Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his season-high 39 points in overtime and grabbed 15 rebounds, and the Mavericks snapped a five-game skid with a 124-114 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Josh Howard added season highs of 31 points and 14 rebounds. He had a pair of baskets in the extra session for the Mavericks (3-7), who were off to their worst start in a decade. They were down 15 in the first half and trailed for almost all the first 48 minutes, then tied it with a furious rally and didn't allow a field goal in overtime.
"We just told ourselves stay with it and get some big stops and offensively keep attacking," Nowitzki said. "We had to get off this losing streak, so whatever I had to do, the team told me to keep shooting and play aggressively."
Nowitzki made a pair of free throws to open overtime, giving Dallas its first lead since it was 6-4. He followed with a jumper, and after a free throw by Brandon Bass, Nowitzki buried a 3-pointer, pumping his fists in the air after giving the Mavericks a 120-112 lead.
Howard followed with his two baskets, part of Dallas' closing 19-2 run over the final 7:26. The Knicks were 0-for-14 after Richardson's basket with 2:28 remaining in regulation that made it 112-105.
"We could have won the game," Knicks forward Zach Randolph said. "We had a chance to win the game. But the ball won't fall for us. There's nights like this. We've just got to keep our head up and keep going."
Jason Terry scored 16 of his 20 points after halftime for the Mavs, who avoided their first six-game skid since Feb. 29-March 9, 2000. Reserves James Singleton and Brandon Bass each added 12.
"We've been playing some close games and the fourth quarter has been a problem for us," point guard Jason Kidd said. "This is a veteran group so nobody's panicked. If we just stay together and understand that we've got to find a way answer that fourth quarter and tonight we did that."
Randolph had 27 points and 18 rebounds in his eighth straight double-double for the Knicks, who were 0-for-9 in overtime and lost for the first time this season when scoring 100 points.
"We played well enough to win. We should have won in regulation and we didn't," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We gave them a little hope. Nowitzki and Howard are very good basketball players. You've got to give them credit. At the same time, we blew our chances. I thought we played pretty well for a long time. The fourth, we were just hesitant a little bit."
