Mavericks close out series, beating OKC

Associated Press

DALLAS

Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks are going back to the NBA finals.

Nowitzki swished a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:14 left and Shawn Marion followed with a three-point play off a steal, the pivotal plays in yet another fourth-quarter comeback, this one sending the Mavericks to a 100-96 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night that closed out the Western Conference finals in five games.

After clawing back from 15 down with 5:04 left in Game 4, the Mavericks were down by six with 4:37 left in this one when they rallied again, outscoring the Thunder 14-4 the rest of the way.

Dallas has never won a championship, and neither has any of its players. Nowitzki and Jason Terry were part of the only Mavericks team to make the finals, in 2006. They were up 2-0 and leading late in Game 3, but lost the series to the Miami Heat in six games.

BULLS-HEAT

DEERFIELD, Ill.

LeBron James is doing it all for Miami, hitting big shots and clamping down on MVP Derrick Rose.

The Heat lead the Chicago Bulls 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals and a win tonight at the United Center means they’ll be playing for a championship.

That’s exactly the way James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh envisioned it when they decided to join together in the offseason. Miami is on the verge of its first trip to the finals since 2006 after beating Chicago 101-93 in overtime on Tuesday.

James led the way with 35 points and helped contain Rose down the stretch. Bosh chipped in with 22, Wade came up with three big blocks in overtime and the bench again delivered as the Heat took a commanding lead.

Now, they’ll try to close this one out.

“We understand it’s going to be a tough game,” Wade said.

“But we have the team and we have the guys that are capable of showing up and putting on a performance that we need to win the game. It’s not going to be pretty, but that’s not Miami Heat basketball anyway.”

The Bulls dropped consecutive games only four times during the regular season and never lost more than two in a row. Their first three-game skid could not have come at a worse time.

“When you look at the score, 3-1, it looks bad,” Chicago’s Luol Deng said.

But he was quick to point out the games have been close. That’s one reason he insisted the Bulls are not out of it.

“I really believe we’ve got a group of guys that are going to keep on fighting,” Deng said.