Art Garcia | Mavs.com

Posted: Nov. 20, 2007

So what’s this about a Dirk Nowitzki slump?

The reigning MVP shot that theory down with the four 3-pointers he drilled to finish out the third quarter, as the Mavericks rallied from 24 down to upend Toronto 105-99 Tuesday night before 20,272 fans at American Airlines Center.

"We could have given up," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said.

The comeback ties the second largest in franchise history, coming up just one point shy of the team record. If the Raptors are feeling a case of déjà vu, it’s understandable. Toronto squandered a 24-point lead to Dallas in a 115-113 overtime loss on Feb. 25, 2005.

Nowitzki came into the game averaging 19.8 points on 45-percent shooting, numbers considered solid for most, but sub-par for Dallas’ franchise player. He scored 18 in the third quarter alone, hitting six out of eight, including four straight from downtown.

“I got a lot of good looks in the first half, but never really got it going, we were down 20 and energy wasn’t there,” Nowitzki said. “The third quarter was great. We moved the ball. We pushed the ball and we finally played some defense and got back in transition and forced them into tougher shots.

“The team is on me a little bit about shooting more, obviously they have a lot of confidence in me and my rhythm hasn’t been that great in the first couple of games. I know it’s early in the season, if the shots there, I’m going to take it. If not then I going to move it and give someone else a good shot. Once you get in a good rhythm and your confidence is up and shots fell for me in the third.”

The Mavs (8-2) completed their four-game homestand undefeated and start a three-game road trip Wednesday night at Houston. Dallas beat the Rockets earlier this season at home.

Johnson tried to send a message early. He called a 20-second timeout barely a minute into the game with Toronto up 4-2. He yanked Nowitzki, Gana Diop and Moe Ager 90 seconds later.

The message wasn’t sinking in. Raptors center Andrea Bargnani was loving life outside the arc and Toronto was loving its 49-25 lead midway through the second period.

Johnson has talked recently about the team being more accountable. Devin Harris, one of the two captains, took matters into his own hands during the surge that closed the gap to 55-41 at the break.

He scored 11 of 13 Dallas points during one stretch, mixing in his jumper, including a 3-pointer, with bursts to the basket and trips to the line. A deficit that was on the verge of being comical was now manageable.

"We wanted to run our offense through Devin," Johnson said. "He made some really good decisions breaking their defense down."

The Mavs completed the climb in the third period, outscoring the visitors 38-17. The point total was a high for a quarter this season and nearly matched Dallas’ first-half output.

Defensively, the Mavs were contesting the shots that Toronto was shooting with ease, especially on the perimeter with Josh Howard and Trenton Hassell bottling up T.J. Ford and Toronto's other shooters. Used sparingly this season, Hassell played all of the third quarter and looked to be the lockdown defender Johnson envisioned.

"Josh and Howard got after it defensively with their size," Johnson said. "We thought that really made a difference."

Nowitzki added: “Our bench is pretty deep and every night someone can change the game for us, and Hass is one of our best perimeter defenders and we needed him tonight and he was big for us.  We’re a deep team and we really used that tonight.”

Though the comeback started with defense, the other end of the floor can’t be ignored. Harris continued to push the ball and urge on his teammates at every chance. An example of his heady play: Taking a quick inbounds from Nowitzki, he fired the ball over the defense to Diop for a layup before Toronto could set its defense.

The daggers came courtesy of Nowitzki. Before his 4-for-4 3-point assault, all off passes from Jason Terry, Nowitzki actually passed up a 3 to set up Hassell for a jumper. He didn’t hesitate the next four times he touched it. He knocked down the first in the parade with 1:41 left to tie it 70-all. The last, with 1.4 seconds left, gave Dallas a 79-72 edge and finished an 18-4 run. He pulled his shirt out after the last one, adding a little something extra to the long-range display.

"That was great," Johnson said. "I was standing right there next to him for two of those. I had a pretty good seat."

The Mavs protected the lead in the fourth to beat Toronto for the eighth straight time. Nowitzki finished with a season-high 32 points. Harris added 19, as did Terry off the bench. Howard had 15 points and a season-high nine rebounds.  

Dallas native Chris Bosh led Toronto with 31 points and 12 boards. Bargnani had 20 points, but only four in the second half.