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Parsons, Nowitzki's OT Heroics Propel Dallas to 96-88 Victory over Nets

By Anthony Puccio
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN - The Brooklyn Nets needed to find a way to defeat the revamped Dallas Mavericks without Deron Williams (sore left side) and Kevin Garnett (rest). It was close, but no cigar for Brooklyn.

It was behind a huge second half effort and picture-perfect overtime in which Dallas beat the Nets in Brooklyn, 96-88. The two teams were tied at 65 when Dallas jumped out to a 13-2 run to start the fourth quarter. The run put them up by 11 with seven minutes remaining, but Brooklyn refused to throw in the white towel.

The Mavericks jolted out to a 10-0 run to start the fourth, giving them a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining. Then, behind two three pointers from the clutchest NBA player, Joe Johnson, the Nets tied the game at 80 with 1:12 left, resulting in a barrage of 'Broooooklyn' chants coming from the Barclays crowd. The atmosphere was perhaps the best of the season, and it was thanks to Joe Johnson who finished the fourth with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting.

The real basketball of New York is in Brooklyn.

Down ticked the clock with under 30 seconds. Jarrett Jack, with a glue-tight Monta Ellis covering him, nailed an elbow jump shot to put Brooklyn up two with 26.6 second remaining. On the next possession, the Nets played Dallas straight up, but Monta Ellis was fouled with 10.5 seconds remaining. He hit both, and it was up to the Nets to end it on their own terms, but Joe Johnson missed a contested jumper as time expired.

Johnson finished the night with 18 points and seven rebounds.

In overtime, Chandler Parsons nailed a huge three to pull the Dallas lead up to five with less than two minutes remaining, then after two offensive rebounds, Dirk Nowitzki nailed a three pointer to go up eight with 35 seconds remaining. That was the dagger.

Monta Ellis led all Dallas scorers with 19 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-16 shooting. It was Nowitzki's late-game clutch touch that doomed Brooklyn. He finished his heroic night with 15 points and seven rebounds.

It was a closely contested game for the first three quarters with Brooklyn scoring 35 points in the first quarter on 61.5% shooting. That was thanks to Brook Lopez. The big fella got the start for Kevin Garnett, and certainly didn't disappoint. He scored 18 points and six rebounds on 9-of-12 shooting. Behind the outburst from Lopez, the Nets had a 14-point lead over the Mavericks. Lopez, for the first time in his career, finished the half with a double-double of 18 & 10, but other than himself, no other Nets' players would pick up the slack on offense.

Lopez had a monster night with 22 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 33 minutes on 11-for-21 shooting.

"I didn't wanna try to force anything, I did a couple of times but like I said [Jarrett] Jack got going, Joe [Johnson] got going. We have lots of guys that can contribute on this team."

Following the 35-point first quarter, the Nets scored just 18 points in the next 18 minutes, enabling Dallas to tie-then-take the lead at the six minute mark of the third quarter. After scoring 14 points in the second on 4-of-20 shooting, the Mavs outscored Brooklyn 22-16 in the third quarter and took their first lead of the night, 55-53 at the eight minute mark of the third. Once again, the Nets' inability to close out games essentially lost them another game.

"We made shots," Hollins said of the post-first quarter drop off. "If you make shots and you execute and you don't turn the ball over, you have the chance to score. We have done it on a number of nights, but lately we just struggle. We struggle from the three-point line, and we struggle just making points period."

They're now 16-18 on the season and 2-15 against teams with .500 or better records.

Both teams shot 39% from the field, but it was Brooklyn 3-for-25 shooting from three that stood out the most. If you've missed that many three's, why take any more? To go with that, they dished out 13 assists in the first quarter, but finished the game with only 20 on the night.

Jarrett Jack had half of those. Despite going 1-for-9 in the first half, Jack capped off his night with 20 points and 10 assists on 6-for-16 shooting. As we've seen many times this season, Jack's free throws (8-for-8) anchored him to a decent scoring night.

"They're a very talented ballclub," Jack said. "They hit some tough shots down the stretch, went up double-digits lead in the fourth quarter, but we kept going, kept fighting, kept fighting and gave ourselves an opportunity to win in the end."

"Well, we picked it up," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "It was like a pillow fight defensively in the first quarter. We just weren't there."

Nowitzki  passed Moses Malone for sole possession of seventh place in NBA career scoring numbers.

"I'm proud of it but more proud that we got the win," he said.

Quarter by quarter summary: 

First quarter ... Brook Lopez received the start and it certainly paid off. The big fella scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting within the first five minutes of the game! He wasn't done. He finished the quarter with 18 points, six rebounds and one block on 9-of-12 shooting. Lopez went 7-for-10 on jumpers and 2-for-3 on layups down low. He had the Nets shooting 61.5% from the field while dishing out 13 team-assists. On the defensive side, they held Dallas to 21 points in the quarter on 1-of-6 shooting from three. The home team, behind Lopez, led 35-21.

Second quarter ... The Nets struggled to find offense without Lopez on the floor for the majority of the quarter. Joe Johnson scored eight points in the quarter, but the Nets' hot 61% start fell down to 44.4% -- scoring just 14 points compared to Dallas' 22 points. The eight point differential put Brooklyn up only six after leading by as much as 14.

Monta Ellis led all Mavericks scorers with nine points and Tyson Chandler with eight. Brook Lopez was held scoreless in the second quarter, but notched a double-double late in the half after grabbing his tenth rebound.

Score at the half: Nets 49, Mavericks 43.

Third quarter ... Despite scoring 35 points in the first 12 minutes of the game, the Nets only scored 18 points in the next 18 minutes, allowing Dallas to take a two point, 55-53, lead with six minutes to go. The offense was hard to come by. Coming off a 14-point quarter, the Nets only scored 16 points, while the Mavericks on the other hand, scored 22 points in the quarter and knotted this thing up, 65-65 heading into the fourth.

Fourth quarter ... The Mavericks jumped out to a 10-0 run to start the fourth, which gave them a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining. Then, behind two three pointers from the clutchest NBA player, Joe Johnson, the Nets tied the game at 80 with 1:12 remaining, containing a barrage of 'Broooooklyn' chants coming from the Barclays crowd. The atmosphere was perhaps the best of the season.

Down ticked the clock with under 30 seconds. Jarrett Jack, with a glue-tight Monta Ellis covering him, nailed an elbow jump shot to put Brooklyn up two with 26.6 second remaining. The Nets played Dallas straight up, but Monta Ellis was fouled with 10.5 seconds remaining. He hit both, and it was up to the Nets to end this on their own terms.

Who else but Joe Johnson? Joe worked his way to the top of the key, but missed on a contested jumper as time expired.

OT: Chandler Parsons nailed a huge three to pull the Dallas lead up to five with less than two minutes remaining, then after two offensive rebounds, Dirk Nowitzki nailed a three pointer to go up eight with 35 seconds remaining. That was the dagger.

Final score: Mavericks 96, Nets 88.

For more on the Dallas Mavericks, check them out at Mavs Moneyball.

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