Mavs' Nowitzki stifled, injures finger in Game 1

rue to his word, Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra gave Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (FSY)  different defensive looks.
The Heat started with center Joel Anthony (FSY)  on Nowitzki. Then LeBron James (FSY)  guarded the 7-footer. Heat guard Dwyane Wade (FSY)  defended him, then forward Chris Bosh (FSY)  had a chance — all in the first six minutes of the first quarter.
"We'll have multiple guys guard him by necessity and because of that's who we are to change up things, different looks and great players require that," Spoelstra said before Game 1.
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At the start of the second quarter, Heat backup forward Udonis Haslem (FSY)  took his turn on Nowitzki.
"Every team we've played is very aggressive on him," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's a unique player. He's got to be denied the ball virtually all the time. Haslem is a guy who has the wherewithal to do that, and they're going to play him aggressively, and we know that. {hellip} We've got to keep giving him opportunities to create."
"They're a very good defensive team. ... Both teams shot (below) 40%," Carlisle said. "It gives you some idea of (how) difficult good, clean shots are going to come by in this series."
Miami's aggressive defense kept Nowitzki from dominating, and the All-Star had as quiet a 27 points as a player can score in Miami's 92-84 victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday.
The right-handed Nowitzki tore a tendon in the middle finger of his left hand but said it shouldn't be a problem. He said he injured the finger while trying to steal the basketball from Bosh.
"I kind of looked down, and I couldn't straighten my finger out anymore," said Nowitzki who had an X-ray on the finger. "I guess it will be alright. I have to wear a splint probably for the rest of the playoffs. … I'll be alright for Thursday."
The injury earned him no sympathy from James.
"Dirk is right-handed," James said. "He shoots the ball extremely well. That left hand is just a guide hand for all shooters We all know that. It won't affect him. He's still going to be great. He's still Dirk."
It was Dallas' second-lowest scoring total of the playoffs.
"You hold a team to 38% and 92 points, for us, that's usually a victory," Mavericks forward Shawn Marion (FSY)  said. "To score 84 points is very rare for us."
Nowitzki scored 13 points in the first half and four points in the third quarter. He made seven of 18 shots (38.9%) in one his worst shooting games of the playoffs.
"Both teams are good defensively. That's why both teams are in the Finals," Nowitzki said. "I had my opportunities there. I had some good drives there in the first half. I've just got to finish. I missed a righty layup. I missed a lefty layup that rolled around. I have to keep attacking and take my opportunities when they're there."
Said Wade: "We'll take seven of 18 every game we can."
The Mavericks shot 37.3% from the field Tuesday, including 36.4% in the second half.
After Dallas took a 51-43 lead early in the third quarter, the Heat finished on 22-10 run and took a 65-61 lead into the fourth quarter.
And the fourth quarter has been where Miami's defense has excelled through the first three rounds of the playoffs. It continued against the Mavericks with James, Wade, Haslem, Bosh and forward Mike Miller (FSY)  on the court.
"We were able to get some defensive stops there at the end to create some distance," Spoelstra said.
The Heat entered the series knowing they couldn't stop Nowitzki for 48 minutes. He's too tall and can get his shot off at anytime. He's too creative with his arsenal of traditional and unorthodox moves.
"You just have to make it tough on him and wear him out throughout the game," James said before the start of the series.
While Nowitzki lamented missed shots, the Heat also did fair job of making him work for shots and keeping him from his comfort zones as much as possible.
"I thought our guys did a good of paying attention to the detail of what we wanted to do," Wade said.
Of all the Heat players guarding Nowitzki, Haslem was the least surprising. In Miami's 2006 NBA Finals victory against Dallas, Haslem helped limit Nowitzki to 39% shooting and became known as "the Dirk stopper."
"We all know Haslem is a good defense at the four position, probably one of the best in the league" Nowitzki said.
Nowitzki, who entered the Finals averaging 28.4 points, started 1-for-3. He went 18 minutes, 39 seconds without a field goal in the first half. Miami wanted to keep Dallas out of the paint, and it did — at the expense of three-pointers. Six of Dallas' 13 field goals in the first half were three-pointers. But Dallas was held to three three-pointers in the second half.
"Defense is our staple," James said of the Heat, who entered the Finals allowing 88.3 points a game in the playoffs and were No. 6 in points allowed a game (94.6) during the regular season.
To get an idea of how much emphasis the Heat place on defense, Bosh said they made too many mistakes on defense in a game in which their opponent did not shoot 40% or score 90 points.
"Tomorrow, we'll look at film, we'll see where we made our mistakes, we'll make adjustments and move on from there," Bosh said.
Spoelstra, as he did throughout the conference finals when Miami kept Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose (FSY)  from controlling games, didn't want to take credit for what the Heat did.