Dirk's 33 Leads Mavericks Past Clippers, 109-102

The struggling Dallas Mavericks earned a victory over a top Western Conference team with a 109-102 overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. Desperate for a late season push, Dallas is still clinging to hopes of reaching the playoffs as they improve their record to 35-36.

Dirk Nowitzki had a season-high 33 points, including Dallas' first eight in overtime, to go alongside nine rebounds and an assist. Nowitzki shot 12-21 from the field and a near-perfect 9-10 from the free throw line.

Dallas, as a team, out-shot the Clippers .488-to-.447. The Mavericks also capitalized on a far superior free throw percentage, shooting .852-to-.640.

The Mavericks' win was threatened by a heroic performance from Clippers' guard Chris Paul. Paul matched Nowitzki's 33-point effort and added six rebounds, five assists and two steals of his own. However, his team failed to capitalize in overtime as they went more than four minutes without making a field goal after the all-star game MVP put them up 42 seconds into OT.

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