Dirk Nowitzki has been on fire before, but a 102 degree fever is a bit much.

Going into these Finals, I really didn't expect much from the Mavericks because they are the anti-Heat. When I say that, I mean that as stacked with individual talent as the Heat are the Mavericks are really Dirk and the crew.

If LeBron James and Chris Bosh are the poster children for collusion, Nowitzki is the poster child for why they wanted to collude in the first place.

Yet here were the Mavericks in the closing moments of the game, trying their damnedest to prove me right as no one with a Mavericks' jersey could throw a rock in the ocean when they needed to most with their star battling that fever.

In the end, it took Nowitzki to muster up all the energy he had left to blow by Bosh yet again with the game on the line and sink a layup that ultimately put the necessary distance between them and their opponent.

If I'm the Heat, I'm sweating this one. Nowitzki was ineffective to say the least and the Heat couldn't take advantage.

All year long everyone's been barking about who should be trusted with the ball on the line for the Heat. Time after time LeBron seemed to not be able to make the big shot and everyone called for Dwayne Wade to be the chosen one in those situations.

Now for the record, if the Heat win this series Wade is the MVP hands down. But on this night, missing a key free throw and losing the handle on the last possession forces you to wonder about the Heat's ability to close games out consistently.

If not James or Wade, who?

Just think how much easier the end of this game would have been if JJ Barea didn't miss three layups.

And as for James, 3-11 from the floor with four turnovers ain't gonna get it done, son. 7 assists were nice and all, but are you going to look me in the eye and tell me DeShawn Stevenson is the LeBron stopper? Is Nowitzki's illness that contagious and that potent?

Wade and Bosh scored 67.5% of the Heat's 83 points.

What you're doing is making Scottie Pippen look like even more of an ass as he did when his ludicrous comments first aired.

Why the +/- rating means nothing to me: Peja Stojakovic's rating was +2 for 9 seconds of playing time.

Game 5 prediction: The Mavericks could have won Game 3. They wrangled Game 4 away from the Heat. Dirk should be fine by Thursday and I think the Mavericks take Game 5 and put the holy triumvirate on their heels.