A magical 19-0 run by the Mavericks at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth sent the Magic back down to earth Friday night. It also gave the score quite a shake up, transforming a 69-58 Magic advantage into a 77-69 Mavericks lead and an eventual 95-85 victory.
With the win, the Mavs improve to 34-21 and 18-12 on the road, and the Magic drop to 37-19 and 21-6 at home.
The Maverick scoring string, which began with a Dirk Nowitzki jump shot with 1:34 remaining in the third came to a close on a Jameer Nelson jumper with 8:45 on the clock in the fourth. During the 4 minute and 49 second span, who else but Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Jason Kidd took over as well as Brendan Haywood, who is new to the fold.
Nowitzki led the Mavs with 23 points. Terry and Caron Butler finished with 16 and Haywood contributed 15 points to go with Kidd’s 10. During a stretch in the third, Nowitzki scored 13 of 20 points for Dallas.
Having attempted the most 3-pointers in the league with 1,533, the Magic live and die by the shot. They go to it often, even on bad nights. Friday night would qualify as abysmal from the Magic’s point of view as the Mavs allowed only 4 of 25 3-pointers to meet the basket. Two of the four made 3’s came on back-to-back shots from Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis in the first quarter.
Kidd, Nowitzki, Terry and Eduardo Najera all hit from long range for the Mavs.
Going up against the league’s best shot blocker, the Mavs’ recently upgraded defense helped. Magic center Dwight Howard, who averages 2.78 blocks per game, prevented five shots from reaching the basket Friday night. Nowitzki had three blocks and Haywood had two while Butler and Najera each added one for the game. Najera, who played for 12:33 minutes, will see increased minutes due to Erick Dampier’s finger injury.
The Mavs play the Heat at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at American Airlines Center to cap off a stretch of four games in five nights.
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