"Playing in his first NBA Finals, Mike Bibby's sole focus is the result.

So despite breaking out of his recent slump Thursday night, the Heat's veteran point guard deflected any praise for what was his best playoff performance since coming to Miami.

"It means nothing because we came away with an 'L,'?" Bibby said after the defeat. "We started missing shots and they started making them. Everything just went the other way."

The 33-year-old Bibby gave the Heat a spark early and often during his 22-plus minutes Thursday night, finishing with a playoff-high 14 points and four steals. But as has been the norm recently during his rotation at the point guard position with Mario Chalmers, Bibby sat out the fourth quarter and watched as Dallas used a 22-5 run to beat Miami 95-93 in Game 2.

"Dallas started the quarter out 1 for 11 and finished 8 for 10," Bibby said. "We've got to make up for it in Dallas now."

Bibby played most of the first and third quarters, going 5 of 8 from the field, including 4 of 7 from three-point range. Just as Chalmers had done in Game 1, the shots came at clutch moments in the game to prevent Dallas from sustaining any momentum.

Bibby had gone scoreless in each of the Heat's previous two playoff games, playing a combined 30 minutes. In Game 1, Bibby was replaced by a more effective Chalmers after the midway point of the third quarter and did not return.

But Thursday, Bibby looked as sharp as he has in weeks both offensively and defensively. Chalmers finished with nine points and played nearly 25 minutes. He also had three assists. He went 0 for 5 from three-point range until making a clutch three-pointer that tied the game at 93 with24.5 seconds left."