Dazzling Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki went to the basket many times in the 4th quarter and it paid off. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Mavericks Rally From Down 16 Thanks to Nowitzki’s Huge 4^th Quarter

The Dallas Mavericks were dreadful through 3 quarters, Tuesday Nov. 3, in what seemed like a certain loss on the first night of a back-to-back. Mavericks’ leader Dirk Nowitzki had other plans and set the all-time club record for points in a quarter with 29 in the 4th, leading Dallas to a miraculous come-from-behind 95-86 victory over the Utah Jazz. Nowitzki broke the over 25 year old record of 24 points in a quarter, set by Mark Aguirre against Denver, on March 23, 1984.

"It was an ugly game," Nowitzki said. "We couldn't get anything going for three quarters. We were slow. We were looking for a spark offensively and I was able to do that tonight."

After scoring only 52 points through the first three quarters, the Mavericks had 44 in the 4^th as Dallas outscored Utah by 26 points in the quarter. The Mavericks trailed Utah 72-56 with 9:51 left in the fourth quarter. From that point on Dallas went on a 39-14 run to close the game. At one point, late in the 4^th quarter, the Mavericks scored 14 straight unanswered points.

Dirk Nowitzki lit up the box score with 40 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks on the night. Nowitzki drove to the basket time and time again in the 4^th quarter and either got the basket, the foul, or both as he was 12 for 22 from the field and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line for the game.

"It's tough, because we were up by 15 with 8 minutes to go," Utah power forward Carlos Boozer said. “The next thing you know it was free throw, free throw, free throw, free throw."

Jason Kidd was second on the team in scoring with 19 points on six for 11 shooting including five of eight from behind the arc. Kidd also added six assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Shawn Marion and Jason Terry had 10 points each, but shot a combined nine of 28 from the field (32 percent). Erick Dampier showed up yet again with eight points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks in 38 minutes of action.

Deron Williams led the Utah Jazz with 22 points along with five rebounds, and five assists on nine of 19 shooting. Mehmet Okur was second on the team with 14 points and 14 rebounds but shot only four of 15 from the floor.

The Dallas defense played a large role yet again as Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier combined for 11 blocks, 23 rebounds, and two steals. The Mavericks had 12 blocks total for the game, out-rebounded the Jazz 50-37, and held Utah to 41.5 percent shooting. Only one time in Dallas’ first four games has a team scored more than 85 points or shot better than 43 percent, and that was the season opener at home against the Washington Wizards who scored 101 points on 46 percent shooting.

It wasn’t pretty, but these Mavericks keep finding a way to win despite poor shooting (39.5 percent for the game). Suffocating defense, hustle, and clutch scoring have this Dallas team sitting pretty at 3-1. Dallas’ next game is at 8:30 p.m., Nov. 3, in New Orleans against the Hornets.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)