Nowitzki leads Mavs past Pacers in OT

Jason Terry scored 30 for the Mavericks, who have won three straight after having their 13-game winning streak snapped. Josh Howard added 15 points and eight boards, and Erick Dampier had 13 points.

Jermaine O’Neal had 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Pacers, who had their three-game win streak snapped. Stephen Jackson and Danny Granger hit for 22 apiece and Jamaal Tinsley contributed 17 and dished out 11 assists in a losing cause.

With the score at 103-103 heading into the extra session, each side traded baskets right down to the wire. Terry’s open jumper with 27.8 seconds left gave Dallas a 112-111 lead, then Nowitzki headed to the line with 5.1 to go and put his 41stand 42nd points in the basket for a 114-111 score.

Al Harrington followed with two to make it a one-point game with 3.2 left, but Nowitzki made one-of-two with two seconds left, and Indiana failed to launch a final shot as the clock ran out.

"It was a back and forth game all night,"said Howard. "It seemed like they kept getting up on us all game, but to our credit we kept crawling back and then Dirk hit a lot of shots late in the game. We’ve had quite a few games like this, this year, so we’re used to doing this. I think this will make us better in the playoffs."

Tied at 10 early on, the Pacers went on an 16-7 run to close out the opening quarter with a nine-point lead.

Dallas opened up the second on an 8-2 clip to cut their deficit to 28-25, as the Pacers missed their first four shots during that run. The Mavs drew even at 42-42 with just over three minutes left in the quarter, but Indiana closed out the half on a 9-2 spurt to take a 51-44 advantage to the locker room.

Dallas began the third quarter with a 6-2 burst, then tied things up at 69-69 with 2:24 left on a pair of Nowitzki free throws, and had a 74-73 advantage after three when Harris sank two at the line with 33 seconds to go.

Indiana turned around and regained the lead with a 12-4 run to start the fourth, and kept the visitors at arm’s length until Nowitzki’s four straight makes from the line within a 31-second span knotted the game at 93-93.

Six straight free throws by the Pacers gave them a 99-93 margin, but a run of four from the charity stripe by Dallas made it a two-point game with two minutes left in regulation.

After Indiana’s first two misses from the line, Terry stepped up and nailed a three with 36.3 seconds to go, giving the Mavs a 103-101 lead. Tinsley responded with two at the line for another tie, but O’Neal missed a potential game-winning three from the top of the key with time running out in regulation.

"It’s a hard way to lose," Granger said. "We battled right down to the end. We’re very disappointed. We don’t believe in moral victories. We should have won both here and in Dallas. We just have to be prepared for our next game."

Game Notes

Dallas has won four straight and five of the last six meetings...The Pacers are 5-3 in their last eight home games against the Mavericks...Nowitzki finished the night making 15-of-18 free throws...O’Neal recorded a game-high three blocked shots.