Mavericks 122, Nuggets 116 (OT)
DALLAS -- Mavericks backup guard Raymond Felton took charge of a game filled with wild scoring swings to save Dallas from a near-disastrous loss, leading it to a 122-116 overtime victory against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night at American Airlines Center.
Felton scored 10 of his 16 points in the final moments of the fourth quarter and overtime as Dallas overcame a 23-point deficit in the second quarter, a 14-point deficit with more than eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and a nine-point deficit with less than two minutes left in regulation.
Felton tied it 108-108 with 10.5 seconds left in regulation when drove a wide-open lane for a layup as Denver's defense keyed on Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, and nobody bothered to stick with Felton.
Still, Denver had plenty of time to get a good look coming out of the timeout, but forward Will Barton, who led Denver with 22 points despite poor shooting, went one-on-one against Felton, took the possession deep into the clock and then front-rimmed a long jumper. The isolation sequence infuriated Nuggets coach Mike Malone and sent the game into overtime.
Felton, who Dallas coach Rick Carlisle inserted into the starting lineup to open the second half for a small-ball look, then scored eight of Dallas' 13 points and grabbed a key defensive rebound as the veteran Mavericks (31-28) pulled a game it simply could not lose to the lottery-bound Nuggets as the race at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff chase tightens.
It was just Dallas' third win its last nine games, and the win came two nights after a second-half stomping by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then, the Mavericks' sluggish start that saw them trail 55-32 with 3:15 to go had the sellout crowd in Dallas starting to send down boos.
They were cheering at the end, however, after watching the Mavericks pull off the fifth-largest home comeback in franchise history.
Dallas forward Chandler Parsons paced Dallas with 27 points, forward Dirk Nowitzki had 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists, and guard Wesley Matthews finished with 17 points while knocking down four 3-pointers on seven attempts.
The Nuggets (23-36) will look back at this one and wonder how they let it slip away. But like so many young teams in the league, it is often much more difficult to hold a double-digit lead than it is to build it.
And they had to do play a large chunk of the second half without forward Danilo Gallinari, who left in the third quarter with a sprained ankle after landing on a teammates' ankle.
The Nuggets' demise really started the moment they grabbed the 23-point lead. A late flurry saved the second quarter from being one of the most abysmal 12 minutes of Dallas' season, and it very much saved this game. Dallas missed 12 of its first 13 shots to start the quarter and fell behind 55-32 with 3:15 to go.
The Mavericks, who were 7-of-21 from the floor in the second quarter and 0-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half, closed the second quarter on a 12-1 run to essentially cut the Nuggets' biggest lead in half to go into halftime trailing by a far more manageable margin of 56-44.
Denver got a balanced scoring attack, but failed to get the defensive stops it needed to protect its large leads throughout the game. Forward Kenneth Faried had 20 points and 12 rebounds, guard D.J. Augustin finished with 20 points and guard Gary Harris had 17.
NOTES: Mavericks G Deron Williams was in the starting lineup despite dislocating a finger on his left hand during Wednesday's game. ... F David Lee, a member of the 2014-15 champion Golden State Warriors who signed with the Boston Celtics during the offseason, said he has yet to be return to Oakland to receive his ring. That will come March 25, when the Mavericks next play at the Warriors. ... Dallas began a stretch of five consecutive games -- the first four at home -- against teams below .500, including the Nuggets twice. ... Denver G Jameer Nelson was active after missing the last 10 games with a sprained left wrist. ... Nuggets G Emmanuel Mudiay, who went to high school in Dallas, made his second return this season to his hometown. The rookie was supposed to play at SMU last season under Larry Brown before opting to play one season in China.