Out West, the Dallas Mavericks had a chance to move a half game up on the idle Los Angeles Lakers in the race for second in the Conference. The Rockets, already out of playoff contention...but would give Dallas all they could handle in this one.

 

Early in this one, Goran Dragic...getting the Rockets off to solid start, the steal...the easy lay up, to put Houston on top.

Late in the Q, more from Dragic. Another steal...another lay-up, Houston would lead 23-20 at the end of one.

In the second quarter...Dirk Nowitzki began to heat up. He knocks down this jumper to tie it at 31....

And then, Dirk with the fade-away, give Big D the three point lead. Nowitzki, would finish the night with 23.

Two more, coming here before halftime as he again restores the Maverick three point lead.

Jump now to just a minute and a half to play...and Shawn Marion, with the and one to extend the Maverick advantage to four.

Dallas would lead by two in the dying seconds...and with just over ten seconds in regulation, Courtney Lee caps off the beautiful back-door play...and draws the foul to give Houston a one point lead.

However, the Mavs...looking for the win, and Jason Terry is fouled...foot on the line, so he would shoot two. Terry, making the first...but missing the second. So this one was off to OT.

In the extra frame, Terry would make up for that miss as he caught fire. This jumper, giving Dallas a four point lead.

And then, he makes it six. Terry with 21 off the bench as the Mavs close out the Rockets 98-91 in OT.

So, Dallas' win moves them, for the moment, half a game up on the LA Lakers for second in the West. Also on Monday, Oklahoma City beat Sacramento, they stay in fourth.

The injury-riddled Nuggets reached 50 wins for the fourth straight season beating Golden States 134-111 and clinched the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

Meanwhile, Chris Paul went scoreless for the first time in his career as playoff-bound New Orleans Hornets lost to Utah Jazz 90-78. The Hornets hold the eighth seed, a half game behind Memphis and 1 game behind Portland.