Haywood You Play?

Game four at home for the Mavericks is a must-win and the key to victory could center on their big men. Dallas desperately needs Tyson Chandler to step up and backup Brendan Haywood to suit up, especially if their substitutes' shooting stays shaky. Yes, Haywood, who's averaging slightly over 3 points and 4 rebounds in the playoffs, is a side salad to a 16-oz. sirloin (it's better than being the sprig of parsley portrayed by Ian Mahinmi)*, but his presence was missed in game three. Haywood represents more than six fouls and relief for Chandler when he's winded. He can disrupt shots or at least deter James and Wade from making a beeline to the baseline as often as they have. If Haywood plays, which looks like it will be a game time decision, it allows Chandler to be more aggressive on defense, knowing a capable, veteran replacement is at the ready, should he get into foul trouble. Defense off the bench begins and ends with Haywood, since Carlisle has only allowed "the Custodian" to mop up for a minute, max (that's less time than the ball boys were seen sopping up a spilled drink on Sunday).

Chandler is limited on offense, but he must be more assertive than his 1-4 performance in game three; the Mavs can't afford for him to play Joel Anthony to a draw on offense (in 17 more minutes). The Mavs should try to get him involved early on by setting him up for some good looks from in close. Last time we checked, Jason Kidd still knew how to throw an alley-oop.

We'd advocate playing both bigs simultaneously for stretches and sliding Nowitzki to the three (or going with three guard, like Barea, Kidd and Stevenson, who's made 6-9 threes in the series, one more than Dirk). That size advantage, while slowing them down to be more susceptible to transition points, would free up space for their guards to slash to the basket and potentially help those shooters regain their confidence, and could prove stifling on defense (Miami couldn't counter this tactic, since Spoelstra isn't using Ilgauskas or Dampier, despite our earlier advice). Haywood has said he needs to be at 70 percent strength in order to play with his strained right hip flexor; if he isn't in uniform, Miami will be secretly shouting "hip, hip hooray!"

*That steak analogy is dedicated to the Dallas sports fans. And it was well-done.