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Postgame Breakdown: Mavs 106, Heat 93

The Heat never led in this one. The 0-for-10 start from the field made sure of that. Heat-Mavs-Dirk

Dallas raced to a 17-point lead in the first quarter and carved the Heat's defense with 30 assists, 25 points from Dirk Nowitizki and 20 points and 17 rebounds from Erick Dampier to cruise to a 106-93 victory Friday at AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat (11-10) simply had no answers after falling behind 24-7 in the first quarter. Despite fighting back to get to within three points on five occasions, Miami just couldn't contend with Dallas' precision, experience, clutch shooting and balance. Five Mavericks scored in double figures and their two-headed point guard monster (Jason Kidd and J.J. Berea) each had 10 assists.

How do teams like the Mavericks seem to have two quality, starting-caliber point guards and a team like the Heat can't seem to get a lick of consistency from its one?

So much for the Heat's momentum from that encouraging Western Conference trip. Now, Miami stands 6-6 at home this season. The Mavericks extended their regular-season dominance of the Heat by winning their 11th straight in the series. Of course, that run does not include the Heat's 4-2 series win in the 2006 NBA Finals.

Miami owns the championship rings. The Mavericks own the regular season.

D. WADE'S DOINGS: Wade emerged from the training room after the game wearing a brace on his right shooting wrist, courtesy of a hard fall he took after missing a dunk in the second quarter. That about sums on the night for the Heat. Wade delivered his fourth double-double in five games, but his 28 points and 11 rebounds (tied a career high) couldn't offset Dallas' balanced attack. Wade also had an off night again from the field, going 8 of 24. But this wasn't just a settle-for-jump-shots sort of struggle for Wade. He tried to get into the lane. But even those bunnies weren't falling. The best news of the night for Wade was that his sore wrist didn't require X-rays after the game.

TURNING POINT: Even after its horrible start, Miami managed to pull to within three points in the first half and trailed 53-46 at the break. But then Floyd "Money" Mayweather arrived with his entourage, took his seat near midcourt and three spots down from the Dallas bench. The Mavs came out with another flurry in the second half and quickly pushed the lead back to 15 points with a 16-8 spurt capped by yet another one of those kiss-the-ceiling jumpers from Dirk. It was all but over after that. 

Heat-Mavs-JJ EDGE: Take your pick. The Mavericks' 39 field goals came on 30 assists to offer an example of the ball-movement and execution of Dallas offense. The Heat, coming off a 30-plus assist game of its own, reverted to individual players trying to make something happen against a set defense. And then there were the 17 rebounds from Dampier, who had three more than Miami's starting frontcourt.

HEAD-SCRATCHER: Considering Carlos Arroyo hadn't played the previous two games and seemed to have fallen out of the rotation, you had to wonder why so many fans and reporters were at his locker waiting for him before the game. Turns out, Friday's game was quite an event for Spanish media outlets. With Jose Barea in the Mavs' starting lineup, it might have been the first time two Puerto Rico natives faced one another in an NBA game. On cue, Arroyo entered in the second quarter to make the showdown a reality, with a group of fans waiving the Puerto Rico flag ... Lumped into the Heat's sluggish first half were three missed dunks, with Udonis Haslem blowing an alley-oop on a bad pass from Wade, Wade getting hung and falling on his back after a reverse dunk attempt and Dorell Wright clanging one off the back rim.

KEY CONTRIBUTION: Miami started to rally when Haslem entered the game. After the 0-for-10 start, the Haslem Heat then made 15 of 22 field goals. Michael Beasley gave the Heat its first field goal with a jumper at 6:26 of the first quarter. Haslem them followed with a layup. The Heat went from trailing 24-7 to pulling to within 38-35. Haslem finished 9 of 10 from the field for 22 points and 10 rebounds. Beasley added his own double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Unfortunately, Wade, Beasley, Haslem and a pinch of Joel Anthony (four blocks) were forced to play 3-and-a-half against six. 

NEXT UP: Grizzlies at Heat, 6 p.m. Sunday - AmericanAirlines Arena

(For live news, notes and updates on the Heat, follow me on Twitter @ twitter.com/wallacesports. To post a question or join our live Heat chat each Thursday from 1-2 p.m., click here.)

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