After Steve Smith hit a 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 101-91 lead with 3:17 remaining, the Mavericks went on a 12-2 run to tie it before Porter scored the final two of his season-high 22 points.
"In that situation, I just tend to really focus on my routine," Porter said. "I try to block out the crowd, just make believe that I'm in the gym with nobody, focus on the rim like I normally do. The first one was a little shaky, but it went in. The second one was much better."
Tim Duncan had 29 points and 17 rebounds before fouling out with 1:49 left and the Spurs ahead, 103-95. Dirk Nowitzki hit two free throws and a jumper to cut the deficit to 103-99, then drew a charge on David Robinson with 44 seconds remaining.
 Juwan Howard finds that it's still difficult to travel into Mr. Robinson's neighborhood, even in Dallas. Glenn James /NBAE/Getty Images |
Nash was called for a blocking foul on Porter, and after the veteran hit his free throws, Nash front-rimmed his 3-pointer and San Antonio escaped with the win.
"We had two different looks," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "The first one wasn't open and the second one was Nash and he got a great look for the game-winner. I'd take that 10 out of 10 times."
"It was unfortunate," Nash said. "We really had a good chance to win and then nothing really seemed to go our way when it really counted the most. Couldn't get a call and couldn't make a shot. It was a tough night."
San Antonio came in with a half-game lead over Minnesota and a one-game edge over Dallas, which won at San Antonio, 126-123 in overtime, on December 26. The Spurs could have fallen out of first place after the Timberwolves defeated Atlanta earlier Saturday night, but Porter would not allow it.
"Obviously this was a great game both ways," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "Both teams play hard against each other. They are both good teams, and it's going to be like that over and over again. It's just a hell of a game for everybody. We were fortunate enough to win, maybe we made one more shot or something."
The Spurs took an 84-72 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Mavericks began the period on a 10-0 run that was capped by a 3-pointer by Tim Hardaway with 9:45 to go, forcing San Antonio to call a timeout.
Porter hit a 3-pointer from the left corner after the break to stop the burst. Antonio Daniels hit a bucket and Duncan hit a pair of free throws to give the Spurs a 91-82 cushion.
Dallas, which had a seven-game home winning streak snapped, played the last 8:36 without All-Star swingman Dallas, which had a seven-game home winning streak snapped, played the last 8:36 without All-Star swingman Michael Finley, who appeared to aggravate a left hamstring injury on a drive with the Mavs trailing, 89-82.
"It looks like we lost Michael Finley for a while now," Nelson said. "I left him out there for quite a long time because I didn't want him to get cold. I thought once it was warm it would be okay. It wasn't quite healthy, I guess. It's not a terribly serious thing, but he did re-aggravate it."
"We don't need this," Hardaway said. "It looks like every time we get a guy healthy, someone else goes down."
Nowitzki led Dallas with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Nash added 17 points and four other Mavericks reached double figures.
"We gave them a great battle in the fourth quarter," Nowitzki said. "We fought to get back into it. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way. I think we left it all out there on the floor."
"Nash does a great job of pushing it and they have quite a few guys who can get the rebound and push it up the floor and find open guys in the perimeter, so we tried to make sure we got back as best we can and not allow those guys to get a lot of easy opportunities," Porter said.
San Antonio shot 56 percent (19-of-34) in the first half en route to a 57-44 advantage. The Spurs took their first lead at 3-2 on a jumper by Duncan and did not trail thereafter.
"Everything we threw at the rim would go in," Porter said. "Overall, offensively I think our spacing was better and guys were getting some good looks and good rhythm early on, and it kind of carried throughout the game."
"We needed this to turn around," Duncan said. "We hadn't been playing real well over the last six, seven games, eight games. We hadn't been playing good basketball. We played good basketball tonight, not just because we won but (because) we moved the ball well."