40 Heat Mavs Game Five Takeaways

H/t, SI's Jimmy Traina for the image.

40) The Mavs didn't have Brendan Haywood, depriving them of fouls and dumb plays

39) Jason Kidd got a couple of steals right after being cited for his defense, so I guess they are smart or something

38) For a guy playing the game of his life, LeBron James sure didn't seem interested in venturing into the paint

37) Brian Cardinal actually scored some points and hurt Dwyane Wade, which is to say he had the best game possible for his talent and athleticism

36) Erik Spoelstra countered the Cardinal move by bringing in Juwan Howard, just because Howard is pretty much the same guy

35) DeShawn Stevenson ran 40 feet away from James in a thoroughly innovative flop

34) Mario Chalmers nailed a running 40-footer at the end of the first quarter to give Miami the lead, because he's actually kind of good at the long heave

33) Ian Mahinmi scored his first points of the postseason, then remembered who he was and gave up a three point play

32) ABC/ESPN decided that Dwyane Wade limping stiffly was worth the same amount of screen real estate as the game, and given Wade's value, they may be right

31) Dallas actually lost ground with Wade out, which will open up all kinds of new psychological musings on Miami, because that never gets old

30) Chris Bosh continues to defy our need for him to be soft and sucky

29) Both teams spent the first half knocking down threes as if it were easy, giving credence to the tired legs don't defend theory

28) There was actually an Eddie House sighting, which is the biggest sign yet that Bibby has actually died, and that first half minutes don't count

27) Jeff Van Gundy wants a DVD of every shot that Dirk Nowitzki has taken, because he's just that creepy

26) Shawn Marion got a technical after complaining, correctly, about the refs missing a double dribble on James

25) When Tyson Chandler scores, the Mavs really are getting one of the better centers in the Association

24) When the Mavs hit their threes, it really is damned deadly difficult to beat them

23) You kind of know it's not Miami's night when Wade can't play big minutes

22) I hope you weren't too surprised by the Heat blowing another fourth quarter lead

21) The fact that James doesn't shoot free throws that well might be playing into that whole jack a three in crunch time moment, especially when they don't get a critical block/charge call

20) Dallas closed with a 15-3 run, and that's starting to sound like a broken record

19) Honestly, Jason Kidd is 38 years old, and it's not like he hasn't played a lot of minutes in those years

18) Terry's backed up bailout three to crush is proof, not that you needed it, that bad offense trumps good defense when the shot goes down

17) Perhaps the lack of referee respect for the Heat late is home court, and perhaps it's Winking Flop payback

16) Once more with everything: the Heat have trouble closing, though this one was more defense than offense

15) Wade's injury shows just how paper-thin the Heat's dynasty hopes are

14) Jason Terry outplaying James in the fourth quarter might be the most surprising thing in the Finals, given that he's, well, just not that good

13) For a team that's sold on defense, the Heat are just not getting it done

12) In re James, that's one of the more underwhelming triple doubles you will ever see

11) You're going to hear the Dirk 52, LeBron 11 fourth quarter point stat a few thousand times before Game Six

10) It pains me to agree with people on ESPN, but this really has been one of the best played Finals in years

9) For a nine-point game, this one was super close, too

8) While Cleveland Fan is just a game away the shadenfraude moment of the century, they are also just two games away from the kick in the teeth of the century, too

7) It's really hard to see how this doesn't go seven games, if only for the More Ratings factor

6) That "Bad Teacher" bit slamming LeBron looks like it will be remembered longer than anything else from the movie

5) Whether or not you like the Mavs, you pretty much have to like Dirk

4) Terry is just a game away from making a lot of guys think about getting a trophy tattoo

3) Heat Fan is so bummed about this loss, they are going to feel bad for, like, minutes

2) There is no truth to the rumor that David Stern will declare a lockout a minute before he has to give Mark Cuban the trophy

1) This isn't so much of a series as it is an opera