SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Antawn Jamison, Steve Nash and the Dallas Mavericks showed they can win ugly, too.
Jamison and Nash collaborated on some gritty plays down the stretch as the Mavericks fought off the shorthanded San Antonio Spurs, 81-78.
In a grinder of a game where points were at a premium, Jamison came off the bench to score nine of his 20 in the fourth quarter. On four occasions, he completed plays started by penetration by Nash.
An All-Star point guard, Nash gave Dallas the lead for good at 79-78 when he sank a 22-footer with 1:13 to go. He finished with 15 points and six assists.
The teams traded misses, but Michael Finley grabbed an offensive rebound to give the Mavericks a crucial extra possession. Nash beat Jason Hart off the dribble and tried a scoop shot that did not hit the rim. But Jamison stepped in and put it home for an 81-78 lead with 4.9 seconds remaining.
The Spurs had a chance to tie. Hedo Turkoglu threw his inbounds pass across the court to a wide-open Robert Horry, who has made a career of sinking clutch shots. But he may have injured his hand on the previous play and fired an airball.
Playing without the injured Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Ron Mercer and Anthony Carter, the Spurs scored just 11 points in the final period. They shot 32.5 percent (27-of-83) overall.
Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas, which added 20-point scorers Jamison and Antoine Walker in the offseason but are averaging just 96.5 points per game, nearly seven off last season's league-leading pace.
Malik Rose had a season-high 20 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for San Antonio, which has lost two in a row. It did not lose three straight games during its 2002-03 championship season.
Manu Ginobili had 17 points and seven assists and was the only Spur to make a basket in the first 9 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. During that time, the Mavericks turned a 68-65 deficit into a 77-73 lead.
Jamison scored seven points during that stretch, getting three easy baskets and a free throw. Two hoops and the foul shot came off penetration passes by Nash.
A jumper by Rose and a 3-pointer by Bruce Bowen gave San Antonio a 78-77 lead with 1:29 remaining before Nash responded with his jumper.
Dallas led by 14 points late in the first half and still had a 57-46 advantage on a layup by Nash early in the third period before going scoreless for the next four-plus minutes. Ginobili scored five points in a 15-0 surge that gave San Antonio a 61-57 lead.
Tony Delk scored 12 points for Dallas, which shot 40 percent (34-of-85). He helped pick up the slack for Finley (seven points) and Walker (nine).
Rasho Nesterovic had 10 points and seven boards for San Antonio, which had won 12 of the previous 17 meetings between the clubs, including last season's Western Conference finals win in six games.
