ESPN

For the past five seasons, Mark Cuban had to listen to taunts during the Dallas Mavericks’ annual visits to Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena.

Those were among the rare occasions that the Dallas Mavericks’ outspoken owner was speechless, sickened by the thought of watching the 2006 NBA title slip away against the Miami Heat, who rallied from an 0-2 series hole and a 13-point deficit in Game 3 to finish off those Finals in six games.

Cuban could have the ultimate response Thursday night, when the Mavs play in Miami for the first time since clinching the franchise’s first title on the AmericanAirlines Arena court in June. Cuban could flash his brand-new championship ring, but he planned to leave his bling in its usual display spot in his bedroom.

“I don’t want to be that guy who does the nah-nah-nah-nah-nah thing,” Cuban said. “It’s not that I have any class whatsoever. I just don’t want to be that guy.”

Cuban has engaged several opponents in public trash talk, including Miami’s Dwyane Wade, whose leadership skills were mocked in a 2007 blog post by Cuban. However, Cuban said it wouldn’t be right for him to “return volley” with trash talk to Miami fans after being annoyed by it the past five years, which is why he resisted the temptation to bring his ring on the trip.

“I did think about wearing it down there,” Cuban said. “Then I’d become one of ‘those people.’ I just always hate it when anybody would come around and show off their ring. I was always like, ‘That’s not right,’ so I don’t want to be that guy.”

Jason Terry, who joins Dirk Nowitzki as the only players on the Mavericks' roster for both Finals appearances, recalls that even the Heat ball boys would wear their rings when the Mavs have come to Miami over the past five years.

Terry, the Game 6 hero this past summer, will wear his ring to the arena Thursday night. But that is not unusual for the Mavs’ flashy sixth man, who says the 2006 Finals collapse still sticks with him despite finishing the job against the Heat in June.

“To me, yeah, we have one, but we should have two,” said Terry, who famously got a tattoo of the Larry O’Brien Trophy on his right biceps before last season, predicting the Mavs’ title. “That’s how I look at it.

“And just the way that we lost, you know what I mean? Just the way that happened. It still leaves a bitter taste, and I don’t think it will ever go away.”

Added Nowitzki, the reigning Finals MVP: “Obviously when you go in that building, you’re going to see the banner they have up there from ’06. We were so close, but like I said, you can’t always live in the past. As an athlete, you’ve got to move on, but it was always tough to go back there.”

Nowitzki has worn his ring only once or twice and had no plans to bring it on this road trip. He isn’t in a sentimental mood as the Mavs fight for playoff position in the Western Conference.

In Nowitzki’s mind, the Mavs have spent more than enough time celebrating. Their focus now needs to be on preparing for another playoff run.

“Yeah, it was [special], but I don’t want to dwell too much on the past,” Nowitzki said. “I mean, it felt like we were celebrating all season. With the lockout-shortened season, we didn’t get our rings on time. Then we celebrate the banner, we celebrate the rings and every other day a player came in here getting a ring. So we’ve been celebrating a lot this year.

“We want to kind of put it behind us and just move forward and hopefully have a good playoff run here. Yeah, it’ll be nice to go back to the scene of the crime, but we’ve got to move on. We’ve got a ballgame to play.”

Dirk Nowitzki's memories of the last night he spent in Miami are incredible, albeit incomplete.

He still has vivid memories of dashing off the court as the clock ticked down and bawling tears of joy in the AmericanAirlines Arena visitors’ locker room, releasing all the emotions after finally accomplishing his ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship. He remembers the team bus rolling directly from the arena to Club Liv in Miami Beach after the Mavs slammed the door on the Heat with the Game 6 win.

From there, well, it gets a little fuzzy.

Dirk knows he chugged from a gigantic $90,000 champagne bottle as he danced into the wee hours of the morning with teammates, owner Mark Cuban, support staff, friends and others. But parts of the best night of Nowitzki’s life are definitely a blur.

And, as far as he’s concerned, it’s irrelevant as the Mavs return to Miami as the defending NBA champions.

“Yeah, it was [special], but I don’t want to dwell too much on the past,” Nowitzki said. “I mean, it felt like we were celebrating all season. With the lockout-shortened season, we didn’t get our rings on time. Then we celebrate the banner, we celebrate the rings and every other day a player came in here getting a ring. So we’ve been celebrating a lot this year.

“We want to kind of put it behind us and just move forward and hopefully have a good playoff run here. Yeah, it’ll be nice to go back to the scene of the crime, but we’ve got to move on. We’ve got a ballgame to play.”

