Miami needs to hold serve twice to claim the title

Miami Heat's LeBron James (R) stands with Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade during Game 5 of the NBA Finals basketball series in Dallas, June 9, 2011.

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Miami Heat seem to thrive on adversity and they have no bigger challenge than Sunday's do-or-die game against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.

Miami trails the best-of-seven series 3-2 and needs to win the next two games on its home court to avoid handing the Mavericks the first title in their 31-season existence.

"This series is a long way from over," said Heat guard Dwayne Wade. "There's a lot of basketball left. And we're back home. We would rather have it here than anywhere else."

The Mavericks won two of three games in Dallas and now play for the title Sunday at the American Airlines Arena, where they split the opening two games of the series.

If the Heat win Sunday, it will be a winner-takes-all affair Tuesday in Miami.

Despite being on the brink, Heat forward LeBron James said he likes his team's chances of winning two in Miami to claim the championship.

"We worked all year to get home court," he told reporters on Saturday. "And even though we're in an elimination game, we feel like we still have a great opportunity with this series coming back to Miami. Two games on our home floor."

Winning the title would be a measure of revenge for Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who reached the finals in 2006 but lost in six games to the Heat.

Nowitzki said he "never went back and watched the film" of the 2006 series finale in Dallas.

"I never watched the celebration," said Nowitzki, who is averaging 27 points in this year's finals. "It is tough to always see another team win on your home court. It doesn't matter if it's a regular season or playoffs or championship.

"That's always tough in front of your home fans. Ultimately, that's what we got to do now."

ROAD WARRIORS

The Mavericks have won five road games during the playoffs and no one would like to make it six more than Nowitzki, who is 32 years old and still searching for his first title.

"We've got to steal one more game on the road, hopefully the next one," he said. "We've been good on the road all playoffs long. We have a bunch of veterans that are road tested, and hopefully we can get a big game tomorrow."

James, also searching for his first crown, vows to be more aggressive in the fourth quarter than he has been during the first five games of the series.

He is averaging 17 points a game but has scored only 11 points during the five fourth quarters. In a series as hotly contested as this, that can be the difference.

James said sometimes he is passing to the hot player down the stretch. Other times, he said the ball is just not dropping.

The two-time NBA most valuable player said "tomorrow is another opportunity for me to make an imprint on this series in the fourth quarter and help our team win."

"It's a huge stage," he said. "I want to play well, of course. I want to help this team win a championship. That's all it's about.

"The things that you can't control, the ball going in for you, or you playing extremely well every single game, the game doesn't happen like that.

"I have to do what's best for our team to help put our team in a position to win ball games. That's the only thing I can control."

(Editing by Rex Gowar)