The Mavericks have certainly been on the other side of historic comebacks. Game 4 against Portland when they blew a 23-point lead in the first round of the playoffs a few weeks ago quickly comes to mind.
But when the talk turned to great Dallas comebacks, the silence was deafening in the Mavericks postgame locker room Monday night.
It certainly didn't take long to call roll and that's what was so sweet and satisfying about the 112-105 overtime victory against the Thunder.
The Mavericks rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final five minutes, using a 17-2 run to close the period and force overtime.
Forward Dirk Nowitzki said it was simply the greatest comeback he's been a part of in all of his years with the Mavericks.
"I've obviously had my fair share of leads and lost them," Nowitzki said. "It was a great comeback for us, definitely one of the best that I can remember being a Maverick, definitely in a very important game."
Said guard Jason Kidd: "I have been on the other side when we have given up leads. Those are easy to remember, when you give up a big lead and lose a game you felt you should have won. We kept playing and kept believing."
Center Tyson Chandler said "It happened to us in Portland. I don't know if I have been on the good end of it. But it was huge for us just to believe we could come back. We never gave up at any point."
The Mavericks seemed to be dead when Thunder forward Kevin Durant hit a three-pointer to make the score 99-84 with a little more than five minutes left in the game.
The crowd was going crazy and the Thunder certainly believed they had control of the game.
But the Mavericks went on a 17-2 run to force overtime. The young Thunder never recovered.
It was certainly the case of a veteran team not panicking and having the experience of knowing that there was still a lot of time left.
In the end, the Thunder showed their youth with their initial overconfidence of thinking the game was over and then their inability to recover and stop the Dallas run.
"It's all about being on an even keel and knowing you have been in the situation," guard Jason Terry said. "It's about a veteran team knowing that five minutes is a long time to play."
Was it their youth?
"Our faith showed more than anything," Terry said. "We kept believing. That's why we got the win."
Clarence Hill
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