Struggling from the field and nursing a 100-plus fever all evening, Dallas’ Dirk Nowtizki was still clutch in crunch time.

Nowtizki finished just 6-19 from the field, but was 9-10 from the line and had 10 of his 21 points in the 4th quarter to help the Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 86-83 and even the best-of-seven series 2-2. His signature play was big layup with 14.4 seconds on the clock to give the Mavs a three-point lead.

But he didn’t do it all alone. After Game 3 Nowitzki hinted that he wanted more help from his teammates (especially guard Jason Terry) and he got it down the stretch.

Terry was 6-15 from the field but was key in a huge 4th-quarter run and made the two free throws after Nowitzki’s big layup to seal the win. Center Tyson Chandler kept the Mavs in it with 13 points and 16 rebounds, giving Dallas nine offensive rebounds in a game reliant on second chance points. Shawn Marion chipped in another solid game with 16 points off 7-12 shooting while Deshaun Stevenson, came off the bench with energy and sank 3-7 from downtown.

“We all saw [Nowitzki] go through walk through, he was barely able to talk, every time he tried to speak he was coughing up, he was weezing,” Chandler said. “So we knew as a supporting cast we really had to step up and get for him tonight.”

The side story in Game 4 will be the play of Miami’s LeBron James. The man who took his talents to South Beach finished with just eight points on 3-11 shooting to go with nine boards and seven assists. That said, the Heat had momentum most of the contest with outstanding defense and a 32 points, six rebound, two steal and two block performance from Dwyane Wade. Forward Chris Bosh had a great game in the loss as well with 24 points and six boards.

However, just like Game 2, James and Wade couldn’t make the 4th-quarter plays to keep the Mavs at bay.

This is just the first playoff game where James scored less than 10 points in his NBA career, and the Heat are 0-7 when he drops less than 15. He’ll need to play better for the Heat to regain the series lead.

Game 5 of these exciting NBA Finals will be at Dallas at 9 p.m. ET

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