On an evening when Dirk Nowitzki's shooting was cold by his stellar standards, he was still hot, due to a fever he awoke with, which caused his body temperature to climb to upwards of 102 degrees. Entering the game, it was the Mavs who were feeling the heat; under pressure and under the weather, Dirk delivered.
If his sallow skin, frequent bench breaks, and the towel draped on his head during timeouts weren't obvious indications of his illness, then his missing a free throw -- something he hadn't done so far in the series (and has done only 11 times throughout the course of the playoffs) -- illustrated that he wasn't well (he finished 9-10 from the line). Although he was ailing, he helped Dallas recover to tie (or should we say Tylenol?) the series.
As he did in game two, Nowitzki, burning up, burned the Heat for the Mavericks final field goal. Dirk, with Udonis Haslem hanging all over him, made a driving layup with 14.4 seconds left to put Dallas ahead by 3 points. He finished strong, not letting his fatigue force him into a fadeaway. He may have been queasy, but he made it look easy. While Nowitzki was coughing, the Heat coughed up another fourth quarter lead, an unhealthy pattern that requires immediate attention. Despite a drained Dirk occasionally looking like he might collapse, he didn't. The same can't be said of Miami.
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