Dallas, TX – Vince Carter registered a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets, 108-105, in overtime on Friday.
Carter also had seven assists and Dirk Nowitzki also added 22 points and 10 boards for the Mavericks, who were eliminated from playoff contention with a 102-91 loss against Phoenix on Wednesday.
O.J. Mayo scored 20 points while Shawn Marion had 15 points and eight rebounds in the victory.
"Vince [Carter] was great," said Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. "We had a lot of guys that played well. The first half we were not good; we struggled, our concentration wasn't good. There were deficits, we'd get close, we couldn't hit a shot. We got it tied and then they went on a run. We're just up against it - it was kind of a microcosm of our season. Second half, after a tough first two minutes, we battled back and got the lead at the end of the quarter. We had a great chance to close it out in regulation then some wacky things happened and we had to do it in overtime."
Wilson Chandler, Andre Iguodala and Corey Brewer scored 18 points apiece, with Brewer also recording five steals for the Nuggets, who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
With the loss, the Nuggets remain in third in the Western Conference standings, four games behind the Spurs and Thunder. However, they are only one game ahead of the Clippers with three games left on the schedule.
"It's a tough loss," said Nuggets coach George Karl. "There's some good there. Ty [Lawson] looked like he was O.K., maybe a little better than O.K. If we get a better rotation we can't have Corey [Brewer] shooting 20 shots a game and taking some crazy shots along the way. Our shot selection has got to get a little better; our passing has probably got to get a little better. And tonight I thought the fundamental that killed us in the overtime and the second half was rebounding. We let a team that we normally are very aggressive against on the boards and we never got to the boards like we're capable of."
Mayo tied the game at 101-101 with 3:42 to play in overtime after making a 5- footer. He then drilled a 3-pointer with 2:40 remaining to give the Mavericks a 104-101 lead.
After a jumper by Carter, Kenneth Faried made a layup with 29.8 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to one, 106-105.
However, the Nuggets weren't able to regain possession until there was 1.9 seconds left. Iguodala attempted a shot to tie the game and send it to a second overtime but the shot didn't fall.
The Nuggets were in control in the first half, shooting 51.3 percent of their shots. Iguodala led the way with 12 points.
At halftime, Denver had a 55-48 lead.
Chandler made a tip shot 22 seconds in the third to extend Denver's lead by nine. However, down 61-50 with 8:22 remaining, Brandan Wright's layup sparked a 15-0 surge for the Mavericks and they would take a 65-61 lead with just over five minutes to go.
Denver remained close behind for the duration of the period, but Dallas was able to hold them off to take a 78-77 edge entering the fourth quarter.
Ty Lawson made a shot just 13 seconds in to take the lead for the Nuggets, but that would be the last time they would have a lead in regulation.
Tied at 96-96 with 34 seconds left, Mayo drilled a 3-pointer to take the lead. After Miller sank a free throw, Wright had an opportunity to put the game away with 21 seconds to go, when he drew a foul off Iguodala. However, he missed both attempts from the foul line.
With 3.9 seconds remaining, Brewer made a running layup to tie the game 99-99. Mayo tried to do the same thing with just 0.3 seconds left, but it bounced off the rim to send the game into overtime.
Game Notes
Nowitzki is 10 points away from recording 25,000 career points ... Carter's 12 rebounds are a season-high, with eight of them offensive ... The Mavericks were 11-of-23 from three-point range ... Faried had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds ... Lawson returned after missing five straight games with a heel injury. He had 13 points ... Denver wins the season series 2-1 ... The Nuggets are 18-22 on the road.
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