Nowitzki leads Mavericks' fourth-quarter blitz to beat Utah

By EDDIE SEFKO

Special to the Star-Telegram

DALLAS — On a drab, lifeless Tuesday night at American Airlines Center, everybody found out how quickly a dud can turn into a stud.

It happened with Dirk Nowitzki.

And it happened with a dull game that turned absolutely mesmerizing in the final minutes.

The Mavericks looked completely dead for three quarters, and Nowitzki was searching for a pulse, too. Then the Mavericks flipped a switch and Nowitzki dominated the fourth quarter as the Mavs pulled off a 27-point fourth-quarter turnaround for a 96-85 victory over the Utah Jazz.

Nowitzki had 29 points in the final quarter – including 23 of 25 at one point – smashing the franchise record for points in a quarter, formerly owned by Mark Aguirre, who had 24 on March 24, 1984. The Mavericks trailed by 16 early in the fourth quarter. Nowitzki then went crazy on his way to 40 points.

"We really couldn’t get anything going for three quarters and it was just ugly _ there was a lid on the basket,” Nowitzki said. "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 it worked out for us."

It was the Mavericks’ first home win after losing the season opener at AAC last week. They now have three wins in a row and head to New Orleans for tonight’s game against the Hornets.

They probably could have flown to the Big Easy without the plane. They were flying high after turning a 76-60 deficit around with a 36-9 romp to finish the game.

Nowitzki did it all. And he got support in all departments other than scoring from Shawn Marion, Erick Dampier and Jason Terry.

"I put it up there with a lot of the stuff [Larry] Bird pulled off,” Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle said. "And some of the all-time greats. It was just phenomenal. And the rest of the guys knew where to get the ball and how to feed off him. It was something to behold.”

For the better part of three quarters, the Mavericks and Jazz produced a stench that even the fans could probably smell in Utah.

The strong odor abated somewhat late in the third quarter, when the Jazz put together something that resembled solid offense.

It didn’t need it for long. The Mavericks were shooting under 32 percent through three quarters and when Utah flashed a brief moment of continuity, it pulled out to a 67-52 lead going into the fourth period.

The third period had been good to the Mavericks in their two wins at Los Angeles. But it was a disaster this night. They gave up 30 points after surrendering just 37 in the first half. A two-point deficit grew to 15, and the Mavs lacked life against a team that had been beaten in Utah on Monday night by Houston — by 17 points.

Before tipoff, the Mavericks knew that would leave the Jazz in a foul mood.

"[Jerry] Sloan teams all play hard," Jason Kidd said. "They’re coming off that tough loss last night at home and we kind of look at this of them being in that same position that we were in, losing at home and then going out on the road. We’re going to have our hands full."

And then some.

Briefly

Quinton Ross (back) left the game in the first half and didn’t return. J.J. Barea got the start at shooting guard in the third period.

Dirk Nowitzki had only 11 points late in the third quarter and was in danger of seeing his string of consecutive 20-point games snapped at 28. However, he came alive down the stretch and surpassed 20 for a 29th straight game, the longest active streak in the league, stretching to last season.

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