Historic Heat Wave Expanding Again Across South, Plains

(As of 2:30pm today, Tuesday, August 2, 2011, it is 110°F here. Dang! It's supposed to reach 111°F before cooling off.--jef)

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by James West, August 2, 2011

While a cold front slicing across the northern High Plains will bring the dangerous heat to a screeching halt along the U.S. Northern-tier today, the same will not be true for the central and southern Plains and Mississippi Valley through much of this week. The high heat and humidity will expand from the southern Plains to the Carolinas by mid-week.

 

The dangerous and record-shattering heat will rage on across the central and southern Plains and Middle and Lower Mississippi valleys through the rest of the week and through the weekend. Long-range computer forecasts show the heat persisting through at early next week, if not longer. 

 

Dallas/FW will see another 100-plus day today; it will be the 32nd consecutive day with triple-digit temperatures seen in the Metroplex, 39th day this summer. Fort Smith, Ark., will add to its already record consecutive triple-digit streak. 

 

High temperatures reaching the 100s and 110s will expand and cover more than ten states stretching from Texas to North Carolina this week. 

 

The longevity of the massive heat wave is being fueled by a sprawling ridge of high pressure centered in the Plains. This bubble of high pressure will expand eastward across the Mid-South and into the Carolinas by the middle and end of the week, suppressing cloud cover and thunderstorm development and allowing the mercury to skyrocket. Added to the mix will be the oppressive humidity, meaning heat indices will top out at 105 to 115 degrees. 

 

Excessive Heat Watches and Warnings stretch from northern Texas into the Mid-Mississippi and Tennessee valleys, including Dallas, Tulsa, Okla., Kansas City, Mo., St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn. Heat Advisories extend from the Gulf Coast to the Upper Great Lakes, including New Orleans, Des Moines, Iowa, Chicago and Indianapolis. More heat-related advisories will likely be required for later this week as far east as the Carolinas. 

 

The prolonged heat is putting stress on the most vulnerable residents; local media are reporting more than 60 heat-related deaths nationwide, with at least a dozen deaths in the St. Louis area.

DALLAS MAVERICKS NBA Champs 2010-11; Mavs Win NBA Finals 4-2

		1	2	3	4	F
	DAL	32	21	28	24	105
	MIA	27	24	21	23	95
	DALLAS MAVERICKS WIN NBA FINALS 4-2

05/31		Mavericks	84	-	92	Heat		-	Recap-Highlights
06/02		Mavericks	95	-	93	Heat		-	Recap-Highlights
06/05		Heat	88	-	86	Mavericks		-	Recap-Highlights
06/07		Heat	83	-	86	Mavericks		-	Recap-Highlights
06/09		Heat	103	-	112	Mavericks		-	Recap-Highlights
06/12		Mavericks	105	-	95	Heat		-	Recap-Highlights

Really Big D: Mavericks top Heat for NBA title

By TIM REYNOLDS
Posted Jun 12 2011

MIAMI (AP) For Dirk Nowitzki, the resume is complete. He's an NBA champion.

For LeBron James, the agonizing wait continues for at least one more year.

Avenging what happened five years ago in perfect turnabout style, the Dallas Mavericks won their first NBA title by winning Game 6 of these finals in Miami 105-95 on Sunday night - celebrating on the Heat's home floor, just as Dwyane Wade and his team did to them in the 2006 title series.

Jason Terry scored 27 points, Nowitzki added 21 and the Mavericks topped the Miami Heat 105-95 in Game 6 of the NBA finals on Sunday night. The Mavericks won four of the series' last five games, a turnabout that could not have been sweeter after seeing the Heat celebrate their first title in Dallas after Game 6 of the 2006 finals.

"Tonight," Terry said, "we got vindication."

James did not. Not even close, and a year unlike any other ended they way they all have so far - with him still waiting for an NBA title.

He scored 21 points for Miami, shook a few hands afterward, and departed before most of the Mavs tugged on their championship hats and T-shirts. Chris Bosh had 19, Mario Chalmers 18 and Dwyane Wade 17 for the Heat.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle joined a highly elite group, those with NBA titles as both a player and a head coach. Only 10 other men are on that list, including the presumably retired-for-good Phil Jackson, one of Carlisle's mentors in K.C. Jones, and Heat President Pat Riley - who led Miami past Dallas in 2006, and was the mastermind of what the Heat did last summer by getting James, Wade and Bosh on the same team with an eye on becoming a dynasty.

It might still happen, of course.

