Mavs Win In Miami
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MIAMI — Forward Charlie Villanueva, who had a total of just two points this calendar year — playing three games and sitting as a healthy scratch in four others — was the Dallas Mavericks hero.
Center Hassan Whiteside, who was playing in a YMCA league two months ago, was the Miami Heat’s hero.
In the end, Villanueva prevailed.
Dallas went on a 23-0 second-half run and snapped its four-game losing streak, defeating Miami 93-72 on Friday night at AmericanAirlines Arena.
On a night in which four projected starters were out injured — Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts for Miami and Chandler Parsons for Dallas — lesser-known players took the stage.
That included Villanueva, who had a season-high and a game-high 20 points in 22 minutes off the bench for Dallas (31-17). He made 6 of 11 on 3-pointers and scored 11 of his points in the fourth quarter.
“He was great on both ends,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “He played some great defense on (Heat forward Chris) Bosh, got some big rebounds (five) and even got a block.
“The guys in our locker room really love him. No one is happier for him than the rest of our team.”
Dallas never led until the opening minute of the fourth quarter after trailing by
as many as 16 points in the third.
Then Villanueva got it going in Dallas’ 33-point fourth quarter — a major improvement from the Mavericks’ 13-point first.
“It felt good — teammates found me,” Villanueva said of his performance. “We struggled in the first half. Then we spread the floor. When Coach made that decision to put me and Dirk (Nowitzki in the game simultaneously), it worked out.”
The Mavericks overshadowed an impressive performance by Whiteside, 25, who had 16 points and a career-high 23 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Whiteside also had 14 rebounds in the first quarter, a franchise record.
“It’s hard not to notice the rebounding, the two-handed rebounding in traffic right from the opening tip,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Whiteside. “He gave us great minutes.”
Miami (20-26), which lost both games of this week’s homestand, got 12 points and eight rebounds from Bosh.
Dallas improved to 12-9 since acquiring point guard Rajon Rondo from Boston. Rondo had four points and four assists.
It was the first time Dallas has beaten the Heat since the 2011 NBA Finals, a span of seven straight losses. That includes a Mavericks loss to Miami at Dallas in November.
“I didn’t know that until you said something,” Heat point guard Mario Chalmers said. “We only have five or six players from those championship teams, so I don’t think anybody was really thinking about it.”
Both teams started slowly in Friday’s first quarter, at least offensively. Miami led 15-13, which is Dallas’ lowest scoring first quarter of the season. Dallas shot 17.6 percent from the floor, and Miami was not much better at 23.1 percent.
Miami stretched its lead to 45-33 at halftime, earning a 20-10 advantage in points in the paint.
Whiteside had 12 points and 16 rebounds at halftime, leading all players. He tied Kevin Willis’ franchise record for most rebounds in a first half.
Dallas closed the third quarter on a 19-6 run, heading into the fourth tied at 60.
Spoelstra credited Dallas’ defense in the fourth quarter for taking Miami out of its offensive sets.
But the coach also voiced his determination going forward, despite a losing record overall and an ugly 8-15 mark at home.
“At some point, you say, ‘this is enough’,” he said. “We don’t know how we got into these situations, but it will change.”
