Vintage Nowitzki leads Mavs past Celtics 118-113 in overtime

Dirk Nowitzki was experiencing one of those below-average games Monday night. Then, as he has so many times in the past, the Dallas Mavericks’ 18-year veteran cranked it up a notch.

Nowitzki wound up pouring in a season-high-tying 31 points as the Mavs blew a 17-point first-half lead, then fought back to defeat the pesky Boston Celtics 118-113 in overtime before a sellout crowd of 19,866 at American Airlines Center.

It turned out to be one of those vintage games for Nowitzki, who has bailed the Mavs out of some really deep trouble many times in his career. Monday was another night when fans experienced what the greatness of Nowitzki is all about.

After scoring just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting through three quarters against the Celtics, Nowitzki picked up the pace and scored 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting in the fourth quarter and overtime. The 37-year-old was in All-Star form over the final 17 minutes.

“I didn’t have there for a while. I was tired, but I dug deep,” Nowitzki said. “I think in the fourth quarter I had a pull up that finally went in and that’s what I needed, a shot to go through the net.

“It was better after that.”

For a Mavs team that got clobbered 112-83 Sunday night in San Antonio, Dallas needed this victory.

“I thought it was a gutsy win on a back-to-back against a hard-nosed team that kept making runs at us,” Nowitzki said.

The Mavs ran out to a 17-2 lead seven minutes into the game and acted like they would roll out to a blowout. The lead was 48-31 after Wesley Matthews buried his second straight 18-footer at 3:53 before intermission.

But as the Mavs have done so many times this season, they got comfortable, relaxed, took their foot off the gas. Suddenly it was game on.

Boston trailed 52-39 at the half, but outscored the Mavs 33-18 in the third quarter and continued their momentum with a 72-70 lead to open the fourth quarter. The Celtics stretched it to 86-80 with 5:48 left following a reverse layup by ex-Mavs forward Jae Crowder.

Deron Williams and Nowitzki, though, hoisted the Mavs on their shoulders and took over the game in overtime.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Williams gave the Mavs some breathing room. Then, Williams assisted on a 3-pointer by Nowitzki which helped the Mavs to a 112-105 lead with 35.4 seconds remaining in an overtime period which opened with a 3-pointer by Chandler Parsons.

“D-Will was fantastic for us down the stretch,” Nowitzki said. “He was great tonight with those two big 3s, and then Parsons with one to start overtime. It was kind of nice to play from the front there and we just didn’t look back.”

Williams tallied 10 of his 20 points in the overtime period, and added five rebounds and six assists.

“Deron Williams was huge tonight,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “Really throughout the game, but none bigger than in the overtime.”

Center Zaza Pachulia also was effective for the Mavs as he grabbed 19 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end. It was the eighth time this season Pachulia had at least 15 rebounds.

His effort helped the Mavs win the board battle, 51-49, and was a point coach Rick Carlisle made sure everyone heard.

“With [Jared] Sullinger out there, you’ve got to somehow find a way to stay even with them [on the boards], and we actually won the rebound battle by two,” Carlisle said. “Two rebounds out of a hundred for the game doesn’t sound like a whole lot. But in a one-possession game, which this basically was from the fourth quarter on through overtime, it’s massive.”

Carlisle even had to catch his breath from the wall-to-wall action.

“There were some amazing plays,” Carlisle said. “Sullinger made one play where he ripped the rebound away [from Pachulia)\] and was able to get fouled [by Pachulia].”

Sullinger made those two free throws, pulling Boston within 116-113 with 8.1 seconds left. Nowitzki finished the night’s scoring when he knocked down two free throws with 6.1 seconds to go.

But it was a night when the Celtics wouldn’t go quietly.

“They threw in some amazing shots, which NBA players do in those situations when they’re down,” Carlisle said of the Celtics. “There was nothing that was shocking out there. They did a good job of extending the game, and we had to finish it.”

Overall, the Mavs shot 43 percent from the field and 47 percent (16 of 34) from 3-point range. That’s the most 3-pointers the Celtics have allowed in a game this season.

Meanwhile, this is the first time in the Mavs’ history that they’ve played three home games in a row that went to overtime. The Mavs beat Sacramento in double-overtime, 117-116 on Jan. 5, and then lost to Cleveland in overtime, 110-107 on Jan. 12.

“I think the Cleveland game was tough,” Nowitzki said. “We were right there with a shot in regulation to win it and then went to OKC and got hosed [108-89 last Wednesday].

“It was good to get the win against Chicago [last Friday], and then San Antonio was tough. I thought we played with them for a while, right there for a quarter and half and then kind of folded.”

Another chance to fold was in the air Monday. But this time the Mavs dug deep, held on, made some critical plays to improve to 24-19.

“It’s great basketball to watch,” Carlisle said. “It really was an unbelievable game.

“It’s a great win for us. It salvages our week to some degree because it’s such a hard week schedule-wise, and we’ve got a couple more important home games coming up.”

Dwain Price can be heard every Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. on dfwiradio.com　

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 12:36 AM with the headline "Vintage Nowitzki leads Mavs past Celtics 118-113 in overtime."