But even after 72 wins this season, including playoffs, the Heat lost the last game. And that means this year was a disappointment - except to just about everyone else in the NBA, or so it would seem.

Hating the Heat became the NBA's craze this season, and the team knew it had no shortage of critics, everyone from Cleveland (where "Cavs for Mavs" shirts were popular during these finals) to Chicago (the city James and Wade both flirted with last summer) and just about every place in between lining up to take shots at Miami.

Given their newfound popularity, meet the new America's Team.

Sorry, Cowboys - your long-held moniker might have to be ceded to your city's NBA club. When it was over, Mavs owner Mark Cuban ran onto the court to hug Carlisle, then punched the air and whooped.

Dallas took control in the second half after some wild back-and-forths in the opening two quarters. Miami took its last lead of the game - the season - just 64 seconds into the second half, lost it 16 seconds later and chased the Mavericks the rest of the way.

They never caught them.

Jason Kidd, at 38 years old, got his first championship. Nowitzki got his at 32, Terry at 33. They were featured on the video screen in their building in Dallas during this series on what seemed like a constant loop, each posing with the NBA trophy and looking longingly at it, standing mere inches from it, as if to say "so close, yet so far away."

No more.

It's theirs.

Nowitzki sealed it with 2:27 left, hitting a jumper near the Miami bench to put Dallas up 99-89, and some fans actually began leaving. Nowitzki walked to the Mavs' side slowly, right fist clenched and aloft.

He knew it. Everyone did. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra implored his team to foul in the final minute, and even then, they couldn't catch the Mavericks.

"All those unique individual stories is what propelled us to this victory," Terry said.

Dallas expected a big early push from Miami, and the Mavs' suspicions were proved correct. James made his first four shots, and the Heat raced out to a 20-11 lead.

It was erased - and then some - quickly, as soon as Dallas went to the zone defense that befuddled Miami again.

Dallas needed 5 1/2 minutes to rip off a 21-4 run, making 9 of 12 shots during the stretch. And much of that came with Nowitzki on the bench with two fouls, the first time he's been whistled for more than one in the opening quarter of a playoff game this season.

The Mavs were off and running. DeShawn Stevenson made a pair of 3-pointers within a span of 24 seconds to give Dallas a 40-28 lead with 9:42 left in the half. Dallas turned Miami's first six turnovers into 14 points, and the hundreds of blue-clad Mavs fans stood and roared, with Cuban waving his arms as if to lead the cheers from behind his team's bench.

Things turned quickly and got heated for good measure.

Miami scored the next 14 points to reclaim the lead at 42-40, a streak snapped only after Stevenson, Udonis Haslem and Chalmers got technicals with 6:25 left in the half after a midcourt mini-melee with mostly amounted to some words and a couple of shoves.

"A player will not automatically be suspended for leaving the bench if he has already left the bench because a timeout was called," the NBA announced later in the game. "However, we need to review the circumstances of this particular incident, which we will do, after the game."

So the NBA will watch replays.

The Heat, they probably won't - not for a long while. They had chances to take command and wasted them all. The Heat missed 13 of their 33 free throws, let the Mavericks score 27 points off turnovers and simply could not get a rebound in the final minutes.

Nowitzki finished 9 for 27, and the Mavs still won. He was 1 for 12 in the first half, and they were still ahead, 53-51, thanks largely to Terry's 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, along with a 17-4 edge in points off turnovers.

Plus, after James got off to such a fast start, he had two points in the final 19-plus minutes of the half.

James didn't score in the second half until a layup with 1:49 remained in the third - his first field-goal attempt since 1:05 remained in the half. Kidd made a 3-pointer late in the period, pushing the Dallas lead to 79-71, and it seemed like the only people standing in the arena were the players, referees, Cuban and a few guys around the Dallas bench.

It was 81-72 entering the fourth, after Ian Mahinmi made a foul-line jumper as time expired in the third, just his third basket of the entire series.

None were bigger.

The Mavs could taste a title.

When the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead in Dallas during the '06 finals, plans for their victory parade were announced. The Mavs didn't win another game in that series.

Now, that parade will finally happen. And when it's over, then the league's uncertainty will truly begin. Labor strife likely awaits, and although more talks geared toward movement on a new deal are scheduled for this week, both owners and players are bracing for a lockout to begin once the current collective bargaining agreement expires June 30.

What happens with the next deal may affect the Heat more than anyone. Some owners will insist on a hard cap, rolled-back salaries and, potentially, trying to bust some current deals - which could break up the Big 3 before get another chance to win a title together.

