Originally published Monday, April 7, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Dallas 105, Phoenix 98 | Victory lifts Mavs in Western Conference

A hobbled Dirk Nowitzki brought the offense. Jason Kidd triggered the defense. The result was a fourth-quarter rally that may have saved...

By BOB BAUM

The Associated Press

PHOENIX — A hobbled Dirk Nowitzki brought the offense. Jason Kidd triggered the defense.

The result was a fourth-quarter rally that may have saved the season for the Dallas Mavericks.

Nowitzki scored 32 points and the Mavericks rallied from 13 points down early in the fourth to stun the Phoenix Suns 105-98 on Sunday. Dallas outscored Phoenix 27-9 in the fourth quarter for the kind of gutsy victory against a strong opponent the Mavericks had sought since the trade that brought Kidd from New Jersey.

"Every team we'd played so far we were right there, on the road or at home," Nowitzki said. "So it feels great to get finally over the hump. I think everybody in the locker room was pretty hyped up that we had finally pulled this one out."

The victory lifted Dallas two games ahead of eighth-place Denver and Golden State in the Western Conference with five to play. The Mavericks have regrouped to go 2-1 against teams with winning records after going 0 for 10.

The Suns, who would have clinched a playoff berth with a victory, fell 1 ½ games behind the first-place Los Angeles Lakers in the Pacific Division. Phoenix dropped to sixth in the West, a half-game behind Houston.

Dallas coach Avery Johnson estimated Nowitzki's ankle was 60 percent to 75 percent normal, and the big forward acknowledged there were times when he was in a lot of pain, albeit usually for a short duration.

Nowitzki's falling-down, 16-foot runner with 32.2 seconds left sealed the win.

"I stumbled about 18 times," Nowitzki said of the play. "But I was able to gather myself right at the end."

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