Wade leads Heat to first title

The long-suffering Miami Heat completed a remarkable turnaround by beating Dallas Mavericks 95-92 on Tuesday to win the NBA Finals 4-2 and claim their first championship.

Finals MVP Dwyane Wade scored 36 points to lead the Heat, a team of veterans who recovered from a 0-2 deficit to sweep the next four games against a Dallas squad whose confidence evaporated further with each loss.

Udonis Haslem hit eight of 13 shots to add 17 points for the Heat, who won despite hitting just two of 18 from beyond the arc.

"We knew inside this team was built for the play-offs," Wade said of Miami's unremarkable 52-30 regular season record.

Dirk Nowitzki paced Dallas with 29 points and 15 rebounds but the Mavericks were doomed by shooting only 37 per cent from the floor and hitting just five of 22 from three-point range.

A 17-foot jump shot by Josh Howard with 42 seconds left in the game pulled the Mavericks to within a point at 91-90, but Wade hit four straight free-throws to push the Heat lead to 95-90 with 17.7 seconds remaining.

Two free-throws by Howard trimmed the lead to 95-92 before two missed free-throws by Wade with 10.3 seconds remaining gave Dallas their last ray of hope.

But a potentially game-tying 27-footer by guard Jason Terry misfired, giving Miami their first title and igniting a midcourt celebration.

The championship was Pat Riley's fifth as a coach but first since 1988.