NBA Game Summary - Dallas at Miami
Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks made three shots in the first quarter, scored 33 points in the first half and beat the Miami Heat by 21.
How?
With a 39-3 run.
Charlie Villanueva scored 20 points and the Mavericks held the Heat to just three points over a nearly 14-minute span in the third and fourth quarters on the way to a 93-72 win on Friday night.
Miami's stale finish -- which came after Dallas started the game ice-cold from the field -- tempered what was a career night for Hassan Whiteside, who set a franchise record with 14 rebounds in the first quarter.
The 7-foot center ended with 16 points and a career-high 24 rebounds for the Heat, who were without Dwyane Wade because of a hamstring strain the All-Star guard suffered Tuesday against Milwaukee, which could sideline him for weeks.
James Ennis added 15 points off the bench, All-Star Chris Bosh scored 12 and Mario Chalmers had 10 in Miami's fourth loss in six games.
"We anticipated that this probably wouldn't be a game where we'd win by outscoring them, we'd have to keep this game down," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. "Second half, they dominated and played their style."
The Mavericks snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Heat in the regular season that spanned their win over Miami in the 2011 NBA Finals. They also stopped a four-game overall losing streak -- their longest in two years.
Whiteside's 16 rebounds in the first half tied a franchise record and helped the Heat take a 45-33 lead at the break, which they built while the Mavericks struggled mightily from the field.
Miami led by as much as 16 early in the third quarter. The Mavericks started their run after being down 59-49 with around four minutes left in the quarter.
Twenty-nine of the 39 points were scored by Mavericks bench players, including 14 by Villanueva, who knocked down half of his six 3s during the flurry.
Tyson Chandler, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the game, had six points during the run, as did Devin Harris. J.J. Barea added five, ending the run with a 3 to make it 88-62 with 3:03 remaining.
Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis finished with 12 points apiece for the Mavs, who shot 41.5 percent from the field, making 13 of their 29 3-point attempts.
"Since I was insanely cold, it was definitely good that we made some shots," said Nowitzki.
Whiteside was signed by Miami in November after spending two seasons out of the league and put up good numbers all month, averaging over 12 points and nine rebounds in January.
He had plenty of opportunities to pull down rebounds in an ugly first quarter.
Dallas missed 14 of its first 17 shots and the Heat didn't fair much better, making just six of their 26 field goal attempts for a 15-13 lead going into the second quarter.
Whiteside's 14 rebounds in the quarter included six on the offensive glass.