Felton, Mavs erase 14-point 4th-quarter deficit before beating Nuggets in OT

The Dallas Mavericks snatched victory from the jaws (perhaps even the esophagus) of defeat Friday night, erasing not only a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter but a nine-point gap in the final 1:45 of regulation, before beating the Denver Nuggets in overtime.

Up 108-99 just past the two-minute mark, the Nuggets looked like they'd coast to the finish line. No such luck. With seemingly no plan but to milk the clock on their final possessions, they wound up generating desperate, contested 3-point heaves. Their last four possessions featured three missed jumpers and a turnover. Meanwhile, the Mavs got clutch threes from Deron Williams and Wes Matthews, then cut the lead to two when Matthews drove to the hoop, got fouled, and split the pair of free throws.

After a missed Darrell Arthur triple, Dallas had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. This is how the Nuggets' defense responded.

Raymond Felton's easy-as-pie layup after that defensive breakdown knotted things up, and, after a missed Will Barton 18-footer at the buzzer, the game went to overtime.

The Nuggets - who, to be fair, were playing without Danilo Gallinari after he tweaked his ankle in the third quarter - had nothing left in the tank in the extra frame.

Felton, meanwhile, picked up where he left off, adding eight more points to help his team secure the 122-116 win. The journeyman point guard was a game-high plus-30 in his 40 minutes.