A gloomy end to the season may bring an even gloomier offseason for Miami.

"Every situation has felt like it was an our-back-against-the-wall situation," James said Sunday morning, hours before Game 6 began. "We've been able to figure it out and find our way through and scratch our way through. This is the last test. This is the last pop quiz for us that we need to pass in order to make it all worth it."

They didn't pass. So therefore, it wasn't all worth it. Except, of course, from the Dallas perspective.

Of the principal characters from the 2006 series, only Cuban, Nowitzki and Terry remain from the Mavericks' side, and for them, the beginning of this championship celebration seemed sweeter than even they could have imagined. Terry won't have to get his tattoo - the one of the NBA championship trophy - removed, which he vowed to have done if Miami won this series. Nowitzki will never be in the conversation of 'Best player without a title' again.

James is clearly the one with that most-unwanted label now.

NOTES: Carlisle improved to 11-3 as a coach with a chance to close out an opponent. ... James got a 21-minute rest in the second quarter in real time, thanks to that midcourt dustup and the referees taking several minutes to look at replays before doling out the technicals. ... Marc Anthony sang the national anthem, then took a courtside seat near the Heat bench.

Dallas Takes a 3-2 Lead in the NBA Finals

		1	2	3	4	F
	MIA	31	26	22	24	103
	DAL	30	30	24	28	112
	DALLAS leads  3-2

Heat-Mavericks notebook

By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com
Posted Friday June 9, 2011

THE FACTS: Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks are one win away from the first championship in franchise history following Thursday's 112-103 defeat of the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Nowitzki had 29 points and Jason Terry scored eight of his 21 points during a game-ending 17-4 run that gave the Mavericks a 3-2 lead as the series returns to Miami.

Dwyane Wade fought through a first-half hip injury to lead the Heat with 23 points and Chris Bosh added 19 points and 10 rebounds. LeBron James recorded a triple-double with 17 points, 10 assists and 10 boards, but scored just two points in the pivotal fourth quarter. Five players scored in double digits for each team in what was by far the highest-scoring game of the series.

QUOTABLE: "We're going to play whistle to whistle. I heard that term. Been watching the hockey series. A lot of people in the hockey world use that term, and that's what we're going to do. We're going to try to win each possession and just take it one at a time."
-- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle

THE STAT: The Mavericks shot a remarkable 68.4 percent (13-for-19) from 3-point distance to offset a 36-26 disadvantage on the boards. Six Dallas players canned at least one trey, led by J.J. Barea (4-for-5), Terry (3-for-5) and Jason Kidd (3-for-5).

TURNING POINT: After Wade sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Miami up 99-95 with 4:37 remaining, the Heat didn't make another field goal until James' layup with 29.6 seconds left. Dallas tied it at 100-100 on Terry's wide-open 3-pointer, then took the lead for good when Nowitzki drove the baseline for a dunk at the 2:45 mark.

QUOTABLE II: "JET was phenomenal. He was aggressive again from the get-go. ... That's the JET we need. We need him to attack and get in the lane. It opens up a lot of stuff for everybody else out there."
-- Nowitzki on Terry

QUOTABLE III: "We'll have to see how it responds tomorrow. When he's able to sweat and keep it warm, he was fine. Fortunately, we have an extra day. We'll see if that's enough."
-- Miami coach Erik Spoelstra on the left hip contusion suffered by Wade when he collided with Dallas forward Brian Cardinal in the first quarter.

HOT: The Mavericks shot 66 percent in the first half (23-for-35). They were 5-for-7 from 3-point range, with five different players each connecting once, and held a 60-57 lead at intermission. In the first four games of this series, Dallas averaged just 45.5 first-half points with a high of 51 in Game 2. Tyson Chandler was 4-for-5 in the half, Terry was 4-for-6 and Nowitzki was 6-for-9.

NOT: James sent out a "Now or Never!!" tweet on Wednesday and called this the biggest game of his career. He was more aggressive, but his shooting struggles continued. He was 8-for-19 from the field, including 0-for-4 behind the arc. During the three games played in Dallas, the two-time NBA MVP shot 38.6 percent from the field (17-for-44) and was 1-for-11 from 3-point territory.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Faces in the crowd at the AAC included former Dallas Cowboys running backs Tony Dorsett and Daryl "Moose" Johnston, Cowboys receiver Miles Austin, race-car driver Danica Patrick and actor/comedian Norm MacDonald.

