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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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SHOT CHART
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GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Calvin Booth spent the whole fourth quarter worrying he would be pulled off the floor. He was still there at the end to make the biggest play in 13 years for the Dallas Mavericks.
|  | | The Mavs' only field goal from a reserve was Calvin Booth's game-winning layup with 9.8 seconds left. |
Michael Finley scored 33 points and Booth hit the go-ahead layup
with 9.8 seconds left as the young Mavericks beat the Utah Jazz
84-83 Thursday night in the decisive fifth game of their first-round playoff series.
Booth, acquired in a trade with Washington in February, got free
behind Donyell Marshall and Karl Malone to give the Mavericks an 84-83 lead, capping a comeback from a 17-point deficit.
"I never thought I would be a hero," said Booth, a backup center who played all 12 minutes in the fourth. "I just wanted to give us a little boost."
What a boost it was.
The Mavericks will open the best-of-seven second round Saturday at San Antonio. Dallas, in the playoffs after an 11-year absence, became the sixth team in NBA history to advance after trailing 0-2.
The Mavericks rallied from double-digit deficits in all five games. Utah survived the first two games at home, but the Mavericks seized the series momentum by winning twice in Dallas.
This time, Dallas trailed 46-31 1:01 before halftime and 71-57
after the third quarter. But the Mavericks came back again,
trimming the deficit to 77-76 with a 15-2 run over a span of 4:13
in the fourth.
"We never stopped fighting," Finley said. "As far behind as we got, we knew from the previous games we could come back."
Steve Nash, held scoreless through three periods, hit two 3-pointers in the burst, the second pulling the Mavericks within one point with 6:17 remaining. He tied it at 79 with a 3-pointer with 4:03 to play.
"At halftime, we just said, 'Stay positive,' and we did all the
way," Nash said.
It was back and forth in the dramatic final minutes until Booth's shot.
The Mavericks ran an isolation play for Finley, who seemed ready
to work his 6-foot-7 advantage over the smaller and slower John
Stockton. But Finley saw Booth open underneath and flipped it inside.
"Everyone was chasing Mike, so of course I got an opening,"
Booth said.
The Jazz called a timeout and set up a final play.
Bryon Russell inbounded to Stockton, who drove and kicked it over to Russell on the right wing. He missed a 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds to go, but Stockton corralled the rebound and passed to Malone.
Unfortunately for Utah, the Mailman didn't deliver this time. He missed an open jumper from the top of the key.
"We had opportunities," Malone said. "I'm not going to take anything from their win. They did the things needed to win."
When the horn went off, the Mavericks flooded the floor in
celebration. Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 18 for Dallas, sprinted laps
around the court while coach Don Nelson pumped his fist in elation.
"We kept our composure," Nash said. "A lot of times we could have folded, but we hung in there, and now we're going on."
It was the first time Dallas, in the playoffs for the first time since 1990, won a postseason series since the 1988 Western Conference semifinals. And it was Utah's first loss in the opening round since 1995 against Houston.
"It's a pretty bitter pill to swallow when you have people on the floor who should be able to make plays," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "You've got to give them credit. They did it with their energy level."
"We showed some character and hung in there," Nowitzki said.
"We did it the whole year and we knew we would come back. If we
struggled, we just played through it and worked through it."
Malone led the Jazz with 24 points, while Russell had 15 and the Jazz got a surprising 12 from Olden Polynice. Marshall scored 11.
The Jazz controlled the tempo for the first three quarters and
the first four minutes of the final period. It seemed the veteran
Utah squad had nothing to worry about, other than a strained back
to Malone.
The Mailman needed a break 40 seconds after tipoff, but soon
returned, and it didn't slow him. After a brief trip to the locker
room, he scored 12 points in the period and the Jazz seized control
with a 16-4 run to close the first half.
"I suited up," said Malone, who refused to use the injury as an excuse. "On the first play, I reinjured it. I had the chance to not play, but that's not me."
It was the same injury he sustained in Game 4.
After colliding with Howard early in the second half Tuesday,
Malone grimaced and held his back. Later that night he denied being
hurt, and aside from standing stiffly during breaks in play, the
injury didn't bother him in Game 5.
Game notes
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban bought 400 tickets, offering
them free to Dallas fans willing to make the trip or those living
in the Salt Lake area. They sat scattered around the arena. ...
Utah's Greg Ostertag got a technical foul for hanging on the rim
after a second-quarter dunk that was disallowed because of an
offensive foul. ... The Spurs won the series season with the
Mavericks 3-1. ... The last time Dallas won a playoff series was
against Denver in the 1988 Western Conference semifinals. ... The
last team to rally from an 0-2 first-round series deficit was Seattle in 1994.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
Mavericks-Jazz Series Page
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Coach Don Nelson wasn't going to let Utah's big guns beat the Mavs down the stretch.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Michael Finely is happy to be winning in the playoffs for a change.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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