NBA Wrap: Nowitzki makes history in OT win

Dirk Nowitzki stole the headlines during the Dallas Mavericks’ 119-118 overtime win against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, as he became the sixth-highest scorer in National Basketball Association history. The German got to the milestone with a trademark mid-range jumper over Andrea Bargnani with 9:51 remaining in the second quarter.

Now, the question surrounding the future Hall of Famer is whether he’ll be able to climb past Wilt and nestle up next to Jordan and Kobe before his contract expires following the 2016-17 season. For some players, 70 games a season sounds fantastic, but when you’re an iron man like Deron Williams once was?

“It felt good to fight, and I felt like we left it all out there, but we’re not into moral victories”, point guard Jarrett Jack said of the finish.

“I was a gym rat, ” Nowitzki said.

The Mavericks made 13-of-18 shots to start the game and led by as many is 13 points in the first quarter.

After more than 1,400 NBA total games, it remains one of basketball’s cleanest and simplest truths: When Dirk Nowitzki catches and takes a clean look, it barely matters if you get your hand up. Brooklyn lost the lead with 4:30 to play, regained it on a Joe Johnson three with 2:03 to play, lost it with 12.4 on the clock before Thaddeus Young – who played a spectacular game – drained a three-pointer with 6.3 left.

After Christmas Day, the Mavericks open a three-game home stand taking on the Chicago Bulls.

Nowitzki said it was “more important to get this win” than passing O’Neal. I’ve been lucky. And we got the win. “And it’s my first time back, so it’s definitely frustrating missing this game because I wanted to be out there with my teammates”.

Williams was expected to be the player that, as the Nets moved to Brooklyn and their new billion-dollar arena, would lift them from being one of the NBA’s forgotten franchises into being a perennial force in the Eastern Conference.

Rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis had 23 points with 12 rebounds for the Knicks, but didn’t score in the fourth quarter (see full recap). There’s never been a player like Nowitzki, and there may never be another one.

Carlisle vented his frustrations after Tuesday’s 103-99 loss to the Toronto Raptors where the Mavs had a lackluster performance in the first half, before turning up the energy in the second half with the reserves playing well only to come up short. “We found a way”.

Brandon Knight scored 21 points, Ronnie Price had a career-high 20, including a career-best six 3-pointers in nine tries for the Suns. A half season before that, he came to the Timberwolves Young following seven seasons with the 76ers, who drafted him 12th overall in the 2007 draft.