The Miami Heat ruined the Dallas Mavericks’ championship party, handing them a humiliating Christmas Day beat down. Dirk Nowitzki and company were all smiles prior to the game (Mavericks received their rings and hoisted the 2011 championship banner in the pregame festivities), but the smiles didn’t last long, as the Heat cruised on to the 105-94 victory. With the win, the Heat break their 14 game regular season losing streak to the Mavericks.

The Heat wasted no time against the team that ended their championship dreams last season, taking control in the very first half of the game and never looking back. By halftime, the Heat had a 21 point lead, and things only got worse for the Mavericks in the second half. The Mavericks did try to fight back in the final quarter, but by then, half of their fans had already deserted them and it was too little too late.

Solid defense has been a staple of the “big three” era Heat and they obviously haven’t lost a step. The Heat’s defense smothered the Mavericks throughout the game, holding them to 38 percent shooting from the field. Even Nowitzki had problems dealing with the Heat’s defense, converting on only 6 of his 15 attempts from the field.

LeBron James made an emphatic statement in Miami’s first game of the 2011/12 NBA season, dropping 37 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists against the Mavericks.

Dwyane Wade wasn’t playing around with the Mavericks either, finishing with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists of his own.

Miami’s improved bench played their part as well, putting up a combined 27 points and 23 rebounds against Dallas. Udonis Haslem in particular had a strong game coming off the bench, finishing with 9 points and 14 rebounds.

Expectations are high for the 2011/12 Miami team, but they seem to be up to the task. The Heat’s next game will be on Dec. 27, when they host the Boston Celtics at the American Airline Arena.

David is a Miami Heat fan that has followed the team for 15 years. Follow him on twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.

Sources:

Player and game information from ESPN.com

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The Miami Heat’s star-studded Big Three of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh will host and play in a charity game dubbed “The South Florida All-Star Classic,” according to ESPN.com. The game will be held on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. ET at Florida International University, where Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas is coach. All proceeds will benefit a charity supporting South Florida’s educational community.

The game adds to the number of exhibitions that NBA players are playing in this offseason during the N.B.A. lockout. James himself has appeared in a handful, including one on Sunday in Philadelphia. It will be the first time he, Wade and Bosh take the court together since last season’s NBA finals when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks.

About 20 NBA players will join the Big Three-they include fellow Heat teammate Mario Chalmers, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul, the Atlanta Hawks’ Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson, the Washington Wizards’ John Wall, the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo, the Dallas Mavericks’ Caron Butler, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Rudy Gay, the Houston Rockets’ Jonny Flynn, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Eric Bledsoe, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Lou Williams, the Golden State Warriors’ Dorell Wright, and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Wesley Matthews and free agent Eddy Curry.

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ESPN.com also notes that Cleveland Cavaliers’ first-round picks Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson also are possible participants in the game.

The two teams will be divided by those who endorse Nike, such as James and Bosh, and those who endorse Brand Jordan, such as Wade and Anthony. Miami-based rapper Rick Ross is expected to coach the Nike team, while comedian Kevin Hart, who has appeared in Brand Jordan commercials with Wade, is expected to coach the Jordan team.

Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh attends First-Ever Call of Duty XP at the Stages at Playa Vista on September 3, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)

Chris Bosh enjoyed just about every second of his jampacked off-season.

Nonetheless, he’s ready to go back to work.

Bosh said Saturday that he expects the Miami Heat to reconvene sometime soon, even though the NBA lockout has entered its third month with no apparent ending in sight. This would ordinarily be the time of year where most players start ramping up workouts anyway, and Bosh said he will be ready whether training camps begin on time or not.

“We’re going to make some plans. We’re going to plan to do something,” Bosh said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. “I think just getting around each other, I think it’s important as far as team-building is concerned and just getting something going. We’re pretty much still in the process of doing that.”

Bosh was making an appearance Saturday with fans to help promote the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.” Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics were among the group of other NBA players involved with the event.

Bosh said he used to play “a lot of video games” when he was younger, and said he still dabbles when his schedule allows.

“It’s cool to do cool things,” Bosh said.