Nowitzki will leave his championship ring at home. He’s only worn it once or twice – not since he “swagged the symphony,” as he said – and doesn’t feel the need bust out jewelry to gloat during his return to Miami.

This is a business trip, plain and simple. The Mavs’ bus won’t be stopping at Club Liv.

“Maybe in the summer again, but I’ll definitely stay away from there,” Nowitzki said. “We did have a good time there.

“That was a great time. We’d love to do it again, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

FRISCO, Texas -- Even actor comedian Donald Faison is talking about the Dallas Mavericks’ recent championship run.

Faison will be one of many celebrities at the 10th annual Reebok Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game at Dr Pepper Ballpark alongside Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and president Donnie Nelson. The Larry O'Brien trophy will also make an appearance.

The New York native is a huge New York Knicks fan but still watched the rest of the postseason after his team's first-round exit. Faison said that after the Mavericks swept the Los Angeles Lakers, he felt it was obvious they would reach the Finals.

“But the way they handled Miami, it seemed like Miami didn’t want to play anymore other than Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade," he said. "The way they were able to do that was quite impressive.

“And the fact that J.J. Barea is shorter than I am and can do what he did against Miami, against L.A., against Oklahoma City, that’s impressive. We’ll see if they sign him again next year, but that was really impressive.”

Faison rooted against the Heat for the same reason as Cleveland Cavaliers’ fans -- LeBron James. Faison was upset when James didn’t take his talents to Madison Square Garden, saying he views James similarly to former Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller, who was hated by Knicks’ fans for his antics during the intense Knicks-Pacers rivalry in the 1990’s.

“I commend LeBron though and anybody else who is willing to be a villain for the rest of their career,” Faison said.

For those of you who missed it, Dirk Nowitzki joined Ben & Skin on Tuesday morning for 30 very candid minutes on 103.3 FM. The NBA Finals MVP let his guard down and provided insight for his championship-moment exit, the Finals afterparty and his plans for the summer.

Here's a mere snippet of what he had to say, or you can just click the link below to hear the whole interview -- and the tone in which Dirk said it. It's must-listen audio for any Mavericks fan:

Why he left the floor immediately after winning the championship:

"In my career and my life, so far, I had two huge goals and they were to go to the Olympics and to win a world championship. After both big moments when I achieved [them], I needed a moment to myself. It was the same in Athens when we clinched to go to Beijing. I couldn’t talk for like 30 minutes. I had to go into the locker room and lay down and was crying like a little baby. I just needed a little time.

PODCAST
NBA Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki joins The Ben & Skin Show to discuss his life since the Mavericks won the NBA title, his relationship with Miami's Dwyane Wade and how he's weighing his options between rest and the German national team this summer. Listen

"The same happened in Miami. I had to run off the court. I needed a couple minutes so I was laying in the shower with a towel in front of my face. The PR guy for the NBA was running back and saying, “You gotta come out, they are about to present the trophy” and I was like, “I don’t want it. Give it to me in 30 minutes. Hold the whole celebration up.” And they were like, “No, you have to come out in a couple minutes” so at least I had like five or six minutes to gather myself and get a couple tears out of the way. Then I was fine.

"If you work for something so hard for so long and you put so much work into it to finally reach your goal, it’s just like the emotions come out and a lot of pressure comes off. Not only the pressure that the public puts on you, but also myself. I put the most pressure on myself to perform and make my dreams come true. Once that happened, it always comes out and everything flows out a bit."

On Holger Geschwindner sitting down throughout the championship party:

"He’s a freak. Honestly, I think it is one of his proudest moments too. He’s been hearing the critics all along about how you can’t get it done. I think he was just so overwhelmed texting people and I’m sure he got a million texts. My phone was blowing up and I didn’t even care. I was partying. We had the biggest champagne bottle I’ve ever seen in my life. That thing was so huge. I was just having the time of my life and really enjoying the championship, but I was wondering too. I was like, 'Holger, get up. What are you doing? Let’s start dancing or do something,' but he was just sitting there texting people.

"[Holger] was in his leather jacket. He’s been wearing that, it’s got to be the last 10 years straight almost every day. The guys on the team murder him every day when it’s like 100 degrees out and he walks in with a leather jacket and then finally we go somewhere into a gym and its cold and he’s like, 'See. I told you.' Its 120 degrees out, why do you always wear that jacket?"

