Utah Jazz at Dallas Mavericks, 11/3/09

DALLAS (NBA.com exclusive) --  Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said before Tuesday night's game against Utah that he didn't believe poor shooting was contagious.

He may have been considering vaccinations after a sickly shooting performance by his Mavericks through the first three quarters, but Dirk Nowitzki delivered the cure with a team-record 29 fourth-quarter points as Dallas rallied from 16 down for an improbable 96-85 victory.

Nowitzki didn't just get hot, but downright feverish in the fourth, making 7 of 8 shots from the field and 14 of 14 free throws to finish with 40 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks overcame a 72-56 deficit over the final nine-plus minutes. He smashed the previous Dallas record for points in a quarter set by Mark Aguirre with 24 in the first quarter against Denver on March 24, 1984.

"My mentality in the fourth was to go out there and make things happen," Nowitzki said. "We just needed a little spark and they kept feeding me the ball. I got every play down the stretch and I was able to deliver."

Utah, which has dropped five straight and 12 of its last 13 in Dallas, had a 67-52 lead after three quarters. The Mavs, who entered the game ranked 28th in field-goal percentage at 40.9 percent, shot just 31.9 percent through the first three quarters and looked more erratic than Charles Barkley at the driving range.

Fueled by Nowitzki, the Mavericks got off the mat and shot 70.6 percent (12-for-17) from the field and drained 18 of 18 free throws during the decisive final stanza. Dallas scored a season-high 44 points in the quarter, outscoring the Jazz 36-9 to finish the game.

"Dirk put us on his back and showed us why he's MVP," sixth man Jason Terry said. "When you got Dirk just going at you, it takes your legs out from under you. ... It made it easier for us to maintain our defensive intensity when you're riding your captain."

Jason Kidd added a season-high 19 points and made 5 of 8 3-pointers for the Mavericks after entering the game just 1-for-10 from beyond the arc. Shawn Marion and Terry added 10 points apiece and Erick Dampier had 12 rebounds and six blocks.

Deron Williams paced the Jazz with 22 points. Mehmet Okur had a double-double with 14 points and 14 boards, but he was the victim/bystander for many of Nowitzki's fourth-quarter heroics.

"I just wanted to pressure the ball and he didn't want to settle for jump shots," Okur said. "He took the ball to the basket and he got to the free-throw line and made some tough shots. He's one of those guys that once they get hot, it's hard to stop."

Utah, which started 5-0 last season, is off to its worst four-game start since 2002-03 at 1-3. The Jazz got booed on their home court in Monday's loss to Houston, but looked like they were going to reverse last season's misfortune in back-to-back games. They were 3-18 in the second game of back-to-back sets in 2008-09.

The Mavericks heard a few boos of their own at the American Airlines Center after getting outscored 30-17 in the third. During an 11-2 run by the Jazz in that period, Dallas avoided the basket like the swine flu with a sequence that included a baseline airball by Nowitzki and a missed dunk by Marion.

Nowitzki's nine-foot, step-back jumper with 2:05 remaining gave the Mavericks an 85-83 lead, their first since 46-45 in the third. He followed that up by rebounding a Williams miss and making two more free throws to make it 87-83. Nowitzki then blocked a layup attempt by Andrei Kirilenko and dished to Kidd for a 3-point dagger that put Dallas on top 90-83 with 50.8 seconds left.

"Dirk scored the majority of the points, but I can't overstate the effect that Kidd has on games as a competitor and as a guy that just knows what winning is about and how to facilitate it," Carlisle said. "We needed it badly. We got out of here alive and it's good to get the first win at home."

Quinton Ross, the Mavericks' starting two-guard in all four games this season, left the game in the first half with a bruised lower back and did not return. He was expected to make the trip to New Orleans for Wednesday's game. Forward Drew Gooden missed his second straight game with a strained right rib cage.

Utah Head Coach Jerry Sloan
“Well there wasn’t obviously anything we were able to do with Nowitzki. I’m not sure that maybe we should’ve tried a couple different things. Mehmet [Okur] I think had 1 or 2 fouls when he started guarding him and Boozer had 5. And try to keep [both of] them out there we put Mehmet on him and I don’t think we did a very good job. He was sensational. He made every basket and got to the free throw line, but the most important thing he did was he was able to take the ball to the basket. When were coming down to trying to finish the game we had I think 4 turnovers in the 4th quarter. And you could feel the momentum kind of shift in that situation because they had the spirit and we turned the ball over a couple times we felt sorry for ourselves. I think it made it tougher for us to try and finish the game. But giving up 44 points [in the 4th quarter] is pretty tough.”

(What could’ve been done differently on Dirk defensively?) – “We might’ve tried to double him or tried something but they still had some pretty good shooters out there on the floor. And they were into a rhythm where I felt like if we go off and leave Terry or even Jason Kidd – he’s out there on the floor, he hasn’t shot the ball especially well but you know him in that situation is going to be able to make a 3-point shot. So you’re looking at 3’s to have to defend against and you try to keep him off the top of the basket and try to play him. We pushed him to the short-side of the floor one time I think, the rest of the time he went to the long side where he had a lot more to operate and get on top of the basket.”