GOOD MOVE: The Mavericks won their second straight game since moving Barea into the starting lineup ahead of DeShawn Stevenson. Barea finished with 17 points, five assists and just one turnover in more than 25 minutes. He scored a team-high eight points in the third quarter and scored six of the Mavs' first nine points in the fourth with a three-point play and his fourth 3-pointer of the game.

BAD MOVE: Miami's 18 turnovers led to 21 points for the Mavericks. Each member of the "Big Three" -- James, Bosh and Wade -- committed four turnovers.

NOTABLE: Of the previous 26 times the NBA Finals have been tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has gone on to win the series 19 times. ... This was the 52nd and final home game of the season at the American Airlines Center, where Dallas was 29-12 in the regular season and 9-2 in the playoffs. The Mavericks sold out all 52 contests. ... This caps an eight-month stretch in which the Dallas area hosted the World Series, Super Bowl and NBA Finals. ... Backup Mavs center Brendan Haywood was inactive with a strained right hip flexor. He also missed Game 3 and played just 3:05 in Game 4. ... Dallas had 23 assists and is 10-0 in the postseason when dishing 20 or more. ... This is Miami's first losing streak since it dropped five straight from Feb. 27-March 8.

NBA Finals Game 4 - Ailing Nowitzki lifts Mavericks, NBA finals tied 2-2

		1	2	3	4	F
	MIA	21	26	22	14	83
	DAL	21	24	20	21	86
	Series Tied 2-2

James & Wade say "Oh No!"

Ailing Nowitzki lifts Mavericks, NBA finals tied

By JAIME ARON

Posted Jun 07 2011

DALLAS (AP) Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have pulled off another stunning comeback, tying the NBA finals at two games each.

And this time, Nowitzki did it while battling the flu.

Nowitzki shook off three poor quarters to score 10 of his 21 points in the final period as the Mavericks outscored the Miami Heat 21-9 over the final 10:12 for an 86-83 victory in a memorable Game 4 Tuesday night.

The Mavs avoided going down 3-1, a deficit no team has ever overcome in the finals, and guaranteed the series will return to Miami for a Game 6 on Sunday night.

"We just played with incredible heart and passion," Dallas center Tyson Chandler said.

Dwyane Wade scored 32 points, but fumbled an inbounds pass with 6.7 seconds left. He knocked the ball back to Mike Miller for a potential tying 3-pointer, but it wasn't even close to hitting the rim.

Chris Bosh scored 24 points for Miami, but the Heat got a stunningly unproductive game from their biggest star, LeBron James. He scored only eight points, making just 3 of 11 shots. He contributed nine rebounds and seven assists, but his lack of scoring sticks out because of the loss.

Nowitzki opened the game looking just fine, making his first three shots. But then he missed 10 of 11, and missed a free throw for the first time since Game 4 of the conference finals. By then, word spread of his illness.

With the game - and likely the series - on the line, Nowitzki found a way to come through. He made only 2 of 6 shots, but that included a terrific layup with 14.4 seconds left; he made all six of his free throws.

Hey, if he could win Game 2 with a left-handed layup two days after tearing a tendon in the tip of his middle finger, what's a little temperature (102 degrees)?

"We all seen him go through walkthroughs," Chandler said. "Every time he started to talk he started coughing. He was wheezing."

Miami was poised to take a commanding lead in the series when Udonis Haslem hit a jumper that made it 74-65 early in the fourth quarter. It was the Heat's biggest lead and the way Nowitzki was playing, the Mavericks didn't seem capable of pulling off another rally like the 22-5 finish that won Game 2.

Yet Jason Terry - who kick-started that comeback with six straight points - made consecutive baskets, and the surge was on. Terry ended up capping it with two free throws with 6.7 seconds left that forced Miami to need a 3-pointer.

Heat Take a 2-1 Lead in the NBA Finals

		1	2	3	4	F
	MIA	29	18	20	21	88
	DAL	22	20	22	22	86
	Heat lead series 2-1

Heat's 88-86 victory over Mavericks is full-groan
Miami pulls out a dramatic victory in pivotal Game 3, and America weeps . . . or at least sighs in disappointment

By Mike Bresnahan

June 5, 2011 LA Times

Reporting from Dallas

Sorry, everybody.The  Miami Heat couldn't quite pull off another fade in the NBA Finals.


Rejoice, South Beach. Cheers, Fort Lauderdale. And before excitedly dropping that mojito on the marble-tile floor, understand that everybody else in the country wanted to see Dallas win Game 3 on Sunday.

Nothing personal. But nobody likes to see a team drop down to a stunningly low two players under contract before building back up with a brief live-on-ESPN joint announcement by Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, followed a day later by the "The Decision."

