Nowitzki lifts Mavs past Clippers

Nowitzki totaled 20 points and 14 rebounds while Jason Terry netted 15 for Dallas, which won its fifth straight contest and moved into a virtual tie with the San Antonio Spurs for first place in the Southwest Division and the top spot in the Western Conference.

Chris Kaman led all scorers with 22 points and also gathered 12 boards for the Clippers, who have lost three straight and now share an identical record with Memphis in a tussle for the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed. Elton Brand had 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss.

The Clippers went into a funk after the first quarter and trailed by double- digits with less than eight minutes to play in the game, but turned on the jets just in time to tighten the contest in the final moments.

LA promptly ripped off a 10-2 burst, which was capped by a Daniel Ewing three- pointer from the wing that made it 69-67 with 3:36 left. Dallas scored the next four points to move back up by six, but Brand answered with a jumper and James Singleton followed with a three-ball to make it a one-point game at 73-72.

Shaun Livingston was then fouled with 17 seconds left and went 1-for-2 from the stripe to knot the game at 73-73.

Nowitzki got the ball at the other end and held it as time ticked down, then took one dribble toward the basket before elevating over Kaman from the elbow and draining the game-winning jumper with seven-tenths of a second remaining.

"That’s why he’s the MVP," said Terry. "Dirk Nowitzki - you heard it hear first."

Los Angeles led by as many as 12 points early on and were up 26-17 through one quarter, but things quickly fell apart in the second frame.

The Mavericks scored the first seven points of the quarter and pulled to within two, 26-24, on a three-pointer from Josh Howard just 1:29 in.

They tied things at 30-30 midway through the stanza on Terry’s running jumper, and began to pull away from there. Dallas doubled the Clippers production for the remainder of the quarter, and brought a 50-40 advantage into the locker room after Marquis Daniels nailed a trey with just one second on the clock.

Nowitzki paced all scorers at intermission with 12 points while Terry added 11.

Both offenses went cold in the third quarter, as the Clippers outscored Dallas 13-11 to move within eight points, 61-53.

Game Notes

These teams will meet again on April 19th at American Airlines Center...The Mavericks, who played the first of a three-game road trip, are 26-13 as the visitor this season. They will visit Golden State on Wednesday and Phoenix on Thursday...The Clippers are 26-13 as the host this season. They will welcome the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday to the Staples Center...Dallas has won its three meetings with the Clippers this season.