Mavs One Win Away From NBA Championship

Jet flies in Game 5

Dirk Nowitzki loves to call Jason Terry a "confident young man." That confidence was on full display in the fourth quarter tonight against the Miami Heat. The man they call "Jet" poured in eight of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Mavs to a 112-103 win in game 5 of the NBA Finals. The win leaves Dallas just one victory away from an NBA championship.

"In the fourth quarter I know I am depended on to come through," Terry said at his post game press conference.

Like Terry, LeBron James knows he is depended on to come through in fourth. In this NBA Finals, it's all about the fourth quarter. But for the fifth straight Finals game, James failed to make an impact in the final frame, scoring only two points (1-4 fg). In five Finals games, James has scored a total of 11 points. To put James' disappearance in its proper perspective, James has scored at least 11 points in the fourth quarter five times in this year's playoffs. Despite scoring only two points in the fourth, LeBron managed to record a triple double (17 pts, 10 boards, 10 asts). Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 23 points, but a hip injury caused him to miss the start of the second half. He did return midway through the third.

But the night belonged to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks. The resilient Mavs vowed to help Dirk with the scoring load prior to game 5 and they delivered. Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and J.J. Barea all discovered their jumpers in game 5, combining for 51 points on 62% shooting (18-29 FG).

The series heads back to Miami for game 6 on Sunday night.