Mavs' Haywood uncertain for Game 3 against Heat

DALLAS (AP) - Dallas Mavericks backup center Brendan Haywood was going nowhere fast during practice Saturday.

Haywood, who came out of Game 2 of the NBA finals early because of a strained right hip flexor, spent much of the Mavericks' practice riding a stationary bicycle. Other than that, he was limited to spot-up shots and free throws with no contact or full-speed work.

His status for Game 3 against Miami on today was uncertain.

"I feel a lot better than yesterday. I don't know what that means for tomorrow," said Haywood, who purposely fouled somebody to stop the clock when he was hurting early in the fourth quarter Thursday night.

Coach Rick Carlisle said well-rested Ian Mahinmi would be ready to play if Haywood isn't available. The Mavs could also go with smaller lineups.

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FOUL TROUBLES: Miami forward LeBron James wants to shoot more free throws in the NBA finals. And Dallas coach Rick Carlisle would not mind that, either.

(We'll explain that second part in a moment.)

James has taken only six foul shots in the first two games of this series against Dallas. It's only the third time all season where James shot six free throws in a two-game stretch. To put that in some perspective, he shot at least six in a single game 72 times during the regular season and playoffs.

"Six free throws in two games - I do that in my sleep," James said Saturday.

He's been credited with five dunks in the series, and Carlisle said Saturday that he'd like to see the Mavericks do a better job taking that away, even if that means challenging James with more force at the rim.

"Look, there are a lot of situations I wish we would send them to the foul line and not allow them to go up and tear the rim down with dunks," Carlisle said. "That's hard. The thing is if he gets to the launching pad and he gets that kind of force going, even if you foul him, he's going to finish."

When James shoots at least nine free throws, the Heat are 35-9 this season. When he doesn't, they're 35-17.