It wasn’t a thing of beauty but the Dallas Mavericks will take a win any way they can get it.
Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 points, Deron Williams added 10 of his 18 in the final quarter Friday, rallying the Mavericks to an 83-77 road victory over the Chicago Bulls.
“For three quarters it was ugly, we couldn’t find the basket but we just didn’t give up,” Williams said. “We clamped down on defence in the fourth quarter and got our confidence going. Then we started hitting some shots. Once we got that going we started feeling good about ourselves.”
The Bulls shot a frosty 28 per cent from the field and trailed by 10 at halftime before regrouping after intermission.   
“The first half was not what we’re about and the second half is exactly what we want to be about,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle explained. “Our energy and defence was much better and our guys found a way.”
Dallas was ahead 73-72 when Nowitzki blocked a Derrick Rose short jumper with 3:20 left. It led to Williams draining his second triple of the period.
After the Bulls failed to convert, Nowitzki splashed down his straight-away 3-pointer for a 79-72 lead with just over two minutes left.
The Bulls made a final charge, as Spaniard Pau Gasol ran off five points to make it 81-77. Jimmy Butler had a shot to pull the hosts closer, but he missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final 11 seconds around two Williams free throws and the Mavericks snapped a modest two-game slide.
“I was playing like crap the first half but I kept shooting figuring they’ll go in at some point,” Williams said. “Once you see the ball go in it helps a lot.”
Rose topped the Bulls with 18 points and Gasol added 17. But a fatigued Butler finished with just four on 2-for-11 field goal shooting, just 24 hours after pouring in a career-best 53 in an overtime win at Philadelphia.
Bulls centre Joakim Noah left the game in the first half after suffering a dislocated left shoulder, the same wing that forced him to miss nine games recently. He will have an MRI on Saturday.
“It didn’t look good, it looked like it popped out,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “We’ll get a better idea of a time frame tomorrow.”

Elsewhere:

- Cleveland Cavaliers 91, Houston Rockets  77: Kyrie Irving scored 23 points, LeBron James had 19 and the Cavaliers (28-10) closed out a 5-1 road trip after routing the Rockets for their ninth win in 10 games overall.
 James Harden netted just 11 points on 2-of-11 shooting - 17 below his season average - as the Rockets (21-20) had their season-best five-game winning streak stopped.
- Oklahoma City Thunder 113, Minnesota Timberwolves 94: Kevin Durant scored 21 points while Russell Westbrook collected his fourth triple-double of the season, with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Thunder (29-12) sent the sliding Timberwolves to their ninth straight loss.
 Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota (12-29) with a game-high 25 points.
- Washington Wizards 118, Indiana Pacers 104: John Wall scored 28 points, Bradley Beal added 22, and the visiting Wizards (19-19) used a game-breaking 35-19 second-quarter to beat the Pacers (21-18) for their fourth consecutive victory.
- Boston Celtics 117, Phoenix Suns 103: Kelly Olynyk scored 21 points while Marcus Smart had his first career triple-double with 10 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, as the Celtics (21-19) sent the slumping Suns (13-28) to their ninth straight road loss and 12 of 13 overall.  
- Portland Trail Blazers 116, Brooklyn Nets 104: Damian Lillard scored 14 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter along with 10 assists, and the Trail Blazers (18-24) went on a late 19-2 blitz to hand the Nets their 11th loss in 12 home games.
 Brook Lopez led Brooklyn (11-29) with 25 points.
- New Orleans 109, Charlotte Hornets 107: Ryan Anderson hit six triple en route to a season high 32 points, Anthony Davis added 22, including the game-winning dunk with two seconds left, as the Pelicans (13-26) edged the visiting Hornets.
Kemba Walker and Frenchman Nicolas Batum paced Charlotte (18-21) with 25 points apiece.
- Milwaukee Bucks 108, Atlanta Hawks 101 (OT): Giannis Antetokounmpo had six of his 28 points in overtime and grabbed 16 rebounds while Khris Middleton netted 26, as the Bucks (17-25) clipped visiting Hawks (23-17) who received 23 points from Paul Millsap.
- Miami Heat 99, Denver Nuggets 95: Chris Bosh scored 24 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 55 seconds left, Hassan Whiteside added 19 with 17 rebounds and 11 blocked shots for his third career triple-double, and the visiting Heat (23-17) overcame the absence of star guard Dwyane Wade (sore shoulder) and a 16-point deficit to beat the Nuggets.
 Darrell Arthur had 18 points for Denver (15-25), which was coming off Wednesday’s stunning victory over league-best Golden State.