Recap: Dallas vs. Indiana
Sports Network | November 25, 2008
Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - Jason Terry scored 16 of his game-high 29 points in a pivotal fourth-quarter comeback as the Dallas Mavericks helped head coach Rick Carlisle earn a 109-106 victory over Indiana in facing his old team for the first time since being fired by the Pacers at the end of the 2006-07 campaign.
Dirk Nowitzki and Antoine Wright each logged 24 points while Nowitzki also grabbed 12 rebounds for the Mavs, who won their fifth straight game and second consecutive home game after starting the season 0-4 as the host.
Jason Kidd had 11 points and 13 assists and drained two of his four triples down the stretch to help clinch the win for Carlisle, who led the Pacers to a franchise-record 61 victories during the 2003-04 season before losing in the conference finals to eventual NBA champion Detroit. Indiana then had two more playoff berths under Carlisle before falling off.
"You know, Kidd and Terry just made play after play. Jet (Terry) got to the basket, he hit jumpers, Kidd hit two huge threes. Our veterans willed us to a win, is what happened. You have to give the credit to them," Carlisle said.
Danny Granger had 22 points and nine rebounds while Troy Murphy logged 21 points and a game-high 14 boards for Indiana, which has dropped five of its last six games. The Pacers, who are just 1-5 on the road this season, will finish up a three-game road swing in Houston on Wednesday.
"It's very frustrating. It's a habit we're going to have to learn to break or we're going to be very disappointed this year," Granger said of the Pacers' inability to finish strong. "We just can't seem to close teams out. (I) can't tell you why. I don't know."
Brandon Rush had 18 points off the bench and Marquis Daniels registered a double-double in the loss with 14 points and 11 caroms.
Dallas kept things close despite trailing for much of the game and opened the final frame with an 8-2 spurt that tied the game at 85-85. Indiana put together a 10-3 run later in the quarter to go up by seven with just about five minutes left to play.
Terry and Kidd then took over for Dallas as the former scored 16 points, including two clutch free throws in the waning moments, and the latter hit a pair of three-pointers -- to pull the Mavs within two inside of 2 1/2 minutes -- and then to break a 99-99 tie about a minute later.
Terry followed with a jumper and then answered a pair of Granger free throws with a drive to the hoop for two and a 106-101 lead with 33.8 seconds remaining. Granger tallied an uncontested layup on the other end but Nowitzki hit 1-of-2 from the line and Terry hit both of his foul shots to help seal the victory.
"We just couldn't really get a hold on Terry. He just came out and scored time after time and we couldn't do too much about it," Granger added.
The two teams played to a 26-26 tie after one quarter and the Pacers forged ahead, 56-49, at the half. Indiana kept up the attack in the third but Terry's dunk with six seconds left cut the deficit to 83-77 entering the fourth.
Indiana has lost five straight and nine of its last 10 trips to Dallas..The Mavs were without dynamic forward Josh Howard for the third straight game. Howard, who is averaging 20.3 points and 8.2 rebounds, is day-to-day with a sprained ankle...The Pacers' T.J. Ford had 10 points and seven assists.
