Mavs remain in contention with 4th period comeback

Dallas won 103-91 to trim their series deficit against San Antonio to 3-2.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- Michael Finley, Nick Van Exel and Steve Nash wouldn't let San Antonio clinch a spot in the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. And given the way the Spurs played in the fourth quarter, they didn't deserve one.
The Mavericks fell behind by 19 points early but never quit, staging a comeback that culminated in a stunning turn of events in the fourth quarter as Dallas defeated San Antonio 103-91.
Spared
"I feel like the luckiest guy in the world," Mavs coach Don Nelson said. "We hung around. We kept trying. It didn't look good. In the fourth quarter they went cold, we were hot and we won our second game."
The Mavericks cut San Antonio's lead to 3-2 in the Western Conference finals, with Game 6 Thursday night in Dallas.
Finley scored 31 points and got huge help in the fourth quarter from Van Exel and Nash -- the two starting point guards in the small-ball lineup Nelson was forced to use as Dirk Nowitzki sat out his second straight game with a knee injury.
Dallas used an 11-2 run to tie it early in the fourth quarter, went ahead with 7:34 remaining on a dunk by Raef LaFrentz and then used a 16-4 run to turn it into a humiliation for the Spurs.
"We were creeping, and you could feel the energy in the building was, 'Uh-oh.' Once we tied it, that was it. The momentum was all ours," Dallas guard Raja Bell said.
Dallas outscored San Antonio 29-10 in the fourth quarter as the Spurs missed their first eight shots and 14 of 17 overall.
Dallas, which went 49-for-50 at the line in Game 1, went 23-for-23 Tuesday night and shot 56 percent from the field in the second half.
Telling stats
San Antonio missed 14-of-38 foul shots, with Tim Duncan going 5-for-12.
A steal by Finley and a fadeaway 12-footer by Nash made it 92-86, and Van Exel hit two from the line and then stole Malik Rose's ensuing inbounds pass. He was fouled on a 3-point shot and made all three, giving the Mavs a 97-86 lead with 2:32 remaining.
It was no contest the rest of the way as Dallas avoided its first four-game losing streak in more than three years.
Van Exel finished with 21 points, Nash had 14 and Walt Williams 12.
Duncan had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Spurs, shooting just 1-for-2 from the field in the fourth.
Van Exel scored 12 points in the fourth and Nash had seven, with Finley adding four points and two of his five steals.