Curry hits last-second OT winner as Warriors edge Mavericks

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (left) and forward Draymond Green react after Curry hit the game-winning shot in overtime against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday. (USA TODAY Sports)DPA/Los AngelesStephen Curry beat the clock and broke the hearts of the Dallas Mavericks. Curry splashed in the game-winning jumper with one tenth of a second left in overtime Tuesday, lifting the short-handed Golden State Warriors to a thrilling 122-120 victory over the host Mavericks. “I knew if he got a good look, he was going to make it,” said teammate Klay Thompson, who finished with 27 points. “He has become a good closer.” Curry had 23 points and 10 assists, and Jermaine O’Neal 20 points for Golden State (46-28), who strengthened their hold on the sixth seed in the Western Conference playoff race with eight games left. “This is a quality big-time win and guys really stepped up,” said Warriors coach Mark Jackson, who was without injured big men David Lee and Andrew Bogut. “If you don’t leave that game as a coach or as a player drained then something is wrong with you.” The Mavs went ahead 120-118 on a three-pointer by Spaniard Jose Calderon with 42.6 seconds left in the extra session, but O’Neal’s dunk knotted the contest at 120-120. O’Neal then swatted away a drive by Monta Ellis, setting the stage for Curry’s heroics. The All-Star guard got the ball at mid-court and dribbled the left side but back out to regroup after finding nowhere to go. Curry tried the left side again, created separation from Calderon and delivered a 20-footer, for his third difference-maker of the season. “I thought they were going to trap at half court and I was able to get around it,” Curry said. “Then you look up at the clock and you have five seconds to try and figure out how to get a clean shot off. “I missed a couple at the end of regulation and overtime that I thought were good. I just wanted to keep shooting and thankfully it went in.” The Mavericks called timeout, but failed to connect on the lob in-bound pass at the rim as time expired. German Dirk Nowitzki had 33 points with 11 rebounds while Ellis netted 27 for Dallas (44-31) who dropped a half-game behind idle Phoenix and Memphis for the eighth and final spot in West playoff race. “We have seven more games and we can’t look back,” Calderon said. “We have to keep looking forward at what is ahead of us. We have to keep working.” Elsewhere: Brooklyn Nets 105, Houston Rockets 96: Joe Johnson scored 32 points and the Nets clinched an Eastern Conference playoff berth after beating the Rockets with a franchise-record 14th consecutive home win. Shaun Livingston added 17 points for the Nets, who stopped a 14-game slide in the series following their first win since March 13, 2006. James Harden led playoff-bound Houston with 26 points while Turkish-native Omer Asik pulled down a career-high 23 rebounds in place of All-Star centre Dwight Howard, who is nursing a sore left ankle. Portland Trail Blazers 124, LA Lakers 112: Damian Lillard hit five triples en route to 34 points, LaMarcus Aldridge had 31 points with 15 rebounds, and the visiting Trail Blazers overcame Nick Young’s season-high 40-point effort to beat the Lakers for a fourth straight win. With Houston’s loss to Brooklyn, Portland moved within 1.5 games of the Rockets for the fourth seed and home court advantage in the West playoff race. Spaniard Pau Gasol returned to the already playoff-eliminated Lakers with nine points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes after missing four games with vertigo.