The Mavericks' have been missing two essential ingredients during their early season swoon: Defense in the fourth quarter and solid bench production.
They finally got both on Sunday and they needed it to rally, force overtime and finally dispatch the new-look New York Knicks. The much maligned bench came up with 51 points and 22 rebounds. James Singleton turned in a huge game in his first extended playing time of the season. Coach Rick Carlisle turned to Singleton because he sat his two centers in favor of a smaller, more agile lineup against the down-sized, run-and-gun Knicks.
Singleton came through with 12 points and 10 rebounds, the fourth double-double of his NBA career.
"(James) Singleton is a guy that played very little, but is a professional and stayed ready," Carlisle said. "He plays three positions for us and his play was instrumental for us."
Who knows what kind of minutes Singleton will garner against the Bobcats, a more traditional lineup, but at least they've built a little confidence in their bench.
MAVERICKS 124, KNICKS 114 (OT): At last, the Mavericks tucked a steal away in the win column. Despite allowing the Knicks to score in triple-figures for the first time this season, and trailing for the first 47 minutes of the game, Dallas was able to tie the game in the final seconds and prevail in overtime.
The Mavs were helped considerably by an Arctic cold front that overtook the Knicks, who missed all of their final nine shots in regulation and the overtime.
Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his season-high 39 points in overtime, and added 15 rebounds to lead Dallas to the victory, which snapped a five-game losing streak that Nowitzki told the Associated Press "felt like two or three months." Josh Howard also had season-highs of 31 points and 14 boards.