Utah Forward Carlos Boozer
(On defending Dirk in the 4th…) – “We did a couple of different things. It just seemed like either he made his shot or he was shooting free throws. I thought we couldn’t be physical with him, couldn’t touch him too much without them calling a foul on us. Obviously he was aggressive, he’s a great player, but I thought we were doing a decent job. But anytime we touched him they called a foul, so, not to much you can do when you can’t be physical with somebody.”

(On not being able to defend Dirk in the 4th due to foul trouble…) – “Yeah, it’s tough. The first two or three plays of the 3rd quarter I picked up 2 quick ones on him [Dirk] and he didn’t even have the ball. That put us in a tough position. Regardless, that’s history now.”

(How tough is it to swallow this one?) – “It’s tough, because we were up by 15 with 8 minutes to go. The next thing you know it was free throw, free throw, free throw, free throw.”

Utah Center Mehmet Okur
(On his defense of Dirk…) – “I don’t know. I just wanted to pressure the ball and he didn’t want to settle for jump shots – he took the ball to the basket and he got to the free throw line and made some tough shots. He’s one of those guys that once they get hot it’s hard to stop.”

(Do you sense something like that was coming - that he was starting to heat up?) – “Like I said, I wanted to pressure the ball. I could’ve done a better job on him, maybe deny a little bit. Not let him catch the ball easily like that. I posted him, but he was active tonight.”

Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle
“It was a level of frustration throughout the whole team with what was happening offensively. We had a lot of good looks and weren’t getting them to go down. The thing that has changed this year, to this point, is that this is three out of four games, I can’t really say it about the first game, is that when shots weren’t going in, guys were becoming more determined defensively to dig in and find a way to make something happen. That first game of the year, we waited around for something good to happen to us against Washington. The last three games, we’ve been the team to continue to be persistent and make something happen. At some point, the ball is going to start going in the basket for us. But until then, we’ll find a way to win. I give the team credit for that because this wasn’t our personality last year.”

“Twenty-five years in this, I’ve seen a lot of amazing things happen. To be honest, it wasn’t looking great, but we just needed a couple good things to happen offensively for us. And the biggest thing that happened was Dirk got us in the bonus early in the fourth. That started a chain reaction of plays where stops led to good decisions which led to aggressive plays which led to him going to the free throw line time after time after time. During that stretch, when there was some kind of mistake, somebody came up with a loose ball play and made one pass. Somebody handed it to Dirk one time for that three. It was just sheer will. It was led by Kidd and Dirk. And Dirk scored the majority of the points. I can’t overstate the effect that Kidd has on games as a competitor and as a guy that just knows what winning is about and how to facilitate it. We needed it badly. And they needed a game badly. That was clear coming in and they played extremely well. We get out of here alive and it’s good to get the first win at home.”

Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki
“It was just an unbelievable come back.  We really couldn’t get anything going for three quarters and it was just ugly.  There was a lid on the basket.  We missed layups, easy shots, put backs and it was just ugly.  Defensively we were actually decent, but offensively we just couldn’t get going and then in the fourth quarter we just left it all out there and see what happens and it worked out for us tonight.”

(Does what you did offensively in the 4th quarter qualify as stupid good?) – “It might, but we kind of went through the same game against Washington at home where we couldn’t get anything going offensively.  My mentally in the 4th was to go out there and make things happen.  I think what really helped was we got to the bonus real quick in the 4th by being aggressive and driving to the basket and we were shooting free throws the rest of the way and that helped us get back into the game.”

(Five free throws in the first 3 quarters and then you guys really got to the line in the 4th) – “Once you’re down by that much you’ve got to try to use the clock and get back in the game.  We made up a lot of ground in the 4th at the line without the clock moving and we drove to the basket, got fouled and stopped the clock.  Our defense was solid, even at the end when we made the come back, we contested shots, rebounded and our defense has been really solid the first four games.  It’s our offense that has been struggling.  We have been shooting in the low 40’s every game and that’s a concern, but defensively we look pretty good.”

“We were looking for a spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight.  Sometimes it’s Jet off the bench, sometimes it’s Josh jumping off to 20 point first quarters so we just needed a little spark and when I was feeling it they kept feeding me the ball.  I got every play down the stretch and I was able to deliver.  This was a big win for us.  Even if it’s early being 3-1 is better than 2-2.”

Mavs guard Jason Kidd
“I think Dirty (Dirk) was special in the 4th.  Twenty-nine points in the quarter is something.  We fought back, got the win and it was a team effort, but Dirty was special tonight.”

“The big thing is Dirk is a competitor.  You could just see, hey jump on my back and let’s go for a ride and he got going and the big thing was we got in the bonus early and that really got us aggressive.”

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