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Source: Reuters

DALLAS - The Miami Heat recovered from their Game Two meltdown in the NBA Finals to beat Dallas 88-86 on Sunday and take a 2-1 lead over the Mavericks in the best-of-seven series.

Chris Bosh, who had been a big disappointment in the first two games of the series, provided the winning margin for Miami on a 16-foot jump shot with 39.6 seconds left to restore home-court advantage to the Heat.

Dirk Nowitzki carried the Mavericks in the final quarter with 15 of his 34 points but his potentially game-tying 18-footer at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced away.

"I moved on from this win already," said Miami guard Dwyane Wade, who paved the way for the Heat with 29 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

"We did nothing but get home-court advantage back. But the next game is a big game. We have to bring our hard hats, understanding it's going to be tougher to win that game than it was to win this one. I believe in this team."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the series, which continues on Tuesday in Dallas, is far from over.

"It's just one," he said. "We're not going to make it more than what it is. We have two wins under our belt. We have to try to be greedy and get another one.

"But there isn't going to be anything easy that comes in this series for either team."

Nowitzki, who also grabbed 11 rebounds and had three blocks, scored the Mavericks' final 12 points but came up short with the game on the line.

"This definitely was a big game," Nowitzki said. "A very tough loss. Emotional game, fought back, and to fall short at the end is tough. But they need two more.

"Hopefully we can play a better all around game and finally get some shots to go down here. It's basically a must-win situation on Tuesday. We can't go down 3-1."

Miami's LeBron James scored 17 points but hit just six of 14 shots and had four turnovers.

The Heat blew a 15-point lead in the final six minutes of their Game Two loss to Dallas in Miami, giving the Mavericks the opportunity to win the title with three wins at home.

Battle back

Miami raced out to a 14-point first-half lead before the Mavericks clawed their way back. The Heat held a seven-point lead in the final quarter but Dallas once again battled back.

"We have to figure out how to get in front and play from up front," said Dallas guard Jason Kidd. "We've shown that we can come back. The big thing is we have to be able to make plays late in the game.

"In Game Two we made the plays. In Game Three we just didn't."

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said it was too early to write his team's epitaph.

"It's seven games," he said. "Any notion that it was going to be easy would have been foolhardy by us or anybody else. Every game has been extremely difficult.

"We have to eliminate a couple of the turnovers that led to the quick points. It's extremely difficult when you're watching James go down the court and dunk the ball with his head over the rim. That makes it tough to win."

The Dallas defeat deflated the boisterous American Airlines Center crowd of 19,200 hungry to see the Mavericks move closer to their first NBA crown in the 30 years as a franchise.

Almost everyone donned an arena-supplied blue shirt that read "The Time is Now."

But it was the Heat players who seized the moment in the dying seconds.

"At this point there's no room to hold anything back," said James, seeking his first NBA title. "There's nine or eight days left in the season."