DALLAS _ For three quarters, Kristaps Porzingis got his groove back.
Then he needed help from Jarrett Jack.
The Knicks blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter and looked on the verge of another collapse. But Jack, the point guard who just had his contract guaranteed Sunday, hit the big shot with 31.2 seconds left to put New York up for good in a 100-96 victory.
It snapped a three-game losing streak for the Knicks (19-21), representing just their second win over the last nine games.
The lead-up to the game was all about the battle between New York's Frank Ntilikina and Dallas' Dennis Smith Jr., drafted one after the other in June. The Knicks passed on Smith Jr. to pick Ntilikina eighth overall, and the move has been a topic of debate among fans and media.
LeBron James even chimed in when he said the Knicks screwed up by not drafting Smith Jr., who went ninth to the Mavericks. And although the two point guards have been cordial and friendly to each other throughout the process, a natural rivalry developed because of these circumstances.
They finally stepped on the same court in the second quarter _ Ntilikina, the rangy defensive specialist, and Smith Jr., the explosive high flyer _ and it felt anticlimactic. Smith Jr. was inefficient offensively while scoring 11 points on 14 shots. Ntilikina finished with seven points. Neither was one the floor when the game was decided late in the fourth quarter.
That's when Jack drove through the lane and hit a runner, representing New York's first field goal in a while. Until that point, Porzingis had missed all five of his field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. He was hounded by Dallas' Wesley Matthews, who, at one point in the fourth quarter, shouted at Porzingis that he's "soft" and "sweet."
Still, Porzingis finished with a game-high 29 points on 9-of-25 shooting with eight boards. The highlight of his night was the final shot of the first quarter, when he crossed up his idol Dirk Nowitzki and nailed a jumper in his idol's face. Porzingis has been compared to Nowitzki _ mostly because they're both tall Europeans with long shooting range _ but the Latvian can only hope his career will rival the future superstar's.
Nowitzki, clearly at the end of his career rope at 39 years old, responded a dud _ just five points on 1 of 7 shooting. It reached the point in the third quarter that the Mavericks switched Nowitki off Porzingis in the third quarter because he couldn't handle the assignment.
Before the game, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle praised Ntilikina while also suggesting what scouts have said _ the Frenchman is also an offguard.
"Frank, he's a little different kind of player," Carlisle said. "Frank has more I think kind of intrinsic competitiveness and toughness for a kid that age. His outside shooting ability is good. I think his three point number is a deceptive number. I think he shoots the ball better than his number. I think the second half of the season, if you started charting it now you're going to see an upward trend. He's going to get better and better. He's going to get better at the point position. I view him as a guy that's going to be able to play both guard positions well going forward."
The Knicks led by four at halftime, and then waited in the locker room for more than 30 minutes because of a jersey retirement ceremony for former Mavs (and Knicks) guard Derek Harper.
