Dallas Mavericks Team Report

Dirk Nowitzki is doing everything he can to prolong the Dallas Mavericks' playoff lives. Already averaging 32 points in the second-round series against the Denver Nuggets, Nowitzki helped the Mavs stave off elimination and a sweep in Game 4 Monday night in Dallas with a game-high 44 points. It was the third-best playoff performance by a Maverick, trailing only Nowitzki's own marks of 50 (vs. Phoenix on June 1, 2006) and 46 (vs. Portland on April 19, 2003). Nowitzki, who also had 13 rebounds, scored 29 points in the second half and 19 in the fourth quarter as he refused to let Dallas' topsy-turvy season end. He had just 11 points in the previous three fourth quarters combined. "We didn't want to go home," Nowitzki said. "We talked about it, how we've got some pride on this team. We've showed it all season long. It's been a tough up-and-down year, but we're not done yet." The series shifts back to Denver for Game 5 on Wednesday night with the Nuggets leading three games to one. "We played for one more chance," Nowitzki said, "and we're going to go up to Denver and we're going to let it all hang out again."Nowitzki's sweet fade-away jumper made it 114-112, giving the Mavs their first lead in the game since 6-5. Dallas led in the game for just over three minutes. MAVERICKS 119, NUGGETS 117: A 34-point fourth quarter saved Dallas from elimination. Dirk Nowitzki had another huge game with 44 points and 13 rebounds. Josh Howard, playing on two bad ankles, contributed 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jason Kidd hit key buckets and finished with 13 points, six assists and 10 rebounds. Nowitzki's big night countered Carmelo Anthony's playoff career-high 41 points and 11 rebounds. Chauncey Billups had 24 points and J.R. Smith dropped 19, with several shots falling as the shot-clock expired. Denver led by 11 at the end of the first quarter and by 10 at halftime, but surrendered 66 points in the second half.NOTES, QUOTESThe Mavs finally broke through against the Nuggets this season with their first win in eight games and the first home victory in four games. Overall, the Mavs had lost eight in a row to Denver and last beat the Nuggets in January 2008.The Mavs were whistled for four technical fouls, including two in the fourth quarter, one each on Brandon Bass and Antoine Wright. Bench points played a key role for the Mavs, who got 10 points from spark plug guard J.J. Barea, his first significant contributions of the series and from forward Brandon Bass, who had 11 points, six rebounds and one big block on Carmelo Anthony in the final three minutes of the game.QUOTE TO NOTE: "I would probably use an uglier word than hostile, but I'm not going to do that right now... I've been in hostile buildings, but you can do it in a classy way." Nuggets coach George Karl, on several disturbances in the American Airlines Center stands in Game 4 stemming from the Mark Cuban-Kenyon Martin feud from Game 3. Extra security was deployed to protect the Nuggets' family members.ROSTER REPORT ROTATION: Starters Point guard Jason Kidd, Shooting guard Antoine Wright, Small forward Josh Howard, Power forward Dirk Nowitzki, Center Erick Dampier. Bench Guard Jason Terry, Guard J.J. Barea, Forward Brandon Bass, Forward James Singleton. PLAYER NOTES: F Josh Howard is clearly playing on two painful ankles and it shows every time he grimaces. He gutted out a big-time performance in Monday's Game 4 to keep the Mavericks alive in the series.Howard finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes, his first playoff double-double since the first-round loss to Golden State in 2007. "Our main focus coming into (Game 4) is that we wanted to leave it all out on the court and we've been fighting and fighting this whole series and the win finally went our way," Howard said. "Guys really kept fighting (Monday night) and we didn't want the season to end this quick and we'll be ready for the game in Denver on Wednesday." The Mavs improved to 5-0 this season in the playoffs when Howard scores at least 17 points.G Jason Terry continued to struggle in the playoffs in Game 4, finishing with just 12 points, which did include a big free throw to put finally put the game away with 1.1 seconds to go. He put up just seven shots in 31 minutes and was 1-of-4 from beyond the arc. He picked up his fifth foul midway through the third quarter and scored just the one free throw the rest of the way. His teammates bailed him out of an awful mistake with 3.8 seconds left in the first half. With the Mavs down by just five points after trailing by as many as 14, Terry was called for a flagrant foul on a driving Linas Kleiza and followed it up by picking up a technical. Denver added three quick points at the free throw line and got the ball back. Carmelo Anthony tipped in a miss and the Nuggets scored five points on the possession to double their lead in 3.8 seconds.G Jason Kidd won't match Denver point guard Chauncey Billups point-for-point, but he's scoring enough to help his team. Kidd scored 13 points in Game 4 and he hit two of the Mavs' three three-pointers in the game. Kidd added six assists, giving him just 11 in the last two games, and also 10 rebounds for a much-needed double-double. During the regular season, Kidd averaged less than 10 points a game, but he's pumped up his average in the postseason to give the Mavs four players averaging in double-figures. Dallas spent all season as one of only three to four teams with only three players scoring in double-figures. Kidd's already scored in double-figures six times in nine playoff games. MEDICAL WATCH:G-F Jerry Stackhouse (right heel) is out for the season.G/F Devean George (right knee) is out for the season.