Nowitzki tops Shaq as Mavs beat Nets

NEW YORK — Dirk Nowitzki moved past Shaquille O’Neal into sixth place on the NBA’s career scoring list, then made the go-ahead basket with 19.2 seconds left in overtime in the Dallas Mavericks’ 119-118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.

J.J. Barea had a career-high 32 points and added a season-best 11 assists for the Mavericks. Nowitzki scored 22 points, giving him 22,609 in his career, and Wesley Matthews finished with 17.

Thaddeus Young had a season-best 29 points for the Nets.

The Mavericks led by 16 in the first half, trailed by 11 in the fourth quarter, and the game went to OT when Young followed Barea’s three-point play with a three-pointer to tie it at 108, then blocked Barea’s shot on the final possession.

Matthews then hit two three-pointers and Barea added one in the OT, but the ball went inside the arc to the big German with Dallas down by one. After his basket, Jarrett Jack missed a jumper on Brooklyn’s final possession.

Nowitzki came in needing 10 points to pass the 28,596 O’Neal scored in a career that could be capped with him being inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next year.

Nowitzki is sure to get there someday, too, whenever he ends a career that saw him redefine the power forward position, and perhaps create the notion of a stretch-4 that teams now crave.

He moved ahead of O’Neal with one of his high-arching jumpers from the corner with 9:51 left in the second quarter, when just about everything the Mavs threw up went in. Dallas started 20 for 25, and Barea made his first eight shots and didn’t miss until shooting an airball with the shot clock running out late in the period.

The Nets then made 12 of their first 14 shots of the third to surge into the lead and had a 92-81 advantage in the fourth that it couldn’t hold in its fifth consecutive home loss.

In other NBA games Wednesday, Kelly Olynyk scored 20 points, Jae Crowder added 19 points and 12 rebounds and the Boston Celtics held off a fourth-quarter rally for a 102-89 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in Charlotte. … LeBron James scored 24 points, including three key baskets down the stretch, and the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the short-handed New York Knicks 91-84 in Cleveland. The Cavaliers have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland, plagued by injuries all season, played with a full roster for the first time. … DeMarcus Cousins scored 25 points and had a season-high 16 rebounds, Darren Collison added a season-high 24 points and the Sacramento Kings held off the Indiana Pacers 108-106 in Indianapolis. … Evan Fournier hit a short bank shot with 14.2 seconds left and Tobias Harris made two free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining to help the Orlando Magic hold off the Houston Rockets 104-101 in Orlando. … John Wall had 14 points and 14 assists to help the Washington Wizards beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-91 in Washington. … Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and six rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs bullied the young Minnesota Timberwolves in the paint during a 10883 victory at Minneapolis. ... Jeff Teague scored 23 points, Paul Millsap added 18 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons 107-100 at Atlanta for their fifth consecutive victory. … Giannis Antetokounmpo made his first 11 shots to finish with 22 points, Khris Middleton added 21 on 8-of-9 shooting and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the hapless Philadelphia 76ers 113-100 in Milwaukee. … Anthony Davis scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 115-89 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in New Orleans. Despite being last in the league in points allowed per game (107.8) and next-to-last in opponent’s field goal percentage (46.5), New Orleans held the Blazers to 30 percent shooting over the final three quarters. Including Wednesday night’s loss, the Trail Blazers have lost five consecutive on the road and are 5-14 away from home this season.… Randy Foye scored a season-high 31 points, hitting seven three-pointers in 16 attempts, and the Denver Nuggets bounced back from an embarrassing loss to beat the slumping Phoenix Suns 104-96 in Phoenix.