Spare the wine and cheese

Heat win fair and square, no need to blame the refs
Written by Brandman316


When all was said and done, viewers of Game 5 of the NBA Finals had just watched one of the best NBA Finals games of all time. And although Maverick fans accross the nation will be watching slow-motion video over and over and over again trying to find exactly where a foul occured, they still won't realize why they lost Game 5. Instead of focusing on the parts of the game the Mavericks could control, they will be focusing on a play where the Dallas Mavericks put their life on the line in the hands of three old men who in most careers would be retired.

The biggest question from Game 5 shouldn't be "Was that a foul on Wade?", rather it should be "How could Josh Howard screw things up so bad?"

With 0:54 seconds left in overtime, Josh Howard gets fouled and goes to the line to shoot two. At this point, Howard had been 9-9 from the charity stripe and was having an all-around good game. Instead of continuing that success, Howard misses both free-throws short, hitting the front rim and allowing Miami to steal the game, something the Mavericks have done twice in the three game homestand in Miami.

Then with 1.9 seconds to go, Avery Johnson tells Howard to call a timeout after the second freethrow, only Howard miss-reads the signs and calls a timeout after the first freethrow, giving Dallas an almost impossible chance at winning the game.

The fact of the matter is, as Dallas travels back home they have nobody to blame for being down 2-3 but themselves. Dallas had two great chances to get a win in Miami, and both times crumbled under pressure with poor decision making and critical free-throw misses.

If the Dallas Mavericks want to win a NBA Championship, they can not put their destiny in the hands of referees and hope a foul is not called. They need to fight back and show the same determination Miami has shown to get back in this series.

What's even more unfortunate is how Wade's brilliant performance may be somewhat forgotten, with Maverick fans positive that there is a conspiracy against their team. Foul or no foul, Wade hit two clutch free-throws to give Miami the lead and was able to have another stellar night, scoring 42 point and making a franchise high 21 freethrows.

To put it quite simple, the Miami Heat took care of business in Miami and captured the series lead to 3-2. Instead of focusing on aspects of the game they can't control, the officiating by the referees, they instead focused on their on court play and won games 3 and 5 by simple determination. As the series continues, it is starting to become obvious which team has all the veterans on it who have never won a NBA Championship before.

The Miami Heat won Game 5. Period. They weren't given a gift, or bailed out by the referees. Don't the blame the referees if you're a Dallas fan, blame your team for not being able to close out a game. Blame your team for missing key free-throws. Last time I checked, the referees had nothing to do with Dwyane Wade making clutch shot after clutch shot, or Gary Payton making the lay up over Dampier in the final moments, or Howard's two missed free-throws...

Miami did what they had to do, and that's win. The Heat are a determined team, and determination is what NBA Championship teams are all about.