9:05 AM
MIAMI (AFP) — Forget everything you ever heard about Dirk Nowitzki needing a championship to secure his place among the NBA legends.
Nowitzki did just that Thursday by playing through a torn tendon on his left middle finger to score the winning basket and level the NBA finals at one game each.
Nowitzki, who turns 33 on June 19, slipped past Miami's Chris Bosh with 3.6 seconds left and give Dallas an improbable 95-93 win over the favoured Heat on Thursday.
''You play if you are feeling pain,'' said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. ''You make yourself numb so you don't feel pain. You got to play and you got to be a warrior.''
Ten-time all-star Nowitzki went one step further. He won the game for Dallas which went on a 22-5 run to close it out.
Nowitzki, who essentially spent the last five years answering for his postseason failures, tore the tendon in game one and is expected to wear a protective splint for the rest of the series which switches to Dallas for game three on Sunday. (Monday in Manila)
On Thursday, he finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks who handed the Heat their first loss at home in the 2011 playoffs.
Carlisle compared the one time league MVP Nowitzki to former Celtic hall of famer Larry Bird.
''I played with Bird for three years when he was the best player in the world,'' Carlisle said. ''Guys like that don't feel pain.''
Now the Heat are the only thing standing in the way of Nowitzki and his first NBA championship ring.
''Unbelievable. I don't know how his finger felt but I know he didn't care. He was going to do whatever it took for us to get the win tonight,'' said teammate Jason Terry.
Germany's Nowitzki played like there was no tomorrow and the last thing the Mavericks wanted is to be down 0-2 in the finals.
''What a huge swing it was,'' Nowitzki said. ''A huge comeback for us. We never gave up.''
Terry said he felt the Heat were rubbing their noses in it when Wade drained a three pointer in the fourth to take a 15-point lead and LeBron James and the Miami players started to dance in front of the Mavericks' bench.
''I can't say what was going through my mind,'' Terry said. ''It was the turning point. I looked at Dirk and said 'there is no way we are going out like this. For us to go out in a blowout fashion with them dunking on us, shooting threes on us, it would have been disheartening.''
Wade denies that there was any showboating going on.
''There was no celebration,'' Wade said. ''Every team in the league when they go on a run they do something. Whether it is a signal or a chest bump. It is part of the game. A celebration is confetti and champagne bottles.''
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