Heat 92, Mavericks 84
LeBron James scored 24 points and Dwyane Wade added 22 as the Miami Heat upended the visiting Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night.
Miami's Big Three proved to be too much for the Mavericks to handle as the Heat jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven. Wade, James and Chris Bosh combined for 65 points and 28 rebounds for Miami, which improved to 9-0 at home in the postseason.
Dirk Nowitzki had 27 points and Shawn Marion added 16 for the Mavericks, who shot just 37 percent from the field - their worst showing of the playoffs.
Game 2 goes Thursday night in Miami.
Dallas led the defensive struggle 44-43 at the half and quickly extended the advantage to open the third, with DeShawn Stevenson capping a 7-0 run on a 3-pointer with no Miami defender in sight. The Heat whittled the deficit over the next several minutes and eventually went back in front on a James 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:12 left in the third.
James added an off-balance 3-pointer from the right elbow as time expired - his fourth long-range shot without a miss - to put Miami up 65-61 after three.
Wade's pull-up jumper gave the Heat a six-point edge early in the fourth, and a long jumper with just over four minutes left increased the lead to 77-70. He added a block on a Marion attempt under a minute later, then knocked down a 3-pointer over Jason Kidd's outstretched arm on the next possession.
James put an exclamation point on the stretch with an emphatic dunk with 2:47 left. He was fouled and made the ensuing free throw for a double-digit lead the Heat wouldn't relinquish.