DALLAS (AP) - Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for a couple of clutch jumpers, and Jermaine O’Neal stepped up on both sides of the floor.
It was that kind of night for the Golden State Warriors.
Curry made a tiebreaking jumper in the final second of overtime, lifting Golden State to a 122-120 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
“Incredible win for us,” coach Mark Jackson said. “We had everything going against us. They had all the momentum. Guys really stepped up and made plays.”
Curry had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson led the Warriors with 27 points, and O’Neal finished with 20 points and eight boards.
O’Neal blocked a Dallas shot with the game tied at 120, setting the stage for Curry’s winning move. He dribbled the ball to the left side of the court and hit from 20 feet.
“I had missed a couple in regulation and a couple in overtime that I felt were good, so I just knew to keep shooting it, and thankfully it went in,” Curry said.
Jose Calderon, who made a big 3-pointer in overtime to give Dallas a 120-118 lead, found himself 1-on-1 with the Warriors’ point guard.
“That’s not the first time he made that shot,” Calderon said. “It was pretty close. He’s a great player. If we made a couple of shots, we would have won.”
The Mavericks called timeout, but the inbounds pass failed to connect as time ran out.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 33 points and 11 rebounds. He had 16 in the Mavericks’ 41-point second quarter.
Dallas had a three-point lead until Thompson made a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining in regulation. He also hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:18 left in overtime to pull Golden State within a point at 117-116.
On a night when the Warriors were without their injured starting center and power forward, O’Neal was 9 for 12 from the field in 33 minutes.
“(O’Neal) was fantastic - finishing at the rim, diving to the hoop, setting screens, forcing them to defend,” Jackson said. “He makes arguably the biggest play of the game with the blocked shot. He’s an incredible basketball player that’s had an incredible career, and he’s finishing it his way.”
Dallas dropped from seventh in the Western Conference to ninth, a half-game behind Memphis and Phoenix in the final two playoff positions. Golden State, No. 6 in the West, moved two games ahead of the Grizzlies and Suns.
The Mavericks also split a franchise-record, eight-game homestand, losing three of four overtime games. For the season, the Mavericks are 1-4 in overtime; the Warriors are 1-2.
“It happened multiple times during this stretch at home. We’ve made poor decisions,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “We haven’t done what we needed to do to get stops. We’re paying the price.”
Golden State led throughout the first quarter, scoring the first eight points and taking an 11-point lead at 30-19 on Jordan Crawford’s layup with 11 seconds remaining.
Dallas bounced back in the second. Nowitzki banked in a 3-pointer, capping a 9-0 run that got the Mavericks within two at 30-28. Vince Carter then gave Dallas a 45-42 lead with the second of his three 3-pointers in the quarter.
Two consecutive 3s by Nowitzki stretched the lead to 62-51 with 50 seconds left in the half. Thompson’s jump shot pulled Golden State to 62-53 at halftime.
In the second quarter, Nowitzki made all four of his 3-point attempts. Carter was 3 for 3 from 3-point range. Dallas was 14 for 21 from the floor, including 8 for 10 on 3s.
The Warriors outscored the Mavericks 32-19 to take an 85-81 lead into the final period.
Curry scored 11 points and O’Neal had 10 in the quarter.
Ellis keyed another Dallas rally with nine fourth-quarter points. Both teams missed chances to win the game in the closing seconds of regulation.
Ellis finished with 27 points, and Brandan Wright had 14.
NOTES: Golden State big men Andrew Bogut and David Lee missed the game. Lee has missed three games because of a strained right hamstring. Bogut, who did not make the trip to Texas, has missed two games because of a pelvis/groin contusion. Replacing them were O’Neal, making his ninth start at center, and Draymond Green, starting for the seventh time at power forward. The Warriors dressed only 10 players. … Golden State still outrebounded the Mavericks 44-43. … Jackson said Lee might play Wednesday at San Antonio, but “I got to see him running and he’s got to be healthy.” … The Warriors have eight games remaining - four at home and four on the road. Dallas has seven more. Five are on the road, including the next four games. … As part of a campaign to gain Carter recognition for Sixth Man of the Year, Dallas’ management gave blue “Vince for VI” T-shirts to spectators.
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