Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki has Mavericks overcoming defensive deficiencies

Dirk Nowitzki powered Dallas to a 100-97 win over New Orleans on Wednesday night, scoring 21 with four blocked shots as the Mavericks improved to 12-8.

Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points for Dallas on Wednesday night. Gerald Herbert / AP

NEW ORLEANS, United States // Dirk Nowitzki was not happy with his play or Dallas’ defence for most of Wednesday night. He still found a way to end the New Orleans Pelicans’ three-game winning streak.

Nowitzki scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and had the last of his season-high four blocked shots on a crucial possession in the final minute as the Mavericks beat the Pelicans 100-97 at the start of a four-game road trip.

Nowitzki gave Dallas the lead with a free throw to make the score 98-97 with 32.3 seconds left. He then got a piece of Eric Gordon’s driving floater, grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with 8 seconds left.

“It could have gone either way,” Nowitzki said. “Finally, we were on the other end one time in execution and getting some stops and getting some big rebounds. It was definitely a good one to get against a very good team.”

Nowitzki ran off a long list of negatives that could have cost the Mavericks the game. The Pelicans outrebounded them 58-38. He felt he forced some bad shots in the first half when he was double-teamed, connecting on only 2-of-7 instead of finding the open man. He even missed two free throws after hitting an NBA-best 86-of-91 before Wednesday.

The Mavericks also messed up their final defensive possession, giving New Orleans forward Ryan Anderson a wide-open look to tie the score. Anderson, who entered as the NBA’s second-most-accurate 3-point shooter at 55.6 percent, missed it with 2 seconds left.

“We switched at the end and left him open,” Nowitzki said. “I don’t know what happened. He had a clean look from the top of the key, which he probably makes eight out of 10, so we really dodged a bullet.”

Reserve Vince Carter had 15 points for Dallas and Monta Ellis added 14 points, with the other three starters scoring between 10 and 12.

Jrue Holiday had a season-high 26 points for the Pelicans, who played without injured forward Anthony Davis for the second consecutive game. Al-Farouq Aminu tied his career high with 20 rebounds and added a season-high 16 points. Anderson finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

The Mavericks won with balance for three quarters and Nowitzki taking over down the stretch. No play was bigger than his block of Gordon in the lane. He had not blocked more than one shot in any game this year.

“Tell them you’re a shot blocker now,” Carter said jokingly as Nowitzki talked in the locker room.

“We have a lot of guys doing a lot of things to try to take the pressure off of him so he doesn’t feel he has to put up big numbers every quarter,” Carter added. “It can wear him down. Now fourth quarter he can do what he does best.”

The Pelicans, who outscored opponents by 25 points in the second half while going 3-0 on their recently concluded road trip, tried to pull away in the third quarter with an 8-0 run to go up 73-65 late in the quarter. But the Mavericks answered with a 10-2 spurt, getting 3-pointers from Jae Crowder and Carter.

Dallas stayed hot at the start of the fourth. Nowitzki scored on a turnaround to give the Mavericks a 79-77 lead, converted a 3-point play on a tough shot and hit a free throw after the Pelicans were called for a defensive 3-second violation as Dallas went ahead 83-77.

That lead didn’t last long. Holiday sank a 3-pointer to tie the score at 86 with 6:49 left.

Nowitzki hit a face-up midrange shot to give Dallas a 97-94 lead before Holiday sank a long 3-pointer to tie the score at 97, setting up Nowitzki’s finish.

“It’s not very often you win on the road getting pounded on the glass by 20 boards,” Nowitzki said. “But we’ll definitely take it.”

OTHER WEDNESDAY RESULTS

Pacers 95, Jazz 86

The Indiana Pacers dominated the fourth quarter by using their stifling defence to pick up a road victory over the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz, who led by as many as 11 points in the first half, only scored nine points in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the final period while the Pacers built a double-digit lead.

Swingman Paul George struggled from the field, shooting just 7-for-20 and 1-for-8 from three-point range, but scored 19 points as Indiana (17-2) bounced back from Monday’s tough road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Jazz (4-16) saw their season-best, two-game winning streak snapped.

Hawks 107, Clippers 97

Kyle Korver tied an NBA record by making a three-pointer in his 89th consecutive game as the Atlanta Hawks knocked off the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.

Korver, who missed the previous four games with a bruised rib, finished with 23 points and made six three-pointers for the Hawks (10-10).

Dana Barros also connected in 89 consecutive appearances with the Boston Celtics in the late 1990s.

Blake Griffin scored 24 points for Los Angeles (12-7).

Suns 97, Rockets 88

The Phoenix Suns answered a late Houston Rockets rally with a series of clutch jump shots to claim a tough road victory.

Despite trailing most of the game, Houston pulled within 75-74 midway through the fourth quarter but the Suns responded with 15-0 blitz.

Eric Bledsoe led the Suns (10-9) with 20 points and the Rockets (13-7) saw their six-game home winning streak end as they posted a season-low point total.

Cavaliers 98, Nuggets 88

Tristan Thompson scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a victory over the Denver Nuggets.

The Cavaliers (6-12) won back-to-back games for the first time this season, and they snapped the Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak.

The Nuggets (11-7) had four players post double-figure point totals, led by guard Randy Foye, who scored 16 points.

Pistons 105, Milwaukee 98

Andre Drummond scored 24 points and had 19 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons to beat the Milwaukee Bucks.

Point guard Brandon Jennings shot 4-for-16 from the field but finished with 17 points and 11 assists in his first game in Milwaukee since being sent to Detroit (9-10) in a sign-and-trade deal last summer.

Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Bucks (3-15).

Trail Blazers 111, Thunder 104

LaMarcus Aldridge dominated Oklahoma City (13-4), scoring a game-high 38 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while even pitching five assists to lead Portland (16-3) to victory.

Frenchman Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard each added 14 points while Robin Lopez recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Kevin Durant couldn’t put the Thunder over the top despite scoring 33 on 11-for-23 shooting. Russell Westbrook also scored 21.