There was little joy from Maine to San Diego after the Heat took a 2-1 series lead with an 88-86 victory Sunday.

The Mavericks tried just about everything.

There were pre-recorded scoreboard declarations that "The Time is Now" from Dallas sports luminaries Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman, not to mention Mike Modano. (He used to play for the Dallas Stars. That's a hockey team.)

But the time was now for the Heat, which guaranteed itself a return trip to Miami . . . if necessary.

The scoreboard also offered a video montage of the Mavericks scoring on the Lakers, along with the phrases, "They said the Mavericks were soft. They said 'The Champs' would beat us down. This year is different."

Not really. Not yet.

The Mavericks have never won an NBA title since entering the league in 1980. It hasn't stopped them from hanging banners from the high-up girders at American Airlines Center — Midwest Division champions in 1987, Western Conference winners in 2006, Southwest Division champs in 2007 and 2010.

Yay.

There's more bad news for the psyche of basketball fans. The last 11 times the Finals were tied at 1-1, the winner of Game 3 ended up holding a championship parade.

The Lakers' chances at a fiesta on Figueroa died a few weeks ago, but somebody needs to ask a few questions of alleged Lakers fan George Lopez, who stood near his courtside seat during the excitement of a Mavericks third-quarter rally.

Somewhere, Kobe Bryant is shaking his head.

Dirk Nowiztki wasn't happy either after Game 3, blandly intoning into a microphone that it was a "very tough loss" after a pair of his late-game blunders cost Dallas dearly.

He threw the ball away with 30.2 seconds to play after unexpectedly finding himself in a double team. Then he missed a 16-footer at the final buzzer.

LeBron James wasn't much better in the fourth quarter, scoring only two points. He did not, however, like being challenged by a reporter for "shrinking" away from the chance at fourth-quarter prowess.

"You should watch the film again and see what I did defensively," James said. "You'll ask me a better question tomorrow."

Wade was there to support James, scoring 29 points and taking 11 rebounds. Bosh was there too, eventually shaking off a poor shooting night by hitting a 16-footer from the left side to break an 86-86 tie with 39.6 seconds to play.

About the only thing the Mavericks could pocket was the ability to slice into any Miami lead.

Dallas fought back from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter, then a 13-point deficit in the third quarter. Small victories, but the only ones the Mavericks could celebrate after Game 3.

Showing some transcontinental unity, a Dallas fan's sign implored the Mavericks to "Do it for Cleveland!"

Not Sunday. Maybe not at all.

Mavericks Staged Huge 4th Quarter Comeback, Winning Game 2 and tying the NBA Finals 1-1

		1	2	3	4	F
	DAL	28	23	20	24	95
	MIA	28	23	24	18	93
	NBA FINALS Tied 1-1

Down by 15 with 7 minutes to go (88-73), Dallas scored 22 points to just 5 by Miami to pull out a 95-93 win

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Jun 02 2011

MIAMI (AP) Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks put a stunning end to their misery in Miami.

Now they can win their first NBA title without ever coming back to South Florida.

Nowitzki made the tie-breaking layup with 3.6 seconds left, and the Mavericks roared back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Heat 95-93 on Thursday night and tie the NBA finals at one game apiece.

Capping a furious rally by scoring Dallas' final nine points, Nowitzki's final two baskets were left-handed - despite a torn tendon on that non-shooting hand. He finished with 24 points.

Dwyane Wade had 36 points for Miami, but his desperation 3-pointer was off at the buzzer.

Game 3 is Sunday in Dallas.

Seemingly out of the game when the Heat led 88-73 with 7:15 remaining, Dallas held the Heat to just one field goal from there, a 3-pointer by Mario Chalmers with 24.5 seconds that tied it just 2 seconds after Nowitzki's 3 had made it 93-90.

But after a timeout, Jason Kidd ran the clock down before getting the ball to Nowitzki, who drove into the lane, spun back to the left and made the layup.

Jason Terry, largely silent since the first half of Game 1, fueled the comeback with a couple of jumpers and finished with 16 points. Shawn Marion had 20 points for the Mavericks, who had lost four straight finals games in Miami since taking a 2-0 lead in the 2006 series.

They were about to go down 2-0 this time before Nowitzki, who insisted his injured finger wouldn't hinder him, led a rally even more amazing than the one that won Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, when the Mavs trailed Oklahoma City by 15 in the fourth quarter before pulling it out in overtime.

LeBron James scored 20 points for the Heat.

Key plays in the comeback: