Per ESPN, Dallas overcame the calls to win 119-117 to send the series back to Denver at 3-1 -- the winner moving on to face the winner of the Rockets-Lakers series which is tied at two games a piece.
Dirk Nowitzki scored an amazing 44 points (19 in the fourth-quarter) and grabbed 13 rebounds for a desperate Mavs' squad.
The chatter from Big D? All about Dirk and the avoidance of a sweep:
afh4 I'm not sure that I've ever appreciated Dirk Nowitzki fully.
eyemDOPE Win or lose, Dirk Nowitzki deserves tons of credit for his play in this series, he's played as well as ever with all the off the court stuff
j0shsanch3z I demand a DNA test . . . that was not Dirk Nowitzki who made a big shot . . . impossible!
NBAMVP Can the mavs make history? Let's take it 1 game at a time!
justbj so the nuggets will demolish our beloved mavs in denver game 5.
jjlong_ Tell them denver janiors to pit the brooms away there's no sweappin needed !!! Let's go mavs !!
As for Denver, point guard Chauncey Billups scored 24 points and was his usual clutch self, while Carmelo Anthony poured in a team-high 41 points for a Denver team that lost but still looks like they will advance.
Once again, refereeing was a big topic with seven technicals being called in the game:
cmthorpe06 it took less than 30 sec for the refs to call another IDIOTIC technical
iamWesson I have never seen or heard the word technical used so much in the nba playoffs before...how come regular season games can't be like this?
Brich_42 I went to the bathroom during the 4th of the Dallas game and that damn ref was in there and gave me a technical foul
SheiaSmoov The reffs are giving out technical fouls like candy on Halloween
wfaasports Brandon Bass technical is 7th of the game , four for Dallas 3 for Denver. So much for self control
jacobsloan Apparently, the Mavs set a team goal for every player to have a technical foul tonight.
So was the Nuggets' guard J.R. Smith-- challenging teammate Chauncey Billups' title of "Mr. Big Shot".
imjustshane I have a serious mancrush on JR Smith, that man is a jackers jacker. He makes me want to go out and make bad 3 pointers all over the place.
matt_craig JR Smith hits a fadeaway off the glass from 22 feet, and Brandon Bass misses a layup on the other end. About sums up this series.
1beginnersluck @SirAlexOfBoston jr smith is insane with those shots!
@bcuban captured this twitpic from floor level:
END OF THIRD QUARTER:
Dallas made a comeback from 10 points down to start the second-half, but the Nuggets' Carmelo Anthony pushed the lead back to five for Denver-- Nuggets 90, Mavericks 85.
THE_REAL_PROF rooting for denver cause i feel they have a better chance of beating LA, but i like seeing dallas make a game of it. i hopes its denver in 6
TheGoodPoint It's destiny I tells ya, there's nothing Denver could do for this win. Dallas is just too solid of a franchise to get swept.
i_am_joey denver missed all their shots in the last 3 minutes giving dallas a chance to tie the ballgame...what a quarter
END OF SECOND QUARTER:
It's halftime of Game 4 between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks and so far no one's momma has been injured and no refs have been assaulted.
The Kenyon Martin-Mark Cuban feud? Probably some carry-over fiestyness.
Denver looking to sweep, holding a 63-53 lead at the midway point.
Thoughts from Twitteryville at half:
rch01111 I am watchng the dallas mavericks and the Denver Nuggets paly. Refs have taken control of the game. Guess its there night to shine.
n8dunn is watching the Pistons point guard lead the Denver Nuggets in a sweep of the Dallas Mavericks. Not a good trade, Joe.
MrSwaggahimself Why did I even turn the playoffs on? We all knew James had his broom ready and Dallas/Denver is BORING outside Martin vs. Cuban...
The refs messed up Game 3, admittedly, but Mark Cuban shared his thoughts on Twitter after a another tweeter pointed out an obvious ownership flaw:
AndrewBucholtz RT @mcuban: "There is absolutely nothing to say after that." Well, that should prevent further fines at least. #FreeMarkCuban.
mcuban I just got called for a flagrant 1 for sneezing. Its 2 kleenex and the ball #fb
