Dallas Mavericks storm back in regulation, top Nuggets in overtime

With the tires seemingly flatFriday night, the Dallas Mavericks somehow found enough air to pump new life into a season had suddenly gone south.

Down 23 points in the second quarter, the Mavs put on a furious rally and went on to surprise the Denver Nuggets, winning 122-116 in overtime at American Airlines Center.

It was just the Mavs’ third win in their past nine games, and it was certainly an improbable victory at best. The win kept the Mavs (31-28) in sixth place in the Western Conference standings, with Portland, Houston and Utah bearing down on their backs.

The Mavs also have played an NBA-high 10 overtime games this season, and are 7-3 in the overtime sessions.

It was their largest comeback of the season.

Denver was having its way and leading 55-32 with 3:14 remaining in the first half. Dallas trimmed that deficit to 56-44 at intermission.

“We got some traction in the second [quarter]toward the end,” Carlisle said. “We made some changes because they were playing small and we needed to get more attackers out there, and we made a big run.

“Of course they answered, got back up eight, whatever it was or maybe even been more, 11, 12. But we hung in, we found a way. I give the guys a lot of credit.”

In addition to his offensive surge, Felton also produced the key steal of the night for the Mavs, who forced overtime by scoring the final nine points of regulation to tie the game at 108-108. Felton’s steal and fastbreak layup padded the Dallas lead to 119-116 with 1:41 left in overtime.

“He’s a gamer, he’s a big-game guy,” Carlisle said of Felton. “He’s been coming through for us all year in a lot of these instances, but I don’t know if any effort was bigger than tonight’s.

“You look at it and look at all the guys’ plus/minuses. He’s a plus-30 in this game and there were a lot of minuses. And the steal at the end of regulation really was the game-changer. That was a huge play that he made.”

Kenneth Faried missed a pair of free throws, grabbed an offensive rebound, and Will Barton missed a 3-pointer that would gave tied the game with 13.9 seconds to go in overtime. Deron Williams then made a pair of free throws with 10.1 seconds left to seal the win for the Mavs, who are 2-1 so far on this six-game homestand.

Chandler Parsons led the Mavs with 27 points, Dirk Nowitzki scored 20, and David Lee came off the bench to score14 points and grab 14 rebounds in 26 minutes.

“Well, Lee was very active tonight, played hard,” Carlisle said. “I think he understood what we were doing at both ends of the floor.

“You can see where he can help us. He’s a guy that is quick to the ball, he rebounds well, he can finish around the basket. He made one jumper, which was a big shot relatively early in the game. He’s going to help us. It’s pretty clear.”

Pachulia didn’t play at all in the second half after only playing eight minutes in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Mavs now turn their attention to Sunday’s home game against Minnesota.

“We’re having struggles right now,” Carlisle said. ‘But we got to clear our heads and get ready for Sunday.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Dallas Mavericks storm back in regulation, top Nuggets in overtime."