By Paul Levine May 14, 2006, 12:01 GMT
Los Angeles - Dirk Nowitzki displayed his toughness, which is what it is going to take for the Dallas Mavericks to dethrone the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
Despite a painful sprained ankle, Nowitzki made crucial plays down the stretch Saturday night to give the host Mavericks a thrilling 104-103 victory over the resilient Spurs.
Nowitzki had 27 points and 15 rebounds as fourth-seeded Dallas took temporary control of their Western Conference semifinal series with a 2-1 lead.
The Mavericks wasted a 13-point lead and survived a frenetic final six minutes that saw 12 lead changes and three ties.
'We've come a long way in the area of mental toughness and that is what I'm most proud of,' Dallas coach Avery Johnson said.
Nowitzki showed a little physical toughness, too. The Mavericks trailed, 99-98, when Nowitzki drove and stepped on the foot of Spurs superstar Tim Duncan. The German juggernaut's right ankle buckled and he went down to the floor.
'I rolled it pretty nicely,' he said. 'I rolled it once I planted. That's usually where you have all of your weight on your leg. I'm probably going to stay up all night and ice it and ice it some (Sunday).'
Duncan, who had 35 points and 12 rebounds, fouled out on the play. Nowitzki stayed in the game and sank two free throws to give Dallas the lead with 1:05 remaining.
Argentina's Manu Ginobili answered with a driving layup. After Nowitzki passed out of a triple-team to Jerry Stackhouse for a layup and a 102-101 lead,
Ginobili made another driving shot to give San Antonio a 103-102 lead with 21 seconds to play.
'When Tim went out, I think the next option was either Tony (Parker) or me,' Ginobili said. 'I just tried to get something done, either drawing fouls or getting to the basket.'
Stackhouse missed a jumper, but Nowitzki got the rebound and was fouled with 7.9 seconds left. He made both free throws, finishing an astounding 21-of-24 from the line.
The Spurs had another chance, but Josh Howard and Devin Harris combined to break up a dribble handoff play designed for Ginobili. Harris knocked the ball off Ginobili and out of bounds with 2.5 seconds to go.
'I was able to get a hand on it and kind of knock it away,' Harris said. 'I did my best without fouling him. I got a little piece of it and it was enough.'
Harris scored a career-high 24 points, Jason Terry added 19 and Josh Howard 12 for the Mavericks, who made 39-of-50 free throws.
Ginobili scored 24 points and Parker added 15 for the Spurs, who sank 10 of their last 11 shots, but came up just short.
'We have to play better basketball to beat these guys,' Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Nowitzki expects to play in Game Four on Monday, when the Mavericks can take control of the series if they remain tough.
'These are the games I am searching for to see how mentally tough we are and I thought, win or lose, we did some strong-minded stuff,' Johnson said.
Elsewhere:
Cleveland Cavaliers 86, Detroit Pistons 77:
At Cleveland, the Cavaliers got back into their Eastern Conference semifinal series behind the brilliance of LeBron James, who registered a triple-double.
James scored 15 of his 21 points in the decisive fourth quarter and added 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the fourth-seeded Cavaliers closed the gap to 2-1 and snapped the four-game winning streak of the top-seeded Pistons.
For three quarters, James was willing to set up teammates - particularly Brazilian forward Anderson Varejao, who scored 16 points. But he took over in the final period, when Cleveland erupted for 33 points and pulled away.
'I just react to the game,' James said. 'If I get doubled, I give up the ball. That's been my motto all of my life, ever since I started playing basketball. I saw some creases in the fourth quarter and I was able to attack and give ourselves a chance to win the ballgame.'
James made a driving shot, a steal and two free throws to give Cleveland a 76-70 advantage with 2:20 remaining. He sank a 3-pointer and passed to Damon Jones for a 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 84-74 bulge with 40 seconds left.
Flip Murray scored 13 points for the Cavaliers, who have a chance to draw even at home on Monday. Richard Hamilton scored 22 points and Chauncey Billups added 20 for the Pistons, who had just one basket in the last five minutes.
'We are still going to win this series,' Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace said. 'We are not going to let one game discourage us.'
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