Game 5 provides more great Finals drama

DALLAS — The world's most ready-made reality-television star walked into the room and sat heavily in front of it all – the podium, the reporters, the drama, what must have felt like the whole damned world.

Love him or hate him – and wow, how folks do both – LeBron James was a sight to pity: He had just recorded the first triple-double in his team's playoff history, he somehow still had managed to once again utterly shut down in the fourth quarter, and now he and his band of brothers were facing a 3-2 NBA Finals deficit and the very real chance of squandering a chance at the redemption and vengeance they crave.

He looked sad, truly, after the Dallas Mavericks' titillating 112-103 win over his Miami Heat team a short time earlier Thursday. He looked tired. He looked utterly and completely dazed.

He looked like the single greatest marketing machine the NBA has seen in at least a decade – his heartache and failure very much included.

"No, I don't think so," he answered when asked if he was struggling with late-game pressure. "I don't believe so. I know I'm not."

Twitter exploded. People who have not watched basketball ever stayed up late to hear him talk. And somewhere, surely, NBA commissioner David Stern must have leaned back leisurely and smiled as only a man holding a winning lottery ticket can.

Because in LeBron James' dizzied look of despair – and the buildup since his Decision – and Dirk Nowitzki's rising legend, and the nonstop comeback wins and nail-biting finishes, these NBA Finals have gone from mere sport to something bordering on a cultural epic.

Ratings are up. Interest has skyrocketed. People who have had only a passing interest, or none at all, in the NBA have started to pay attention.

And why not? Supposed villains have been both ferocious and vanquished. A flurry of comebacks and close calls has spiced up every ending.

And LeBron, our reality-television star alternating between bouts of brutal letdown and stunning skill, has taken all this and repackaged it for the hungry, captivated and often angry (at him) masses.

It's almost as if Stern himself were wielding a thousand strings, each attached to the various stars and storylines that have riveted throughout this series.

There's Dirk Nowitzki and the very real fact that an emerging white star (yes, yes, think Larry Bird) is surely good for business (yes, in America such a thing sadly matters). On Thursday, Dirk (the man even has a catchy name) kept rewriting his own narrative as a loser with another fantastic night: 29 points (eight in the fourth quarter) in helping his team erase another late-game deficit.

Ah, yes, the comebacks. Each game has been a testament to drama and has captivated audiences. Each game, were one conspiratorially inclined, seems almost too-well scripted – as if they'd been played off of some master plan developed in that same room where Stern is sitting right now, still smiling.

Game 2: Dallas storms back 15 down with seven minutes left to win by two. America, outside of South Florida, rejoices. Series tied at 1-1.

Game 3: Dallas again makes a push, this time down seven with 6-1/2 minutes left. They tie the score. Then lose by two. America is riveted. Miami leads 2-1.

Game 4: Down nine this time with 10 minutes left, the Mavericks again come back, helped by that LeBron James "I forgot to shoot or really even try to play" fourth quarter. Riveted, elated, stunned (in South Florida, crushed), you name it – America felt it. Dallas evens the series at 2-2.

And then there was Thursday night's Game 5, in which the Heat squandered a four-point lead with 4:37 left and the Mavs finished with a 17-4 flourish. Now down 3-2, Miami needs to win the next two at home in order to avert utter disaster (which, let's be honest, also sells).

But the drama doesn't stop there. Dwyane Wade limped off the floor in the first half with a left hip injury, and there was some doubt as to whether he could limp back on. But he did, willing his way to 23 points, eight assists, a massive blocked shot and a compelling disdain for refusing to cite his injuries as even remotely impactful.

It was a downright American-man, tough-as-nails, but-I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it moment.

"You know, I'm not going to do that," Wade said. "No, once you're on the court, you're on the court. I don't have no excuses. I was on the court."

I swear, the guy gritted his teeth as he said it. This was high drama.

And of course there was LeBron. He's embraced the moniker "The Chosen One." He's whipped himself and his teammates into antagonists with The Decision and its aftermath.

He's made every moment of drama exponentially more emotional and intriguing because of his involvement, his polarizing power, his paradoxical mix of greatness and weakness.

He played incredibly enough in the Chicago series to captivate and has played badly enough in this series to bring out America's love of watching the famous fall, hard.

Asked about a key missed jumper, LeBron said, "I didn't think about it, D-Wade gave it to me, I had enough room and I shot it. Shots I made before. I just didn't make it that time."

There was pain there. And America also loves to see its reality-television stars suffer.

All of which made for another incredible game in which Miami seemed to seize control late in the fourth quarter before Dallas stormed back. It was pure drama, punctuated with moments like Jason Terry's crazy 3-point shot with 3:23 left to make a three-point Miami lead vanish as swiftly as LeBron's game under duress.

"Thank God I could do that again tonight," Terry said.

Stern certainly is.

Because now the series is going to Miami, and surely there will be more eyeballs, more attention, more scrutiny, more drama, more hope, my heroes, more goats. … You bet these guys are Hollywood as hell. This stuff should be in some drama-filled sports movie, not real life.

There is so much before us: Dirk's continued effort to will his team to the rings. LeBron's now-desperate need to erase so much failure and doubt. Wade's nagging injury pushing back on his dogged need to be great and stop Dirk in his tracks.

The promise of comebacks.

Of drama.

Of some heroes rising and some falling.

Stay tuned.

Looks like it's going to get even better before it's over.

You can follow Bill Reiter on Twitter.