Mark Cuban fondly remembers Calvin Booth’s big shot to rescue Mavericks in 2001

Because of what happened to his team in this building in April 2001, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has renamed the Vivint Smart Home Arena as the Calvin Booth Arena.

That’s because Booth scored one of the most memorable baskets in Mavs history.

With the Mavs down by one point in the decisive Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against heavily favored Utah, Booth scored a layup with 9.8 seconds remaining, giving the Mavs an improbable 3-2 series-clinching victory over the Jazz.

Improbable because the Mavs initially trailed the series 2-0 and were faced with — and overcame — three elimination games.

It was the first time the Mavs won a playoff series since they eliminated Denver in the 1988 Western Conference semifinals.

“They had a lot of Mavs fans that came out for the game, and I bought a ton of tickets for people,” Cuban said. “It was the fifth game and there were a ton of Mavs fans at the [team] hotel, and we were shocked.

“We went out to the bus and the place was jammed with fans screaming.”

The screaming from the Mavs’ fans reached a crescendo after Booth’s dramatic shot.

“I’ll always remember because I wore a suit and I had a Mavs tattoo on my cheek,” Cuban said. “And then I was running off the court after it was over and Dirk [Nowitzki] sprained his ankle chasing after [Steve] Nash and [Michael] Finley. It was awesome.”

The Mavs played the San Antonio Spurs in the second round in a best-of-seven series. But when the series started, Cuban said he had a talk with then-coach Don Nelson.

“I remember saying to Nellie, ‘So, what do we have to do to beat these guys,’ ” Cuban said. “He goes, ‘We got no chance.’ ”

The Spurs won that series in five games.

Experience pays

Because he has the second-most experienced team in the NBA, coach Rick Carlisle realizes his players know how to approach things whenever they’re faced with a big game.

“We’re experienced, we’ve got a lot of guys that’s been in a lot of playoff games and a lot of big games and a lot of big regular-season games,” Carlisle said. “There are some things you can remind them of.

“But as the second-most experienced team in the league, I don’t think there’s a lot that I need to say to them. We’ve got to be process-oriented and stick together.”

Mejri’s moments

At one point during Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Carlisle looked to his bench and wanted to sub in center Salah Mejri.

But the 7-foot-2 rookie was nowhere to be found.

“He had some kind of a stomach thing going on,” Carlisle said. “He was in the bathroom a couple of times. I tried to sub him in one time and he wasn’t out there. He was in the bathroom.”

Mejri, who said he is dealing with a strained groin, said he simply had to use the restroom.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 10:22 PM with the headline "Mark Cuban fondly remembers Calvin Booth’s big shot to rescue Mavericks in 2001."