The Miami Heat held on to win game three of the National Basketball Association championship series 88-86 Sunday, as Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki missed a potential game-tying shot as time expired.

The visiting Heat narrowly avoided blowing a double-digit lead for a second consecutive game, and now lead the best-of-seven series two games to one. Dallas rallied to win game two of the series last week after trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but could not overcome a 14-point Miami advantage in game three.

Miami's Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while LeBron James added 17 points.

Nowitzki scored 34 points for the Mavericks, including the team's final 12.

Game four is on Tuesday in Dallas.