Mavericks overcome huge deficit, stun Thunder in OT

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY

Dirk Nowitzki scored 40 points, Jason Kidd hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in overtime and the Dallas Mavericks overcame a 15-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation to stun the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-105 on Monday night.

The win gave the Mavericks a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals. They can close out the series at home on Wednesday night.

Dallas didn’t lead until Nowitzki hit two free throws 16 seconds into overtime, needing to rally from a 99-84 deficit in the final five minutes of regulation.

The Mavericks never let the Thunder go ahead in the extra period.

Kevin Durant missed a 3-pointer on Oklahoma City’s opening possession of overtime then didn’t get another shot until he missed a 3 off the front rim in the final 10 seconds with the Thunder down by five.

He finished with 29 points and 15 rebounds.

BULLS’ NOAH FINED

MIAMI

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was fined $50,000 on Monday for directing an anti-gay slur at a fan during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, and vowed to learn from the incident.

The NBA released its decision hours after speaking with Noah, saying the fine was “for using a derogatory and offensive term from the bench.”

Noah and NBA officials met Monday morning. Noah said he emerged from that talk prepared to “pay the price” for what happened when he returned to the bench with two fouls midway through the first quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Miami Heat.

That price turned out to be 1.6 percent of his roughly $3.1 million salary this season. Noah agreed to an extension last year, worth about $60 million through the 2015-16 season.

Meanwhile, two major advocacy groups quickly called upon the league to both sanction Noah and help further educate players on the topic.