Behind 40 points from Dirk Nowitzki, the visiting Dallas Mavericks clawed back, forced overtime and used a 17-2 run to escape with an improbable 112-105 victory, taking a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Oklahoma City coach looked as if he had been awakened from a nightmare and Nowitzki was the monster haunting him.

"He made a contested three, you can't double team that," Brooks recalled of Nowitzki's fourth quarter heroics. "He made a spin off the wrong foot contested [shot], he made that. He made one that we double-teamed on the baseline, that was an impossible shot. He made that. He took over. He took over the basketball game like he is capable of doing."

The 7-foot veteran has witnessed his share of late game heroics over his more than 12 years in the NBA. But even he recognized that this comeback was as special as any that he has been a part of while playing in Dallas.

"It was a great comeback for us," Nowitzki said. "Definitely one of the best that I can remember, being a Maverick, definitely in a very important game."