Portland had already held off a couple Dallas Mavericks runs in the fourth quarter and with a 94-83 lead and less than two minutes remaining, had Dallas dead in the water. Few teams come back from a double-digit deficit with that little time.
But, the Mavericks did. A 13-2 run forced overtime and the Mavericks doubled down with an impressive extra period, stretching their run to 22-2 before Portland finally hit a free throw. The comeback rewarded Dallas with an impressive 111-101 win against a potential Western Conference playoff foe and sent the Blazers cratering further.
This fourth quarter comeback was all about Dirk Nowitzki. His stats are still great but he's struggled with his own lofty expectations this season, missing more jumpers even while he takes higher quality shots. Down the stretch of this game, however, he was everything we've come to expect from him in his Hall of Fame career, hitting four of the six shots he attempted in the final four minutes and overtime, including the game-tying three-pointer.
He finished with 25 points on 11-of-19 shooting and only one turnover, which is as vintage a Nowitzki offensive performance as we've seen this season.
On the other hand, the loss for Portland is devastating, as the Blazers have now lost nine of their last 13 games. They had chances to put Dallas away throughout the game even before leading by 11 with less than two minutes to go. One was a 13-0 run in the second quarter to take an eight-point lead, but they couldn't capitalize. Monta Ellis changed that in a moment, when he batted a pass into the backcourt, outraced two Portland players to it, finished with a layup and defended the inbounds pass, forcing a Portland timeout.
Dallas has struggled against Western Conference playoff teams this year, but this win moves the Mavs to 3-11. As Nowitzki's career reaches its twilight, fans of the NBA should savor every special moment like this he grants us.
3 other things we learned
Pelicans lose to Chicago but survive Davis injury scare. After flying in for an alley oop, Anthony Davis' momentum carried him off the rim and into a hard fall. Although he left the game and didn't return, the budding superstar's X-rays were negative and the injury is officially being called a contusion. Davis has been unbelievable this season, but don't believe me -- just look at the score. The Pelicans went up 32-30 on that bittersweet Davis dunk and ended up losing the game 107-72. That's a 77-40 run by Chicago to finish off the Davis-less Pelicans.
Warriors bounce back from the game of the century. Atlanta pulled away from Golden State in the fourth quarter on Friday to stake its official claim as the NBA's best team, but the Warriors drew an easy bounce back game on Saturday against New York. The Knicks actually made the game interesting late in the fourth quarter, drawing within five with about four minutes to go, but back-to-back Stephen Curry three-pointers shut the door.
Even without Beal, the Wizards get back on track. Washington's five-game skid came a bit out of the blue, but the Wizards crushed Brooklyn 114-77 on Saturday to earn their first win since Jan. 27. Otto Porter Jr. started in place of Bradley Beal, who missed with a right toe injury, and rewarded the Wizards nicely with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. All 25 active players -- Brooklyn only suited up 12 -- scored in this game, which goes to show how much of this contest was played in garbage time.
Play of the Night
Klay Thompson missed 17 shots on Saturday, but none more shameful than this layup, which was absolutely annihilated by Quincy Acy.
2 fun things
NOT THE BEER, MASON. And man, who knew spilled beer would create such awesome photos?
Stephen Curry turns into Jason Terry to celebrate an Andre Iguodala dunk.
Final scores
Warriors 106, Knicks 92 (Golden State of Mind recap | Posting and Toasting recap)
Wizards 114, Nets 77 (Bullets Forever recap | Nets Daily recap)
Bulls 107, Pelicans 72 (Blog a Bull recap | The Bird Writes recap)
76ers 89, Hornets 81 (Liberty Ballers recap | At the Hive recap)
Bucks 96, Celtics 93 (Brew Hoop recap | Celtics Blog recap)
Mavericks 111, Trail Blazers 101 (Mavs Moneyball recap | Blazer's Edge recap)
Jazz 102, Kings 90 (SLC Dunk | Sactown Royalty recap)