By Paul Levine May 16, 2006, 13:20 GMT
Los Angeles - There was an old-fashioned shootout in Texas on Monday and when the dust settled Dallas Mavericks were left standing, and one game from eliminating the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
San Antonio Spurs' Tim Duncan (R) drives to the basket as Dallas Mavericks Erick Dampier looks on during game 4 of the second round of NBA playoffs at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas Monday, 15 May 2006. EPA/REX C. CURRY
Jason Terry had 32 points, including a high-arching jumper with 38 seconds remaining in overtime as the Mavericks edged the Spurs for a thrilling 123-118 home-court victory in Game Four to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.
'He's one of the best clutch players I've ever played with,' said teammate and German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki, who contributed 28 points and nine rebounds despite a sore right ankle. 'He just doesn't care what time it is on the clock. He makes those shots.'
Jerry Stackhouse had 26 points and Devin Harris had 18 for Dallas, which has won three in a row.
With a victory on Wednesday at San Antonio, the Mavericks will advance to the conference finals, and send their Texas rivals packing for an early summer vacation.
'This is the moment we've been waiting for,' Terry said. 'It's not going to be easy, but we're going to go down to San Antonio and try to seize the moment.'
Frenchman Tony Parker wasted a playoff career-high 33 points while Tim Duncan had 31 and 13 rebounds for San Antonio. Argentine Manu Ginobili had 26 before fouling out and Michael Finley finished with 14.
The Spurs are barely alive and will try to become just the ninth team to rally from a 3-1 deficit.
'We still have life and have to remain positive, knowing we have an opportunity to go back to San Antonio and get a game there,' Finley said. 'Hopefully, we'll be fortunate enough to make a return trip here.'
After Nowitzki's two free throws knotted the game at 111 with 8.5 seconds left, Duncan had a chance to be the hero in regulation, but his jumper bounced off the rim as time expired.
In the overtime, Erick Dampier and Harris opened with baskets, giving Dallas the lead for good. However when San Antonio pulled within 117-116 on Bruce Bowen's 3-pointer with 2:02 left, Terry buried a baseline jumper and Harris added a layup.
When Finley made two free throws with 1:01 to play, pulling the Spurs within 121-118, Terry connected on a rainbow jumper from the baseline over Duncan with 38 ticks remaining to seal the win.
Elsewhere:
Cleveland Cavaliers 74, Detroit Pistons 72: So much for Rasheed Wallace's boastful guarantee the Detroit Pistons wouldn't be coming back to Cleveland this season.
LeBron James had 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Pistons in Game Four to square their Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.
'This wasn't one of our prettiest offensive nights,' James said. 'But we gave ourselves a chance to win on the defensive end and we got it done.'
After dropping Game Three, the outspoken Wallace boldly declared the Pistons would win Game Four and wrap up the series in Detroit. The statement backfired and the Eastern Conference champions find themselves going home for pivotal Game Five on Wednesday before returning to Cleveland on Friday.
'We can't get caught up in Rasheed's comments,' James explained. 'Everybody was counting us out but we just go out, we listen to nobody and play basketball.'
Richard Hamilton scored 30 points and Tayshaun Prince had 16 for Detroit, which shot an icy 33 per cent from the floor. Wallace finished with just seven points after suffering a right ankle sprain midway through the second quarter.
Wallace remained confident despite the setback.
'I ain't worried about these cats,' he said. 'There's no way in hell they beat us in a series. They played well. I give them credit. They had to play their best to beat us.'
Hamilton's two free throws tied the game at 72 with 62 seconds left but the Pistons failed to score the rest of the way.
James split two free throws to put the Cavaliers on top for good, 73-72 with 62 seconds left, and they survived with a strong defensive stand.
Two of the biggest plays came from Brazilian forward Anderson Varejao, who drew an offensive foul from Pistons Chauncey Billups on a drive to the basket with 29.6 seconds remaining.
After James missed a jumper, Varejao forced Hamilton to miss a layup. Ben Wallace failed on the follow shot and teammate Maurice Evans tipped the rebound out of bounds.
James split two more free throws with 1.3 second left but he left the door open for the Pistons. However, Prince threw away the inbounds pass intended for Billups at mid-court to end the game.
'We wanted to get the win regardless if he guaranteed it or not,' Hamilton said. 'We just couldn't get it done. Now it's our job to go out and get a win at home.'
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