MIAMI _ Goran Dragic was back in the starting lineup, with a triple-double. Dion Waiters was raining in jumpers when needed most.
But during a season of nothing coming easy for the Miami Heat, especially at AmericanAirlines Arena, Thursday night was no exception.
Forced to scramble until the final seconds, the Heat ultimately escaped with a 105-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks to improve to 37-38 and move back into the No. 8 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference by a half game.
Dragic closed with 23 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds, supported by 17 points from Waiters, with Bam Adebayo adding 11 points and 16 rebounds.
It was Dragic's first triple-double with the Heat and first since a member of the Houston Rockets in 2010-11.
"I would never bet against him as a competitor," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We needed some inspirational performances tonight."
Luka Doncic, Dragic's teammate on Slovenia's nation squad, closed with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for Dallas.
Coming off Tuesday night's loss to the Orlando Magic, Spoelstra noted pregame that the Heat still were playing in games with meaning.
"I think that's probably the thing that players and competitors fear the most, games of insignificance," he said. "That would be a bigger nightmare."
Against an opponent that entered 7-30 on the road and 2-11their previous 13 games, the Heat instead found themselves living an ultimate nightmare, trailing 29-26 at the end of the opening period and 59-49 at halftime.
With Waiters scoring 11 points in the first 2:31 of the second half, the Heat pushed to a 62-62 tie early in the third period.
But Dallas eventually had a pushback of their own, taking an 82-75 lead into the fourth quarter.
Eventually, behind the play of Dragic, Dwyane Wade and Adebayo, the Heat were able to put it away.
"This group has some character and we had to really reveal a lot of that in the second half," Spoelstra said.
