The Mavericks didn't spend a lot of time talking about their previous four games, in which they alternated winning and losing by at least 21 points.
They did, however, talk a lot about defensive effort and how it has varied from game-to-game without much explanation. "We've been like two teams," Jason Kidd said after Wednesday's blowout of the Golden State Warriors. "We understand we've had some no-shows."
The Mavs knew no-shows on this two-game road trip through Miami and Orlando wouldn't fly, and Dallas didn't lack effort at Miami on Saturday night, bringing a strong performance from the start. The Mavericks limited the Heat to 15 first-quarter points and never looked back.
The win moved the Mavs eight games over .500 with a game at Orlando up next Monday. The Mavericks continue to stay one hot streak away from threatening for a top-four spot in the West.
"I feel we're a championship team," Jason Terry said. "I feel we should be way up toward the one, two, three seeds right now. That's not where we're at, but we're still optimistic and we believe we can get there by the end of the season."
MAVERICKS 111, HEAT 96: No one could stop Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 30 points on 12-of-14 shooting and had seven rebounds and three assists. Jason Terry had 20 points and Josh Howard had 15.
Brandon Bass continued his strong play with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and J.J. Barea had 11 on 5-of-7 shooting as the Mavs shot 60.3 percent for the game.
Dallas held Miami to 15 points in the first quarter and 21 in the third.
