Heat look for 2-0 NBA Finals lead

Game 2 of the NBA Finals (9 PM ET, ABC) goes on Thursday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, and if Game 1 was any indication, the Dallas Mavericks need better performances from their role players if they�re to win � let alone cover � against the Miami Heat.

The Heat took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 92-84 win over the Mavericks in the opener on Tuesday night, as they cashed as 4.5-point favorites.

Miami opened at the same number for Game 2, while the total dropped after the teams played �under� the 188.5-point mark in Game 1. oddsmaker.ag has the over/under at 186 for Thursday�s contest.

The recipe for the Heat was pretty simple on Tuesday: Milk the Big Three and play great defense. That�s exactly what they did.

LeBron James staked an early claim as the NBA Finals MVP favorite with 24 points and nine rebounds in Game 1, while Dwyane Wade posted 22 points, 10 boards, and six assists. Chris Bosh, while 5 of 18 from the field, was a game-high +11 to go along with 19 points and nine rebounds.

Dirk Nowitzki had a solid line of 27 points and eight boards for Dallas, but he was only 7 of 18 from the floor. The seven-foot German did most of his damage at the line (12 of 12), but he missed shots he normally makes.

What�s clear heading into Game 2 is either Nowitzki needs to play out of this world � or at least much better � or the Mavs� secondary scorers have to step up and make life more difficult for the Miami defense.

Shawn Marion had a decent opener with 16 points and 10 rebounds, but after that, there wasn�t much to write home about for Dallas.

The biggest culprit was Tyson Chandler, who could be a serious factor in the series. Chandler had just nine points and four boards in Game 1 in 33 minutes, and his poor work on the glass allowed the Heat to outrebound the Mavericks 46-36 on the boards, including 16-6 on the offensive end.

If Chandler plays like this for the rest of the series, you can count on a parade rout on South Beach.

Jason Terry came off the bench to net 12 points for Dallas, but it was on 3 of 10 shooting and he didn�t score in the second half. That said, Terry wasn�t the only one to go cold: Both teams shot under 40% from the field in the opener, and that contributed to �under� bettors getting their way.