Dallas Mavericks Comeback, Win Thriller in OT

The Dallas Mavericks coming off a 2-game skid against the Denver Nuggets and Portland Trail Blazers knew they would need to come out ready to play tonight. They did.

The Dallas Mavericks came into the game tonight after faltering in their recent run. The first 4-game win streak of the season for Dallas against a few of the best teams in the NBA were nullified by a bad loss to Denver and a heartbreaker to Portland.

The Mavs faced off against the Utah Jazz knowing that a win was needed but also realizing that the Jazz are no easy win like in previous years. This year, Utah is currently sitting at the 4th seed in the playoffs with a 34-19 record. Now 34-20.

The Mavericks fell behind in the contest in a big way. With 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the Dallas Mavericks were trailing the Jazz by 21 points. At that point, Utah could smell blood but they didn’t capitalize on it very well. By the end of the quarter, Dallas trailed by only 10.

Then the 4th quarter came around and Dallas started to make an even bigger push. Led by the scoring of Harrison Barnes, Dirk Nowitzki, and some incredibly timely baskets by Seth Curry, Dallas clawed their way back to a 96-96 tie.

At that point, it looked like Dallas was on their way to a monster comeback win, but Utah was not going to lay down and die. The Jazz scored the next 4 points via Rudy Gobert, and with 21 seconds remaining, all hope looked lost once again. Then the Mavs appeared to catch a break from the new “away-from-the-ball” foul that the NBA has put in.

Gobert fouled Dirk Nowitzki before the ball got inbounded which gave Dirk one foul shot and the ball. Even bigger than that, Gobert was fouled out of the game. Unbelievably, Nowitzki missed the one free throw and all hope was gone once again.

Harrison Barnes caught the next inbound and went right by Boris Diaw for an easy dunk. Dallas was ready to play the foul game with only 19 seconds remaining but, like coaches have always taught, you should go for the steal first before fouling. Devin Harris was definitely taught that.

The Mavericks Play of the Game was undoubtedly right at this moment as Devin left his assignment to chase down Alec Burks to the sideline. At first glance, it looked like Harris just slapped the ball out of Burks’ hands, which is what the refs thought as well. But, upon further inspection, Burks hit the ball last on the way out. Dallas ball!

Harrison Barnes missed a long two very short but it clanked off the rim right into the hands of Dirk Nowitzki. Nothing but net. Gordon Hayward got a decent look at a corner three at the buzzer but it was no good and we went to overtime.

The Mavs dominated OT and came out with the W 112-105. All of the overtime points were scored by Devin Harris and Harrison Barnes.

The Mavericks had a great time scoring the ball tonight as 4 of the 5 starters hit double figures. Barnes led the way with his 6th 30+ point game of the season, scoring 31 on 12-20 shooting. Dirk added 20, Seth Curry with 16, and Wesley Matthews with 15. Devin led the bench in scoring with 13 and Yogi Ferrell added 9. Salah Mejri also had 3 big blocks.

Utah was controlled mostly by the production of first time All-Star, Gordon Hayward, who scored a season high 36 points. Rudy Gobert also added 15 points and 15 rebounds. A big factor in this game was definitely the Mavs rebounding as they only trailed the Jazz 43-38. Utah is fourth in the league in rebound percentage.

Next: Dallas Mavericks: Mid-Season Guard Grades

The Dallas Mavericks came in and won a big game tonight against all odds. This team wants to go to the playoffs and, if they have more games like this, MFFLs need to accept that there is a really good chance at it. Next up, the Dallas Mavericks face off against the Orlando Magic this Saturday at 8:00 CT. The game will be in Dallas at the American Airlines Center