By Dave Ivey, for NBA.com
THE FACTS: Dirk Nowitzki came to the Mavericks’ rescue in a game that appeared headed for a blowout, scoring 24 of his 28 points in the second half — 11 in the final five minutes — to secure a 95-85 victory Tuesday against the Knicks in Dallas.
The Mavericks were rolling in the third quarter, up by as many as 19, but New York didn’t roll over. A 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter gave the Knicks a brief 78-77 lead. Nowitzki finally put Dallas on the board with a jumper at the 4:34 mark, touching off a decisive 14-0 run for the defending champs.
Amar’e Stoudemire had 26 points, Jeremy Lin tallied 14 points and seven assists and Steve Novak scored 13 points (4-for-8 3-pointers) for New York. Rodrigue Beaubois had 18 off the bench and Jason Kidd finished with 15 points and six assists for Dallas, which won for the 13th time in its last 15 home games against the Knicks.
QUOTABLE: “In this season, no lead is safe, no deficit is too large. We just see it time and time again. We’ve just got to keep playing, keep playing, keep playing. They made a heck of a run to take the lead. We made a heck of a run to put the game away.”— Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle Click here to read the full Notebook at NBA.com. Photo: Reuters
