NBA roundup: Trail Blazers prevail in the final moments

C.J. McCollum scored 32 points, the last two on a runner in the lane with 0.9 seconds left, to give the Portland Trail Blazers a 114-113 win over the host Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

McCollum’s shot capped a final minute in which the two teams traded leads six times and the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki hit two clutch three-pointers, the second a potential game winner with 3.9 seconds left. McCollum scored Portland’s last seven points.

Damian Lillard added 29 points for the Trail Blazers. Harrison Barnes had 26 points and Nowitzki 25 for Dallas.

The two teams, battling for the eighth and final playoff spot, seesawed through a tense fourth quarter, trading 13-0 runs at one point. Portland led, 101-89, before the Mavericks answered the Trail Blazers’ run with one of their own.

Nowitzki’s three with 38.9 seconds left gave Dallas a 108-107 lead and prompted a fist pump from the veteran. But McCollum was just getting started. He hit a short jumper, then answered a Devin Harris counter with a three-point play to make it 112-110 with 12.3 seconds to play before Nowitzki hit another long shot.

at Houston 128, Orlando 104: James Harden had 25 points and 13 assists for the Rockets, who built a big early lead and held off a late rally by the Magic. Houston led by 23 at one point, but Serge Ibaka made a turnaround jump shot midway through the fourth quarter to cut Orlando’s deficit to nine points. Harden grabbed a bad pass from Evan Fournier not long after that and dished to Eric Gordon, who finished with a three-pointer. Trevor Ariza added a three-pointer to extend the lead to 112-97 with about four minutes remaining and put the game away. Ibaka had 28 points and Fournier added 21, but the Magic suffered their 10th loss in 13 games.

at Charlotte 111, Brooklyn 107: Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum and Marco Belinelli each had 17 points as the Hornets snapped a seven-game losing streak and inflicted the Nets’ 10th loss in a row. Charlotte led by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, but Brooklyn sliced Charlotte’s advantage to 91-87 with 6 minutes 11 seconds remaining when Joe Harris hit a 23-foot jumper. The Hornets, however, countered with baskets from Marvin Williams and Belinelli to give themselves a cushion. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points and Brook Lopez added 20 for the Nets.