Mavs nip Rockets 97-93 to even series
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-01 09:10

With Dirk Nowitzki in another slump and Houston's Tracy McGrady scoring virtually at will, unheralded Dallas point guard Jason Terry rescued the Mavericks from the bleakest of deficits. Terry scored a season-high 32 points, including a 3-pointer with 26.9 seconds left, and Michael Finley added 18 to rally the Mavericks from a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit for a 97-93 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

Dallas Mavericks' Jason Terry, left, goes up for a shot as Houston Rockets' Yao Ming of China, defends during the first quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference first round playoffs Saturday, April 30, 2005, in Houston. [AP]

The victory evened the best-of-seven, first-round series at two games apiece. Game 5 is Monday night in Dallas.

The Mavericks might want to petition the NBA to hold the game elsewhere, because home-court advantage has been a disadvantage in this series. The road team has won all the games in this matchup.

While 14 teams in NBA history have come back from 0-2 deficits — most recently last season when the Lakers beat San Antonio — only two teams have done it in a seven-game series after losing the first two games at home. The 1994 Rockets did it against Phoenix, and the 1969 Lakers against the San Francisco Warriors.

Dallas rallied from a 2-0 series deficit was against Utah in the first round in 2001, but both losses came on the road.

These Mavericks came to Houston knowing they could win on the road, having won a franchise-best 29 games away from home.

The Mavericks looked dazed by the intensity of the postseason in the first two games of the series. Other than Nowitzki and Finley, they lacked playoff experience, and were led by rookie coach Avery Johnson, who took over for Don Nelson in the final month of the season.

The Rockets, meanwhile, had the league's oldest team and a star in McGrady, who hoping to making it past the first round for the first time in his eight-year career.

It showed.

McGrady averaged 31 points in the first two games and Houston stole the first two games in Dallas.

Then, the Mavericks traveled to Houston, where the Rockets twice lost leads in the fourth quarter to lose all the momentum they earned away from home.

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