The NBA Finals have played out much like many analysts had predicted, with neither team being able to sustain long winning streaks in the series. The Dallas Mavericks became the first team in the series to win two straight on Thursday, and it has them within one game of their first championship. The story lines for this year’s finals have centered around LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, and Dwyane Wade. Throw in Jason Terry’s mouth and clutch performances in games four and five, and suddenly this NBA Finals has become as riveting as any in recent history, including last year’s Lakers. Celtics, seven game battle. Nowitzki has never been this close to a championship. The closest he had been before this year was back in 2006, when Wade and the Heat turned a 2-0 series deficit into a 4-2 series win. This time, Dallas is looking to turn the tables on Miami, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to hold their current 3-2 lead. The NBA Finals are set up to reward the team with home court advantage, so basketball purists will say that the series has gone exactly as scripted, and that Miami should win the series by holding serve on their home court. The Mavericks, however, are not looking at it from that view. Instead, Dallas players understand that they were the best road team in the playoffs this season, and they have already won one game in Miami earlier in this series. To do so again, the Mavericks will have to get the same type of production out of Terry as they have in the past two games. The Heat will return home as betting favorites. Miami is favored by five points in game six. The total for the game is 187, staying consistent with the rest of the series’ totals. In game five, the two teams exploded offensively, but with the series back in Miami, nobody is expecting another offensive performance like the one the teams put up on Thursday.