Kaymer tries to mirror Nowitzki's NBA title form

Dirk Nowitzki scored 29 points and Jason Terry had 21 points to lead Dallas to a 112-103 win over Miami that put the Mavericks on the brink of the first NBA title in franchise history.Terry on Thursday scored five of Dallas' final seven points, including a three pointer over LeBron James with 33 seconds left, and the Mavericks shot 56.5 percent from the field to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.The Mavericks need one more win for the first NBA title in their 31-year history, but they will have to win at least one game in Miami.

LeBron James' much-discussed move to Miami almost one year ago had one driving motive -- to win an NBA title.Now James, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player who decided that title might never come in Cleveland, will get his chance as he and fellow Heat superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh lead Miami into the NBA's title series starting on Tuesday against the Dallas Mavericks.For James, it's not just about justifying his move to Miami, it's also about expunging the memory of San Antonio's four-game sweep of his Cavaliers in the 2007 finals.

The Dallas Mavericks punched their ticket to the NBA finals, staging another stirring late rally to beat Oklahoma City 100-96 and win the Western Conference crown.With Wednesday's victory, the Mavericks completed a four-games-to-one win in the best-of-seven conference finals series.They will play either Miami or Chicago for the NBA crown, with the Heat leading the Bulls 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals. Game five of that series is on Thursday.

Dirk Nowitzki, the German playmaker who led the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA Finals victory, admitted he was "overwhelmed" by the response as he came back to his home city on Tuesday.The 33-year-old, voted the Most Valuable Player of the NBA championship series, made his first appearance in Germany 16 days after his team's triumph and was greeted by a crowd of 3,000 fans at the city's basketball stadium."It's absolutely overwhelming what's going on here," said the visibly moved Nowitzki upon returning to the Franconia city of Wuerzburg, 120km from Frankfurt am Main.

Dirk Nowitzki hit the decisive layup with 3.6 seconds remaining as the Dallas Mavericks rallied from a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 95-93 in game two of the NBA finals.Nowitzki finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, who levelled the series at 1-1 and handed the Heat their first loss at home in this post-season."What a huge swing that was," Nowitzki said. "It was a huge comeback. We never gave up."

As the NBA's regular season draws to a close tonight, many believe the Miami Heat are the overwhelming favorites to win their second straight NBA title. However, a close look at the numbers suggests the team to beat is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Dallas Mavericks are the National Basketball Association champions after defeating the Miami Heat 105-95 in game six.Jason Terry on Sunday scored 27 points and Dirk Nowitzki finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks won the best-of-seven championship series four-games-to-two to claim their first NBA championship in franchise history.

Dirk Nowitzki finished with 21 points and the Dallas reserves provided plenty of scoring support as the Mavericks rallied to beat the Miami Heat 86-83 to level the NBA finals at 2-2.Forward Shawn Marion scored 16 points and Tyson Chandler finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Mavericks, who came back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth in another tight-scoring contest in which the lead changed hands 12 times on Tuesday.