. "It seemed like the longer our winning streak was going, we started to take a step back and relax on the defensive end. We took that loss (against Milwaukee) and I think it woke everybody back up and now we're communicating out there and actually following the coach's game plan. This has to be our identity if we want to have a special year, we got to think defense first."
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