About the party at a club on South Beach:

"We’ve got the trophy in the club, which was a circus. I thought somebody may run away with it for sure. Cuban was just handing it out like it was a bottle of water. I saw random people with it and was like, 'Oh God, this can’t end good.' But our security guys did a good job keeping an eye on it. It was an unbelievable night to go in there with the trophy with the guys. It was great."

Has he touched a basketball since winning the championship?

"I will not for awhile. The only thing I’m debating is whether I’ll play for the German national team this summer which is at the end of August when we have the European Championship coming up. So if I do that, I probably have to start working out in the middle of July, so I only have three more weeks of rest if I do that. If not, then I’ll probably take off longer.

"I did do a little cardio [because] you never just want to completely go down to zero fitness-wise and start all over because that is the hardest thing, especially when you’re over 30 [years old]. You always want to keep a level of fitness. I played some tennis this week which was fun and I did a little cardio, but I won’t touch a ball for at least a month."

Did beating the Miami Heat for the championship make it sweeter?

"I don’t know, maybe. Like I said during this run, it’s taken five long years to get back to the Finals. We had a great year after we went to the Finals, winning 70 games. Then basically you think that we were right back playing at a high level on that stage in no time, but it took us five long years and a bunch of first-round exits [to get back]. If we got back to that stage, I probably would have played the Clippers if I could or really anybody because it was such a long, grinding run to get back. Maybe it made it a little extra special in the end to beat the Big Three. Maybe that was the case, but like I said, I would have played anybody at that point because it was just so hard and so long to get back there."

Was there extra incentive from Dwyane Wade’s comments in 2006 and 2007?

"Yeah, it was. I think that everybody knows that we aren’t the closest friends. We are competitors. Stuff was said there in those Finals. I said that we gave the Finals away and that probably didn’t sit well with Wade. That’s why he said some of the things he said. I don’t think that necessarily fueled me. I think that the experience of losing in the Finals helped me as a player to work harder and to be a better closer and to just come back stronger every year. I think it was good for me to go through that experience of losing one, but I never let critics get to me. I knew I had to work on my game to get better and be a better all around player to help those guys. Over the years I’ve just added more and just the jump shot. What I was able to do this playoff run was get to the line, able to drive more and get to the basket on key plays. Just being a better all-around player and losing in 2006. It’s definitely good now because the critics basically have to shut up. I heard for my whole career that my style can’t win because it is just jump shooting off of one leg and it wasn’t consistent enough. And that’s partly why this one is so sweet too."

One of the worst losses in Cowboys history came in the 2008 regular-season finale at Philadelphia.

Needing a victory to reach the postseason, the Cowboys lost, 44-6, to the Eagles. It was a terrible on-the-field performance. After the game, hurting due to a rib injury, quarterback Tony Romo was asked about another difficult loss in December. At that time, Romo's record fell to 5-8 in December.

Romo tried to put things in perspective by saying, "I wake up tomorrow and I keep living."

It was an interesting comment from the quarterback after such an embarrassing loss.

Sunday night after Game 6 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James, who has been criticized for his poor play in the fourth quarter, commented on what his critics have said about him.

"They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal," James said. "But they have to get back to the real world at some point."

It was almost as if James was telling his critics to get over it, because he's a rich man who will be all right.

Fans want players to feel their pain, especially in public, and when it doesn't happen, which was the case with Romo and James, criticism mounts.

People who know Romo said he felt bad about the Eagles loss, but with growth he probably wouldn't be so flippant after a loss again, and he hasn't. Romo, in fact, has become one of the more trusted leaders on the Cowboys, from organizing the private workouts during the lockout to getting on players behind the scenes when things go wrong.

Dwyane Wade is without question the leader of the Heat. In time, maybe James will become a leader on the Heat, much like Romo is now with the Cowboys.

MIAMI -- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was having a ball. He yelled at the refs, cheered with his team and got a champagne bath.

"Did anybody inform you guys? We're world champions," Cuban told reporters after the Mavs ended the NBA Finals with a 105-95 victory over the Miami Heat in Sunday night's Game 6.

Cuban said earlier in the season that he didn't think the Heat would have success with the Big Three. When asked about those comments after the Mavs' win, Cuban said, "I could care less about the Heat. That's their problem. We played a great game. The Heat is a great team. They did their thing, we did ours. We scored more points, so that's all that matters."

Cuban did a nice thing by having NBA commissioner David Stern present the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy to original Mavericks owner Donald Carter.

Carter choked up when asked about getting the trophy from Stern.

