Mavs drop division rival Spurs behind huge fourth quarter

By Tim Price, for NBA.com
Posted Saturday January 9, 2010 12:35AM

SAN ANTONIO (NBA.com exclusive) -- Two times early in the fourth quarter Friday night against the Spurs, Dirk Nowitzki gathered in a pass on the wing and turned to see reserve off-guard George Hill between him and the basket.

He passed the ball back out once and put up an 18-footer that missed and ended a Mavericks' possession another time. Down by seven with eight minutes to go, Nowitzki was 4-for-17 and looking at a night where he'd likely get his fortitude questioned if that sort of play kept up.

But Nowitzki and his teammates got hot -- very hot. The Mavericks outscored the Spurs 42-23 in the fourth and delivered a stunning blow to San Antonio's move on the lead in the Southwest Division. Nowitzki finished with 26 points, Jason Terry added 21, and the Mavericks defeated San Antonio 112-103 at AT&T Center.

"We kept hanging in there," Nowitzki said. "I missed a lot of shots. But if we're down 10, that's nothing for us. We have a lot of people who can score."

The 42 points were the most given up by the Spurs in a quarter this season. They didn't give up that many last season, either.

San Antonio actually led by 13 with less than a minute to go in the third. So it all turned out to be a resounding answer to the Spurs' recent move on Dallas in the Southwest standings. San Antonio had gained two games on Dallas (25-11) in the past 2 ½ weeks and looked to cut the Mavs' lead to one game. Instead, the Spurs (21-13) fell three back and are 1-3 in their past four games at home against teams with a winning record.

As good as Nowitzki was in the fourth -- he went 7-for-12 including hitting both of his 3-point attempts and had two blocks and a pair of assists -- his teammates might have been more efficient even if they weren't as prolific. The rest of the Mavs went 9-for-10 in the fourth including 4-for-5 from Terry.

The Spurs, as is their custom, switched defenders on Nowitzki throughout the night. After Nowitzki's two awkward moments against Hill, Richard Jefferson did most of the defensive work and brought a more physical matchup. Nowitzki responded, and the Mavs rallied on a night when Tim Duncan scored 31 and Tony Parker dropped in 21 with the Spurs shooting better than 50 percent for the eighth time in the past 10 games.

"Well, Dirk is a Hall of Fame player, and he showed why," said San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, who watched the final 2 ½ quarters from his office after being thrown out following referee Zach Zarba's two technicals. Assistant coach Mike Budenholzer took over after that.

"They scored 42 points in the fourth quarter, and nothing other than that needs to be said," Popovich said. "That's hard to get over, and they did it great."

Dallas hit all five of its 3-point attempts and all five free throws as the Spurs melted. San Antonio entered the fourth shooting nearly 59 percent but went 6-for-17 in the final quarter, committed three turnovers without forcing any by the Mavs and were outrebounded by five.

"We came out with intensity in the third quarter, holding them to 19 points," said Jefferson, who scored 15. "We did a lot of things right.

"Everything we did right in the third quarter we did wrong in the fourth."

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said a duck-in play for Nowitzki off a pass from Jason Kidd was the thing that got Nowitzki on track. It followed a three-point play by Jefferson and trimmed San Antonio's lead to 85-80 with 8:40 to go.

"He had been fading away on his shot and struggling," Carlisle said. "That pass on the inside kind of loosened things up a little bit."

But two plays from Erick Dampier, who had missed the last two games with inflammation in his left knee, opened things up for Dallas. He hit a short jumper in the lane off a pass from Kidd (eighth assists) and made a free throw after being fouled by Keith Bogans. He followed that with a tip-in of a Nowitzki miss.

That tied the game with seven minutes left. Then, with 5:15 to go, Dallas got 3-pointers from Kidd, Terry and Nowitzki for a 98-92 lead with four minutes left.

Leading 104-100 with 1:13 remaining, Nowitzki hit a three and Terry added a pair of free throws to put it out of reach.

Dampier finished the game 6-for-6, including a 3-pointer with the game out of reach with five seconds to go.

The Dallas bench carried the team when Nowitzki was struggling. With the game tied at 49-49 in the first half, the Mavs reserves were up 30-10, with seven of that for the Spurs came from Manu Ginobili.

• Mavericks: Carroll, Singleton, Williams
• Spurs: Bonner, Finley, Mahinmi

• Mavericks: Terry
• Spurs: Hill, Popovich, Popovich

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #51 Leroy Richardson, #58 Zach Zarba
• Attendance: 18581
• Duration: 2:13