Dallas Takes Control, 123-118

The way the Dallas Mavericks are going, every team is going to start using two point guards.

New starter Devin Harris and backcourt incumbent Jason Terry made big shots in a fourth-quarter rally, then showed off their speed and shooting in overtime, sending the Mavericks past the San Antonio Spurs, 123-118, Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series.

Dallas has won three in a row with Harris starting. Now the Mavericks are one win from making the conference finals for the second time in four years and the third time in franchise history.

Since Tim Duncan joined the club in 1997, the Spurs are 0-5 when trailing this deep into a playoff series.

Terry scored 32 points and it’s hard to say which were his biggest -- the 19-footer that put Dallas ahead with 23 seconds left in regulation; his layup at the start of overtime that put the Mavericks ahead for good; or his two jump shots that protected the lead in the last two minutes, the final one coming over Duncan.

“We get into overtime, and we said we’re going to continue to push it and push it,” Terry said. “We got stops. We pushed it. We got layups. And hey, we put ourselves in a good position to win the ballgame.”

Harris dazzled too, scoring 18 points with six rebounds -- three in overtime -- and six assists. His big baskets included a finger roll on a fastbreak early in overtime and a layup around Duncan that made the score 121-116.

Dirk Nowitzki, showing no problems from the ankle he twisted late in Game 3, scored 28 points and forced overtime with a pair of free throws with 8.5 seconds left.

Duncan had 31 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots for the Spurs. Tony Parker added a playoff-high 33 points and Manu Ginobili had 26 before fouling out with 2:28 left in regulation.