Miami Heat at Dallas Mavericks - ABC
Game 6 - 2006 NBA Finals
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
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Dallas looking to force Game 7: The Mavs became just the fourth team with home-court advantage not to win a road game in the NBA Finals since the format switched to 2-3-2 in 1985 and now face elimination after blowing a 2-0 series lead.  Dallas dropped Game 5 at Miami 101-100 in overtime on Sunday night and had closed out their three previous playoff opponents on the road.  "I think we had enough opportunities to win this game," Mavs All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "We know we can beat this team. We showed it in Game 1 and Game 2. This is a tough one to swallow for a night, but starting (Monday), we should feel a lot better about ourselves again."  Dallas will have top reserve Jerry Stackhouse back for Game 6 and should benefit from the home crowd, including more calls from the referees.  The Mavs have attempted more free throws than the Heat just once in the series, and that came in Game 1.  Miami held a dominating 49-25 edge in attempts in Game 5, with star guard Dwyane Wade going to the free-throw line as many times as the entire Dallas team.  Of the 24 times an NBA Finals series has been tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has gone on to win the title 18 times.  However, despite being down 3-2 in this series, the Mavs are 9-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings with the Heat.

Miami likes title chances with Wade: History seemed to be against the Heat, but they truly used home court to their advantage in becoming the second home team to sweep the middle three games of the NBA Finals.  Miami saw Wade average 40.3 points during that stretch following a 43-point performance in Game 5 and hopes he can continue that strong play in helping the team to its first-ever NBA chamionship.  "We can smell it," Wade said. "Dallas plays well at home but we are a confident bunch so we'll see what happens."  Wade will need to stay aggressive though and make the Mavs put all of their attention on him.  He averaged five less free-throw attempts and 15 fewer points in the first two games at Dallas, something the Mavs want to continue if they have any hope of extending the series one more game in hopes of winning their first title.  Miami center Shaquille O'Neal believes his teammate will be the difference once again, as Wade has elevated himself as one of the NBA's elite clutch players.  "He's the best right now, that's all you can say," O'Neal said. "He's the best."

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