The Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat have slugged their way through four hotly contested games in the 2011 NBA Finals, the last three of which have been decided in each game's final possession. Game 5 tips off Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. This is the final game of the series that will be held in Dallas. Game 6 and, if necessary, Game 7 will be played in Miami.
Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki knows exactly what that means for his team:
"You don't want to give them two chances to close it out at home, so this is our Game 7 and the last home game for this year in this building," Nowitzki said. "It should be a great atmosphere and hopefully we can pull it out."
After a game in which he scored only eight points and was seemingly invisible it will be interesting to see how aggressive Miami superstar LeBron James is Thursday night.
The series schedule and TV information are below.
- Game 1: Miami 92, Dallas 84
- Game 2: Dallas 95, Miami 93
- Game 3: Miami 88, Dallas 86
- Game 4: Dallas 86, Miami 83 (Series tied, 2-2)
- Game 5: Thu., June 9 in Dallas, 9 p.m. (ABC)
- Game 6: Sun., June 12 in Miami, 8 p.m. (ABC)
- Game 7: Tue., June 14 in Miami, 9 p.m. (ABC)
Follow SB Nation's 2011 NBA Finals hub for full series coverage. See Peninsula Is Mightier to join the discussion with Heat fans, and Mavs Moneyball to join the discussion with Mavericks fans.