Although Barea's numbers weren't very flashy in game 4, his penetration caused issues for the Heat on the defensive end. In the Mavs game three win, Barea had 8 points and lead the team with 4 assists.
Barea presence was felt even more so in the Mavs 112-103 game 5 win to take the series lead heading back to Miami 3-2. Barea's up-tempo pay lead to a very high scoring game 5, which helped the Mavs much more than the Heat, which struggle to score on the offensive end at times. Barea had a monster game with 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting and 5 assists. He hit 4 of the five threes he took as well. Barea, Jason Kidd, and Jason Terry became the first set of teammates to each have 10 points, 5 assists, and three 3-pointers in an NBA finals game. Barea's penetration was too much for Miami Heat point guard Mike Bibby to handle. Barea was constantly getting into the lane and making plays for the Mavs. In the first quarter, there were three straight possessions for the Mavs where Barea got by Bibby and kicked out to Kidd and then Dirk twice for open jump shots. Barea is not nearly as much of a threat to score when he is in the paint as when he is on the perimeter. He is always going to look to pass when he gets into the lane. However, Joel Anthony consistently helped off of Dirk Nowitzki to help Bibby and was then burned when Dirk was open for an easy jumper from 15 feet. In the fourth quarter when the ball was in Dirk's hands and Terry's hands, Barea spotted up for 3-pointers. He made two big ones in the fourth quarter including one to end a 5-0 Heat run and extend the Mavs lead to five points.
Barea was instrumental in the Mavs two straight wins at home and helping them take the lead in the series 3 games to 2. Tyson Chandler said about starting Barea, "I think it just gives us another ball handler and a guy who makes decisions, and speeds up the pace of the game. Definitely a scoring option threat. He's changed the flow of the game... He's been our little war-. He's been our big warrior throughout the entire season... He's been our spark plug." DeShawn Stevenson added, "I think we needed that at the time, and we've won two games by doing that. J.J., he's doing a great job penetrating and finding a way." Dirk Nowitzki said after the Mavs game 5 victory, "I think the major change was obviously starting J.J. J.J. has been good in the starting lineup. He's been phenomenal for us attacking the paint. He was shooting the ball well. They were going under his screen and rolls. He was able to knock down some big shots down." Barea said about his new starting role, "I'm still going to play the same game, I'm going to always stay aggressive off the bench or as a starter, and I'm going to attack."
It is essential that the Heat defenders stay attached to Dirk and that becomes a much easier task if Barea isn't constantly getting into the lane. The Heat may have to go with Mario Chalmers because he has done a much better job containing Barea than Bibby. Lebron James said about defending Barea, "The guy hit four threes, three of them was at the end of the shot clock with him not even holding his follow-through. A guy like that, once he gets into the lane and gets a few layups, his outside shot becomes better, just like a lot of us. Myself and D-Wade, if you allow us to get to two or three layups, we feel like we're in a good rhythm. So we have to do a better job of trying to keep him out the paint. If you keep him out of the paint early, that's better for us. He doesn't shoot the ball as well as he would if he gets a few layups here, a few layups there, a couple of free-throws. He's a key [to stop]."
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