"Mark is class," Carter said. "He's the only guy that I've ever known that loves basketball more than my wife. He's the only person. He has been such class and he just wanted to take it through the progression we started and he took it to the finish line and he really has. And he did it with class."

Cuban hasn't been as vocal during the postseason as he has been in years past. He's been fined numerous times by the league for his comments, mainly about the referees. This go-round, he decided to keep quiet.

"The big mystery, huh?" Cuban said. "We had just done playing Portland and going to L.A. I knew the questions everybody was going to ask. They were going to ask me about my repartee with Phil Jackson and the things I said about Ron Artest. I didn't want to get in the middle of a back-and-forth about that. And then we went to Oklahoma City and I was going to get asked about why I didn't vote to have the Sonics move so close to me. Why didn't I vote against it? Then about 2006, it didn't make any sense to say anything. The quieter I got, the more we won. I didn't want to break the karma."

MIAMI -- When the final buzzer was about to sound, Jason Kidd wanted the one thing point guards love to have: the basketball.

Standing near the scorers table, Kidd got the ball for the final dribbles of the 2010-11 season. The Dallas Mavericks knocked off the Miami Heat in six games, winning the final one 105-95 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

Kidd, a 17-year veteran, was smiling and hugging anybody he could.

"Man, it's a dream come true," Kidd said. "It's not real right now because just the battles against the Heat and understanding the journey, it's been a long journey for 17 years. I thought I had an opportunity in '03 to win a championship [with New Jersey], and I was on the other end. We lost to the Spurs."

In his third trip to the NBA Finals, Kidd finally got a championship. It's something all players seek when they enter this league, and Kidd, after getting there twice with the Nets, wasn't sure he would get here again.

But a midseason trade during the 2007-08 season changed things for him. The Mavericks sent a younger player, Devin Harris, to the Nets for Kidd in an eight-player deal. At first the deal didn't seem to work out for the Mavs with then-coach Avery Johnson. There was the game versus the San Antonio Spurs that season when Kidd was taken off the floor in the last 34 seconds of a loss.

"You have to talk to coach about that," Dirk Nowitzki told reporters at the time.

Kidd took the high road, saying he supported the decision. Still, a future Hall of Fame point guard taken off the floor in the closing moments of a game? Sounds crazy.

After Johnson was fired, Rick Carlisle came in and understood what he had in Kidd. He didn't have a player who was a scorer. He had a facilitator. An assist man who worked on his jumper just in case it was needed.

"His view of the game is so different, and he's savant-like," Carlisle said. "He's just been a thrill and a privilege to spend time with."

In these Finals, Kidd was the glue.

After Dwyane Wade and LeBron James had a little sparring session near the Mavericks bench in Game 2 after building a 15-point lead, it was Kidd who kept Jason Terry calm.

"Deuce is funny," said Terry, referring to Kidd by his jersey number. "He said being from Oakland, he said it brought out the GP in me. Everybody knows who GP is, Gary Payton. One of my idols. A good friend."

Terry sparked the dramatic rally that the Mavericks staged to win Game 2 on the road.

On Sunday night, when Nowitzki struggled with his shot (he was 4-for-19 after three quarters), Kidd got into the head of the Finals MVP and told him to keep going.

In the fourth quarter, Nowitzki made 5-of-8 shots, scoring only one fewer point in the fourth than Dwyane Wade and LeBron James combined.

"We just kept playing," Kidd said. "That just shows the character of this team. No matter how old you are, we understood how to play the game, by passing the ball and making sure that we didn't take shots where three or four guys are on you. We just made the extra pass. We didn't care who put the ball in the basket."

MIAMI -- Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra congratulated the Dallas Mavericks for winning the NBA title on Sunday night but said something a little strange in doing so.

"Neither team deserved this championship more than the other," Spoelstra said. "But Dallas earned it, and they should be congratulated. When it was time for them to make tough plays and make big baskets in crunch time when they needed it, they did. We had opportunities."

The Heat blew a 15-point lead and lost to the Mavericks in Game 2, which evened the series, and then lost an elimination game at home on Sunday night.

"One day we'll probably be able to look back on this, sometime this summer, when the emptiness and the pain leaves, and we'll feel better about what happened," Spoelstra said. "It's a special group. A lot of guys sacrificed to make this happen. It was unfortunate we just came up short."

MIAMI -- We'll have more with Dirk Nowitzki, but here's a quick reaction from the Mavericks superstar forward on winning the NBA title on Sunday night.

