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The Miami Heat have struck first in the NBA finals.  LeBron James scored 24 points for his first win in five finals-game appearances, Dwyane Wade added 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the title series Tuesday night.

This was how LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh envisioned it when they decided to unite in Miami, and now that a championship is in sight, they're not offering any apologies.

The Lakers have put together a deal to hire former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown as their new coach, an NBA official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter said late Tuesday.

LeBron James scored 35 points, Chris Bosh added 22 and the Miami Heat moved within one win of the NBA finals with a wild 101-93 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference title series on Tuesday night.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points, Jason Kidd hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in overtime and the Dallas Mavericks pushed the Thunder to the brink of elimination.

Chris Bosh continued to make atonement for any misgivings in a trying, acclimating season, finishing with a game-high 34 points as heat took a 2-1 series lead over the Bulls.

Even when he is off his game, Dirk Nowitzki can still get the job done as the Dallas Mavericks' closer. Nowitzki shrugged off a rough start and made a few key jumpers in the fourth quarter, helping the Mavericks hold off the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 93-87 victory Saturday night and a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

James Harden, Eric Maynor, Nick Collison and Daequan Cook did something Kobe Bryant and the Lakers couldn't do — make big plays down the stretch to hold off Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks.

LeBron James scored nine of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and the Heat tied the series at 1-1 with a victory over Chicago Wednesday night.

Dallas, the oldest team in the N.B.A. playoffs, got a game-high 48 points from Dirk Nowitzki to overshadow a 40-point performance by the Thunder’s Kevin Durant.