But for now, he’s thinking more and more about the upcoming Heat season — and not back at what went wrong when Miami lost in six games to Dallas in last season’s NBA finals.

Bosh was emotionally crushed in the moments after Dallas won the title, though said Saturday said he’s gotten past most of the disappointment that came when seeing the championship slip away.

“There’s no reason to hold on to it,” Bosh said. “The only reason I hold on to it is when I need motivation. But other than that, it happened and there’s really no emotional attachment for me. I let all that out within 24 hours after I was done. It’s nothing I hang on. I talked about everything. I talked about it until I was blue in the face. And then once you do that, you just realize you have to move forward.”

His summer schedule made the task of moving past the finals somewhat easier.

Bosh’s wedding to the former Adrienne Williams was in July, and the pair have done so much travelling since that the all-star has grown fond of saying they’ve been “M-I-A from MIA” in recent months. He is scheduled to appear on an episode of “Law and Order” later this month, and in the coming days he’ll be in New York for some Fashion Week events, U.S. Open tennis and possibly the Dallas Cowboys’ season-opener on Sept. 11 against the Jets.

Much like teammate LeBron James, Bosh — a Dallas native — is a huge Cowboys fan.

“I’m sure he’ll be there, too,” Bosh said.

Bosh has been working when he can at the University of Miami, as have players from a number of different franchises in recent weeks. Bosh said his training will intensify, as usual, now that summer is winding down.

And although he’s like everyone else in having no idea when the lockout will end, Bosh remains hopeful that a deal can be struck before too long.

“I’m an optimistic person anyway,” Bosh said. “The NBA is as good as it’s ever been right now and I think there’s no reason to miss out on it. So I think everybody will come to a conclusion. When you’re dealing with business, emotions and feelings get involved and that’s natural. You’re going to have arguments. But I think as long as everybody knows that and as long as we keep moving forward to a deal, then that’s progress.”

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade’s night began with a hug for his mother. It ended with an embrace from teammate LeBron James.

And the Miami Heat has struck first in the NBA Finals.

James scored 24 points for his first victory in five Finals-game appearances, Wade added 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the best-of-seven title series Tuesday night.

The Heat trailed by eight points early in the third quarter before pulling away, remaining unbeaten at home in these playoffs and snapping Dallas’ five-game road winning streak.

Chris Bosh scored 19 points — holding up three fingers when it was over, a clear nod to the three victories Miami needs for a title — and Mario Chalmers added 12 for the Heat, which hosts Game 2 Thursday night.

“I just was aggressive,” Wade said. “We understand that this is the kind of game we wanted to play. We had them where we wanted them in the sense of points. You know they wasn’t scoring a lot on us and offensively we just executed and guys made plays.”

Wade’s three-pointer with 3:06 left put the Heat up 82-73, then the largest lead of the game for either team. The Mavericks shaved two points off it on the next possession when Dirk Nowitzki made two free throws, but James gave the Heat its first double-digit lead of the Finals a few seconds later.

James dribbled upcourt against Shawn Marion, crossed his dribble over and got clear for a dunk while being fouled. The free throw made the score 85-75, and most in the sellout, white-clad crowd of 20,003 began standing in anticipation.

Nowitzki, who shoots right-handed, tore a tendon in the middle finger on his left hand and said afterward he likely will wear a splint for the remainder of the series.

“We’re a veteran team,” Nowitzki said. “You can’t get down with a loss. You’ve got to come back strong on Thursday. I’ve said it a couple times in this playoff run, if you’re the road team, you’re happy with a split. So we’ve got another opportunity on Thursday to get one.”

Miami out-rebounded Dallas 46-36 and got a strong fourth-quarter finish from Wade and James.

“That’s who they’ve been their entire careers,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of his superstars.

Nowitzki scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Dallas, which got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Marion. It was Dallas’ fifth straight loss to Miami in Finals games, dating to the Heat’s rally for the 2006 league title.

Dallas had 51 points after 26 minutes. The Mavericks scored 18 points in the next 18 minutes, 33 over the rest of the game. They shot 37.3 percent from the field, compared with 38.8 percent for the Heat.