"If I would have won one early in my career, maybe I would have never put all the work and the time in that I have over the last 13 years," said Nowitzki, who scored 21 points on 9-of-27 shooting in Game 6. "So this feels amazing."

Nowizki had struggled most of the game, going 0-for-9 in the second quarter alone. He ended the first half with a miss but started the second half with a made bucket. It was his worst performance of the series, yet the NBA Finals MVP overcame his rough night.

"It was weird," he said. "In the first half, I had so many good looks. I can't even explain it. I had some 3s top of the key, I had a wide-open 3 in the corner, some pullups. I had some one-leg fadeaways that I normally make. But like I said, the team always told me, 'Stay with it, stay with it.'"

MIAMI -- Only one change to the lineups in the NBA Finals. Out is Mike Bibby and in is Mario Chalmers who has been a physical presence during the series. The Mavericks have no changes to their lineup, expect, Brendan Haywood (hip) is active for Game 6.

Dallas
F Shawn Marion
F Dirk Nowitzki
C Tyson Chandler
G Jason Kidd
G Jose Barea

Miami
F LeBron James
F Chris Bosh
C Joel Anthony
G Dwyane Wade
G Mario Chalmers

MIAMI -- In the first game of the NBA Finals, the Mavericks used a zone defense early in the game to confuse the Heat. As this series has moved on, the Mavs mixed up the coverages with positive results.

Instead of just calling for the zone defense and staying with it for a few possessions, the Mavs are using it in the flow of the game so that the Heat are off balanced when they try and set their offense in the halfcourt. The Heat are not quite sure what defense they're seeing when it gets up court.

"It's bothered them a little bit," guard DeShawn Stevenson said of the different defenses. "We're doing it out of the flow. The first game we were just setting up in it and we had time to put shooters out there and run our zone defense. When we do it in flow and switch man to zone and zone to man it's tough for them."

The Mavs are also putting some double-teams on LeBron James in the front court forcing him to pass. He has 10 assists, in the Game 5 loss, and it also limited his ability to drive to the basket and get to the free throw line. He shot just two foul shots in Game 5 and has just 16 total for the series.

Dwyane Wade's ability to get to the line hasn't been stopped by the defense. He's attempted 42 free throws, only Dirk Nowitzki has attempted more with 44. But Chris Bosh hasn't been able to shoot on consistent basis, he's at 37.3 percent from the field, because the Mavs are getting a body on him as well.

"I think it’s difficult because it breaks them out of rhythm," center Tyson Chandler said. "We change things up and give them a couple looks and go to a different look and anything you do to break the rhythm of the offense is good."

MIAMI -- Other than talking about fake coughs and whether or not it can salvage the season on Sunday night, the Miami Heat are having problems defending Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki.

In the five games, Nowitzki is averaging 27 points while shooting 50 percent from three-point range and 43.9 percent from the field overall. Nowitzki has beaten up the Heat with two game-winning baskets, a layup and a jumper and almost beat them with another jumper that hit the back of the rim in a loss.

The Heat employ Joel Anthony, Udonis Haslem and Chris Bosh on Nowitzki in the series. At times, Nowitzki is faced with a double-team when he comes out of the pick-and-rolls.

"The only way I know how to play is physical," Haslem said. "It is what it is you got to be physical and I got to get up on him, I got to make him put it on the floor and play the way I know how to play. It's up to the referees to make the calls."

Practice doesn't help Haslem much in terms of preparing for Nowitzki because there are so few players like him: A seven-footer with an excellent jump shot.

"Can't nobody simulate Dirk," Haslem said. "He's unique and pretty much one of a kind almost. You got a few guys in the league that's similar but nobody can simulate Dirk Nowitzki. The only way you get practice against Dirk is to practice against Dirk."

Maybe Juwan Howard said it best: "You can't simulate Dirk, just like you can't simulate Michael [Jordan]."

Jason Kidd, the oldest player participating in these NBA Finals at age 38, was talking about the business of basketball late Thursday night. Kidd, who has played with several teams and is on his second stint with the Mavericks, understands that seasons dictate whether or not you stay with a specific team.

"You learn that about basketball, the business side, but you never stop working," Kidd said.

Which brings us to Mavericks forward Tyson Chandler. He's become an important player during this postseason run with the Mavericks one victory away from the franchise's first NBA title.

Chandler is a free agent when the season ends either Sunday with Game 6 or Tuesday in Game 7 and will be sought after due to his age, 28, and ability to score and defend.

"All of that will happen when it happens," Chandler said after scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the Game 5 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday night. "I'm focused on closing out [the series]."

