Dirk Nowitzki finished with 23 points and hit a go-ahead jumper with six seconds left to lift the Dallas Mavericks to an 87-86 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday.
Tyson Chandler added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Mavericks, who had dropped six of the previous seven.
Knotted at 68 to begin the fourth quarter, Dallas scored seven straight points to grab the edge. The Nets battled back, taking the lead at 83-82 when Sasha Vujacic drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:33 to cap an 8-0 burst.
The Mavericks went back up on Jose Juan Barea’s jumper 44 seconds later but Brook Lopez hit two free throws to put New Jersey on top and Devin Harris split a pair of free throws to make it 86-84 with 51 seconds to play. After Tyson Chandler split a pair of free throws on the other end, Shawn Marion blocked Harris’ shot to give Dallas one last chance.
Nowitzki took a pass and drove the lane, floating a shot up with six seconds left that rolled around the rim and in, clinching it for the Mavericks.
Lopez finished with 24 points for New Jersey, which squandered an opportunity to win three straight for the first time since taking four in a row during the 2008-09 campaign.
Dallas | Brooklyn | |
Dirk Nowitzki 23 | Scoring | Brook Lopez 24 |
Jason Kidd 8 | Assists | Devin Harris 11 |
Shawn Marion 11 | Rebounds | Kris Humphries 15 |
Dirk Nowitzki 7 | Free Throws Made | Devin Harris 7 |
Tyson Chandler 3 | Steals | Jordan Farmar 1 |
N/A | Blocks | Brook Lopez 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Dallas | 87 | 34.7 | 8-21 | 27-29 | 18 | 39 | 0 | 11 | 14 |
Brooklyn | 86 | 44.4 | 5-15 | 17-21 | 23 | 39 | 5 | 4 | 17 |