Dirk Nowitzki overcame illness to help Dallas to an 86-83 victory and level the NBA Finals with the Miami Heat at 2-2.
Dallas talisman Nowitzki again stars for Mavericks as they level series
Despite suffering from illness, Dirk Nowitzki overcome a bad night overall by coming through at the death to clinch an 86-83 victory for the Dallas Mavericks to level the NBA Finals with the Miami Heat at 2-2.
Again Dallas had to produce a late burst to avoid defeat, which would have seen Miami move into a 3-1 lead - a deficit that has never been overcome in the NBA Finals.
The Heat led by just two points at half time, but increased that lead to 74-65 before Nowitzki led a Dallas charge that saw them outscore their rivals by 17-4 to lead by four heading into the final two minutes.
Nowitzki hit ten of his 21 points on the night in the final period, including a late basket with just 14 seconds left that sealed the win and made it 2-2 heading into the fifth game, which will be the last one played in Dallas.
Ten-time All-Star Nowitzki had been suffering with flu in the run-up to the game, but he again came through for the Mavericks just as he did despite a finger injury earlier in the series.
Illness
"I didn't really have a good night's rest," said Nowitzki. "I was just under the weather a little bit, but battled it out. It didn't look good there in the fourth quarter when we were down nine, but energy and defence really picked us up.
"This is the finals. You're going to leave it out there. It's June. We've been playing on a high level for eight, nine months. So everybody has a little something going. You have to go out there and compete and try your best for your team. So that's what I did."
Dwayne Wade top-scored for Miami with 32 points and Chris Bosh added 24 more, but LeBron James could only score eight points after converting just three out of 11 shots.
Dallas coach Rick Carlisle again had to single out 32-year-old Nowitzki for special praise for battling through despite being well below his best.
"He did everything he could possibly do," said Carlisle. "The ball was moving to other people. He was creating when he could create.
"The play he made at the end getting the ball to the rim was a great play. It's a great win for us, and I love the way he played. Fighting through that was not easy."
Game five of the series takes place in Dallas on Thursday.
