KMAX: Sports

Mavericks 114, Clippers 107

By KEN PETERS
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) Dirk Nowitzki understands that this is how games are sometimes won: luck and timing.

``I was just in the right place,'' he said. ``We can't be proud of our defense tonight. The way we played defense, we were lucky to get the win.''

Nowitzki scored eight of his 27 points in the final 1:16 as the Dallas Mavericks improved their NBA-best record with a 114-107 victory over the crumbling Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.

Nowitzki had four points in six seconds after picking off consecutive bad passes by the Clippers' Marko Jaric as the Mavericks pulled away from a 104-101 lead in the final minute.

``Down the stretch, we did make the stops we needed to and made our free throws,'' Nowitzki said. ``And that's a plus.''

The Clippers helped, of course. After throwing a scare into Dallas, the Clippers missed five of seven free throws down the stretch and Jaric made his critical mistakes.

The Mavericks (54-17) made their last 11 free throws.

On his first steal off Jaric, Nowitzki drove downcourt alone and dunked to make it 106-101 with 56 seconds remaining. Six seconds later, he made a pair of free throws after his other steal off the rookie from Yugoslavia.

Nowitzki was 11-of-11 from the line and the Mavericks were 24-of-27. The Clippers went 15-of-25.

``It came down to the last two minutes and we fell short,'' Clippers coach Dennis Johnson said. ``The difference was the missed free throws and the turnovers at the end.''

The Mavericks' Nick Van Exel, taking on more of the scoring load while Michael Finley is sidelined by a hamstring injury, had 29 points. Steve Nash added 19 points and 12 assists.

Finley has missed four games because of the strained left hamstring.

``It will be good for us to get Michael back in practice soon,'' Dallas coach Don Nelson said. ``We've done a fantastic job without him. The team has found a way to win most every night, even though our leader and one of our best players has been out.

``I commend them for that.''

The Clippers played the Mavericks surprisingly tough, but still wound up with their 15th loss in 18 games and their 10th defeat in 13 games since Johnson became the interim coach when Alvin Gentry was fired.

Eric Piatkowski led the Clippers with 22 points, and Corey Maggette had 21 points and 11 rebounds. Piatkowski and Jaric gave Los Angeles spark off the bench, with Jaric scoring 13 points and getting seven assists and seven rebounds before making the crucial turnovers.

Walt Williams hit a 26-footer to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter to give the Mavericks a 78-75 edge, and the game was tight through the final quarter until the Mavericks took charge in the closing moments.

The Clippers had come back from a 68-60 deficit five minutes into the third quarter to tie it 73-all on Sean Rooks' 16-foot jumper with 14 seconds left in the period.

Van Exel scored 21 points in the second quarter, making all of his nine shots, including three from beyond the arc, and Dallas led 56-52 at halftime. Maggette had 11 first-quarter points to help the Clippers take a 23-20 lead.

Dallas needs four wins in its final 11 games to surpass the franchise record of 57 wins, established last season.< ^Notes:@ The Clippers began the season 11-14 and are 11-35 since then. ... Assuming Avery Johnson gets in the game again Friday at Portland, the 5-foot-11 Dallas guard will become only the second player under six feet to play in as many as 1,000 NBA games. Calvin Murphy was the first. ... The Mavericks have been beaten only twice this season by a team that currently has a losing record, both those losses to Seattle.

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