The reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks were fighting for their playoff lives, facing elimination in game four of their Western Conference first-round series.
It was one of three Western Conference contests on Saturday, with the Clippers kicking off the action in Los Angeles with a dramatic 87-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Chris Paul scored 24 points and handed out 11 assists for the Clippers, who took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, with game four on Monday in Los Angeles.
Blake Griffin added 17 points and Randy Foye's 16 points included four three pointers, one of which knotted the score in the waning minutes.
Rudy Gay finished with 24 points for Memphis, but missed a potential game-winning jump shot at the buzzer.
Zach Randolph chipped in 17 and Marc Gasol had 11 points to go with 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies led 71-64 going into the fourth quarter. The visitors were up 79-73 when the Clippers' Eric Bledsoe made a layup to launch a 13-3 scoring run by Los Angeles.
Foye's three-pointer tied the score at 80-80. Paul then made a jump shot, stole the ball from Gasol to feed Griffin for a dunk and made a pair of free-throws as the Clippers seized an 86-80 lead with 23 seconds to play.
The Grizzlies kept chipping away, and had a chance to pull out the win until the bitter end.
Western top seeds San Antonio were in action later, seeking to take a 3-0 lead over Utah.
Source: AFP American Edition
