Richardson’s buzzer-beater leads Warriors over Dallas

Dallas, TX (Basketball News) - Jason Richardson scored 40 points, including a dramatic buzzer-beating three-pointer to win the game for the Golden State Warriors, who beat the Dallas Mavericks, 122-121, at American Airlines Center.

Mike Dunleavy scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Derek Fisher added 17 points and dished out seven assists for the Warriors, who have now won three of their last four games.

Dirk Nowitzki scored a game-high 51 points, two short of his career-high, and pulled down nine boards while Jason Terry contributed 29 points and seven assists for the Mavericks, who fall 1/2 a game behind the idle San Antonio Spurs in the Southwest Division.

After Terry missed the second of two free-throws, Richardson grabbed the rebound and dribbled upcourt. He spun around a defender and launched a leaning three-pointer that found the bottom of the net at the buzzer for the game- winner.

"I think our players deserved that win," said Warriors coach Mike Montgomery. "We’ve been through so many games where at the end we haven’t made a play and now Jason steps up and hits a huge shot."

The Warriors took a seven-point lead into the final frame but quickly relinquished it as Nowitzki scored five straight points for a 98-97 lead midway through the quarter. The two teams traded the lead over the next five minutes until Nowitzki hit a pair of free throws and then a turnaround jumper with 2:28 left give Dallas a 110-107 lead.

Terry pushed the lead to five, 112-107, with 1:18 to play as he hit a jumper from the right wing. However, Troy Murphy converted a three-point play with 18.6 seconds to play to cut the lead to two, 117-115.

Darrell Armstrong hit 1-of-2 freebies for the Mavericks with 16.5 seconds left giving Dallas a 118-115 lead. On the ensuing possession, Richardson was sent to the line with 9.3 seconds to go and hit both cutting the lead to one, 118-117.

Jerry Stackhouse hit two free throws, but Fisher countered with two from the line to make it 121-119 and set up the final plays of the game.

"It’s a very disappointing loss," said Nowitzki. "We had a terrible defensive outing. Really after the first couple of minutes where we came out firing it was a terrible defensive outing after that."

The Mavericks jumped out to a 10-3 lead as Nowitzki scored six points during the run and 12 points in the first quarter as Dallas held a slim two-point edge after the first stanza, 28-26.

Golden State took its first lead of the game early in the second quarter as Monta Ellis drilled a three-pointer to put the Warriors up, 31-28. They maintained a small edge over the rest of the quarter and led 57-54 at the half.

Dallas regained the lead early in the third quarter as Terry hit a layup to put the Mavericks up one, 60-59. They extended their lead to as many as six points when Nowitzki converted a conventional three-point play. However, a Dunleavy three-pointer less than one minute later sparked an 11-0 run for the Warriors. Golden State hit three shots from long distance during the run, the last of which was drilled by Richardson, putting the Warriors ahead, 78-73. The Warriors led 92-85 going into the final 12 minutes.

Game Notes

The Warriors lead the season series 2-1. The road team has won all three meetings...It was the second career 50-point game for Nowitzki...The Mavericks set a franchise record by going 30-for-30 at the foul line before missing three of their last eight, they shot 35-of-38 overall...The Mavericks shot 54.1 percent from the floor while the Warriors connected on 46.7 percent of their shots.