But Chandler smiled when he was talking about the Mavericks because if he re-signs here it will give him the stability he's been looking for since coming into the league as a first-round pick in 2001. He played five seasons with Chicago, three in New Orleans, one in Charlotte and now the Mavericks.

In 74 regular season games, Chandler averaged 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds. This postseason, Chandler has remained steady, especially on the defensive end with his 8.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game averages.

"You just want the opportunity, that’s all I ever wanted my entire career was to be a winner and be associated with a winning team," Chandler said. "I get out there and I pour my heart out and play with a lot of passion. It feels good to just be recognized for that."

Don Carter walked through the bowels of the American Airlines Center getting cheers as if he was a player. He walked past the two-story bar inside the arena and fans were banging on the glass yelling at the 77-year old man who was the first owner of the Dallas Mavericks franchise.

The man who wears a large Cowboy hat to Mavericks game is still recognized.

Carter, who sold a large portion of the team to Ross Perot Jr. in 1996, and still owns a small percentage of the club, is a season ticket holder who fist pumps current owner Mark Cuban.

As the majority owner, Carter, got close to a NBA title before his Mavericks lost in the Western Conference finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988, is nearing it again.

In the 2006 Finals, the Mavericks held a 2-0 lead over the Miami Heat and Carter thought about what type of ring he was going to get. Dallas ended up losing 4-2. And now thanks to a 112-103 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night, the Mavericks are as close as ever to a title. Needing just one win.

"Yes, in 2006, I was ready to order a ring," Carter said Thursday night. "I'm not going to take anything for granted now. But I do have a very good feeling."

Carter said he purchased the team for his wife of 51 years, Linda Jo, because she played high school basketball. It's that love affair between the two, that and basketball, that's bonded them over the years.

Linda Jo sits with her husband at every Mavericks game and she was getting cheers too from fellow season ticket holders before they jumped into a car after Thursday night's game.

"I love this team," said Don Carter, who plans on attending Game 6 in Miami on Sunday. "I love this series and regardless of whether we win it or not this has been a good series for basketball. The fans are excited and I think the players are too."

DALLAS -- There is so much love for Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd.

After the Mavericks' 112-103 Game 5 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday night, Kidd was holding court near his stall in the locker room just talking basketball.

New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams was chatting it up with Kidd trying to get all the knowledge he can from the 38-year old point guard who is just one victory away from his first NBA title.

Across the locker room, Tyson Chandler said Kidd's clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter was just another example of what he's meant to this team. In a corner stall, DeShawn Stevenson said Kidd was a monster, a legend.

In an interview room down the hall, Jason Terry said the team feeds off Kidd's leadership.

"It's all about our leader, Jason Kidd," Terry said. "The way he plays the game, the way he has always played the game rubs off."

Terry went on to say how Kidd preaches making the extra pass because you never know who might be open. With the game hanging in the balance, Terry's extra pass gave the Mavericks a little cushion.

With the Mavericks holding a two-point lead, Terry drove the lane and instead of forcing a tough shot, he made that extra pass, this one behind him to a wide-open Kidd.

The veteran made a 3-pointer from the top of the arch to give Dallas a 105-100 lead with 1:26 to play. A few sequences later, Terry hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 108-101 and the Mavericks were headed to South Beach with a 3-2 lead.

Kidd is trying to remain calm because he's been here before. He has lost in the NBA Finals twice with the Nets to two different teams. When he younger, Kidd was asked to lead his team in scoring and assists.

Now Kidd is a savvy veteran with an expected speech at a Hall of Fame ceremony in the not-so-distant future. He knows his career is coming to an end and hinted he might retire if a potential work stoppage cancels the 2011-12 season. But Kidd says he's feeling good from a physical standpoint and wants to keep playing.

"I'm just staying in the moment and understanding we have to find a way to win come Sunday," Kidd said. "Everything else will fall into place if we can find a way to win."

The Mavericks don't need him to lead in scoring. They just need him to hit open shots, protect the ball and play solid defense. Kidd was the one taking on Dwyane Wade in the second half Thursday, but down the stretch he trusted his gut and allowed Shawn Marion to take over.

A smart veteran move.

"You're never too young or too old to always improve your game," Kidd said. "At 38, I've always felt that I had to improve my shooting if I want to be on the floor and help my teammates out. As I've gotten older, it's just about timing and not so much scoring 20 points or having 15 assists or 10 rebounds. It's just being at the right place at the right time."