“That’s kind of the way we’ve been winning games, of late,” Wade said of Miami’s defense. “You’ve got to stay with it. You can’t get frustrated because the ball’s not going in. There’s other ways you can dominate the game and we were able to do that tonight. I thought we did a great job in the second half of rebounding the ball, limiting them to one shot as much as possible.”

So, as was the case so many times this season, the Heat took the difficult route.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, noting Miami’s 16-6 edge in offensive rebounds, said, “By and large, we’ve got to play better, just overall.”

Note

• It’s official: Hall of Fame player Kevin McHale is headed to Houston.

Confirming numerous reports over the past couple of days, McHale said he has agreed to become the Rockets’ next coach. The former Boston Celtics great takes over for Rick Adelman, who left the team days after his fourth season in Houston ended. “I was a little uncertain whether I was going to jump in with both feet — I wanted it to be the right situation — but after spending time with them, I felt this is a good situation to get involved in,” McHale said.

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade’s night began with a hug for his mother. It ended with an embrace from teammate LeBron James.

And the Miami Heat has struck first in the NBA Finals.

James scored 24 points for his first victory in five Finals-game appearances, Wade added 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks 92-84 in Game 1 of the best-of-seven title series Tuesday night.

The Heat trailed by eight points early in the third quarter before pulling away, remaining unbeaten at home in these playoffs and snapping Dallas’ five-game road winning streak.

Chris Bosh scored 19 points — holding up three fingers when it was over, a clear nod to the three victories Miami needs for a title — and Mario Chalmers added 12 for the Heat, which hosts Game 2 Thursday night.

“I just was aggressive,” Wade said. “We understand that this is the kind of game we wanted to play. We had them where we wanted them in the sense of points. You know they wasn’t scoring a lot on us and offensively we just executed and guys made plays.”

Wade’s three-pointer with 3:06 left put the Heat up 82-73, then the largest lead of the game for either team. The Mavericks shaved two points off it on the next possession when Dirk Nowitzki made two free throws, but James gave the Heat its first double-digit lead of the Finals a few seconds later.

James dribbled upcourt against Shawn Marion, crossed his dribble over and got clear for a dunk while being fouled. The free throw made the score 85-75, and most in the sellout, white-clad crowd of 20,003 began standing in anticipation.

Nowitzki, who shoots right-handed, tore a tendon in the middle finger on his left hand and said afterward he likely will wear a splint for the remainder of the series.

“We’re a veteran team,” Nowitzki said. “You can’t get down with a loss. You’ve got to come back strong on Thursday. I’ve said it a couple times in this playoff run, if you’re the road team, you’re happy with a split. So we’ve got another opportunity on Thursday to get one.”

Miami out-rebounded Dallas 46-36 and got a strong fourth-quarter finish from Wade and James.

“That’s who they’ve been their entire careers,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of his superstars.

Nowitzki scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Dallas, which got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Marion. It was Dallas’ fifth straight loss to Miami in Finals games, dating to the Heat’s rally for the 2006 league title.

Dallas had 51 points after 26 minutes. The Mavericks scored 18 points in the next 18 minutes, 33 over the rest of the game. They shot 37.3 percent from the field, compared with 38.8 percent for the Heat.

“That’s kind of the way we’ve been winning games, of late,” Wade said of Miami’s defense. “You’ve got to stay with it. You can’t get frustrated because the ball’s not going in. There’s other ways you can dominate the game and we were able to do that tonight. I thought we did a great job in the second half of rebounding the ball, limiting them to one shot as much as possible.”

So, as was the case so many times this season, the Heat took the difficult route.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, noting Miami’s 16-6 edge in offensive rebounds, said, “By and large, we’ve got to play better, just overall.”

Note

• It’s official: Hall of Fame player Kevin McHale is headed to Houston.

Confirming numerous reports over the past couple of days, McHale said he has agreed to become the Rockets’ next coach. The former Boston Celtics great takes over for Rick Adelman, who left the team days after his fourth season in Houston ended. “I was a little uncertain whether I was going to jump in with both feet — I wanted it to be the right situation — but after spending time with them, I felt this is a good situation to get involved in,” McHale said.