The success-starved Dallas Mavericks will have to stop the explosive scoring runs by the Miami Heat if they are going to win their first NBA championship, coach Rick Carlisle said yesterday.

Miami holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series in large part because of their ability to score points in bunches.

"We've got to put one of those 48-minute games together," said Carlisle. "Last night every time we gained some traction, they would hit us with a 6-0 run or an 8-0 run or they would chip away at our five-point lead.

"And so this time of year when you're dealing with teams of this caliber, if you have a lull offensively or defensively, the other team is going to take advantage of it."

Paced by Dwyane Wade's 29 points, the Heat edged the Mavericks 88-86 on Sunday at the American Airlines Center to seize the homecourt advantage.

Unless Dallas find its shooting touch, the series could be over before returning to South Florida.

Forward Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points for the Mavericks, including 15 in the pivotal final period, but the 32-year-old All-Star is getting little help elsewhere.

Guards Jason Terry, JJ Barea and Jason Kidd are all shooting under 40 percent and it is unlikely the Mavericks can rally unless they start connecting from the outside.

"We were doing a great job in the first three rounds, knocking down open shots," said Barea, who is just five for 23 (22 percent) in the finals. "That's what got us those wins.

"We just have to keep our confidence. They're going to go down at some point."

The next two games are in Dallas, with Game Four on Tuesday.

"Somebody has to step up and help Dirk out," said Barea. "If we had somebody else stepping up and getting hot like he is right now, we'd be in a good place."

Terry, shooting just 38 percent, said the Mavericks will have a "Game Seven" mentality on Tuesday.

"We dropped the first one at home, which was very disappointing," he said. "We have not had a good 48 minutes of basketball in this finals. We're looking forward to it."

Terry, often guarded by Miami's LeBron James, conceded that the Heat are loaded with talent.

"There's no tricks. There's no magic show going on," he said. "These guys are who they are. They're great individual players and when you allow them to get out in transition and get easy baskets, they're spectacular.

"So our job is to eliminate that part of it and for 48 minutes, impose our will on them."

Terry said a high-scoring game favors the Mavericks, who have yet to reach 100 points in the series.

"We have to get the ball out quickly and push," he said. "We need to look for earlier opportunities in transition. Get this tempo up. I honestly believe if we score 100 points they can't beat us."