Maverick! Dallas rally from 15 down to stun Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP):

A decade's worth of play-off experience has taught Dirk Nowitzki plenty about hardship. Jason Kidd knows it well, too.

Now, it's starting to look as if the tide has turned 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.

"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."

comeback

Already with an improbable sweep over the two-time defending champions Los Angeles Lakers under their belts, the Mavericks came back from a 99-84 deficit with five minutes left in regulation to move within one win of the NBA finals.

They 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 in Game Five tonight in Dallas.

"We worked really hard these two games to win, and none of that guarantees anything for Game Five. We know that," said coach Rick Carlisle.

The Mavs have won at least 50 games in 11 straight seasons with no titles and only one trip to the NBA finals to show for it.

leading scorer

Kevin Durant, the league's scoring champion the past two seasons, 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.

Only two teams in NBA history have come back from 3-1 deficits without the benefit of home-court advantage in Game Seven - Houston in the 1995 West semi-finals and Boston in the 1968 East finals.

"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."