MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ For 24 minutes Wednesday, the Mavericks were the turkey, head resting on the chopping block, unable to put up any resistance.
Then, they took the axe away from the Memphis Grizzlies and started hacking back. And Harrison Barnes had the last swing.
A game that was lost, won, then lost, ultimately was won when Barnes banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 95-94 victory.
The Mavericks had trailed by 17 at halftime, pulled ahead by five with under a minute to go, then saw JaMychal Green race through the lane to slam home a missed shot by Tyreke Evans with 0.5 seconds left to put the Grizzlies up 94-92. Tyreke Evans had driven into traffic and missed from the baseline, but Green went in uncontested to throw down the putback.
The play, originally called basket interference on the Grizzlies, had to be reviewed and the call was overturned.
After a timeout, the Mavericks had 0.5 seconds left.
It was enough to get Barnes a look at a 3-pointer that he heaved just before the buzzer.
The Grizzlies, apparently, are more snakebit than the Mavericks these days, having lost six in a row.
The Mavericks picked up their fourth win of the season, against 15 losses, behind J.J. Barea, who lit up the Grizzlies in the second half as the Mavericks roared back.
Barea had been aggravated in the first half with the officiating. He yelled out at one point: "I'm going to take one tonight."
It appeared he meant taking over the game, not taking a technical foul.
Barea had 11 assists and 10 points and orchestrated the Mavericks' offense during most of their second-half comeback. The 11 assists were the most for any Maverick this season.
The Mavericks outscored the Grizzlies 35-16 in the third quarter and protected a slim lead throughout the fourth quarter. They were up 88-85 after Salah Mejri hit one of two free throws with 1:53 to go.
Chandler Parsons and Harrison Barnes, who had 19 points, traded buckets, then the Mavericks got a stop and Dennis Smith Jr. got loose for a breakaway dunk and a 92-87 lead with 1:10 to go.
The Mavericks then got burned by Marc Gasol, who had done nothing offensively to that point. But his 3-pointer was all net and tied the score at 92 with 28.5 seconds left.
The Mavericks were hideous in the first quarter, scoring a season-low 12 points in the period in falling behind by 15.
They woke up enough in the second quarter to get within four, but again fell back quickly and were down 56-39 at halftime.
