A decade's worth of play-off experience has taught Dirk Nowitzki plenty about hardship. Jason Kidd knows it well, too.
Now, finally, the tide appears to be turning for the Dallas Mavericks.
Nowitzki scored 40 points, Kidd hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 40 seconds left in overtime and the Mavericks rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-105 on Monday night and take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Game 5 is tonight in Dallas.
"It's just a bunch of veterans with a lot of unique stories. A lot of guys have been through a lot in this league and have been around forever," Nowitzki said. "A bunch of guys have been to the finals … Ultimately, we have one goal and we came together and fought through some stuff."
The Mavericks have won at least 50 games in 11 consecutive seasons but have no titles and only one trip to the NBA finals to show for it.
"All of us involved with this team have been through a lot of these wars," the Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "We understand our position that we're in. We respect it. We're very humble about it. We've got to get ourselves revved up and ready for Wednesday, because that's an opportunity.'
Dallas handed the Thunder their first consecutive losses of the post-season and first back-to-back home losses in six months to earn a chance to clinch the series on their home court tonight. Only two teams in NBA history have come back from 3-1 deficits without the benefit of home-court advantage in Game 7.
"We worked really hard these two games to win, and none of that guarantees anything for Game 5. We know that," Carlisle said.
Dallas never led until Nowitzki hit two free throws 16 seconds into overtime, and the Mavericks never let the Thunder — who were one win shy of tying an NBA record with eight OT wins in the regular season — go ahead after that.
Kevin Durant, the league's scoring champion the past two seasons, missed a three-point attempt on Oklahoma City's opening possession of overtime, then did not get another shot until he missed from long range off the front of the rim in the final 10 seconds with the Thunder down by five.
Durant finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds, and Serge Ibaka had 18 points and 10 boards for Oklahoma City. Russell Westbrook added 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
"There's no doubt it was a tough loss," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "If this loss did not hurt, there's no such thing as a loss that can hurt you."
Durant said all the Thunder can do now is try to be positive. "It's not over yet," he said. "We know we have a game on Wednesday.
"We've won in there before, so we've got to try to do it again."
Durant had nine of the Thunder's 26 turnovers, including the one that led to the big shot by Kidd. Kidd stripped him as he went up for a shot with just over a minute left in overtime, then took a pass from Nowitzki, pump-faked to get Westbrook in the air and stepped up to drill a three-pointer that put Dallas up 108-105.
Jason Terry hit two free throws for the last of his 20 points, and Kidd added two more to provide the final margin.
Kidd went to the NBA finals twice with New Jersey but is still seeking his first ring at age 38. He scored 17 points to go with seven assists, five rebounds and four steals.
"Everybody asks questions about the age and all that other stuff," Carlisle said, "but the thing I'd say to anybody is, never underestimate greatness." The Mavericks also know better than to underestimate any opponent in any circumstances.
"I think they're going to come back in Game 5 and going to throw everything at us. Obviously they're desperate now," said Nowitzki, who still laments how Dallas won twice on the road to start the 2006 finals then lost four in a row to Miami. "But they showed they can win on our home court. They stole Game 2 there.
"We've got to take it. Nothing is going to be given to you in this league, especially not in the play-offs."
