For a time, it appeared all of Sunday's drama would be confined to pregame warmups.
There was the uncertainty over the left ankle Dallas guard Luka Doncic rolled 40 hours earlier.
The apology between Game 3's verbal combatants, Doncic and Los Angeles Clippers center Montrezl Harrell.
The decision, made minutes before tipoff, to bench Mavericks center Kristaps Porzingis for Game 4 because of soreness in his right knee.
Nineteen minutes in and already trailing by 21, Dallas still was recovering from the pregame gut punch of Porzingis' late scratch. On social media, the Mavericks had been buried.
In truth, the suspense had yet to start _ and because of it, Dallas' chance to upend the Clippers' championship ambitions remains alive.
Fueled by Doncic's second triple-double of his first postseason, Dallas authored a stunning comeback that wasn't over until the second-year star came off a screen, dribbled in front of Reggie Jackson and sank a 28-foot shot for a 135-133 overtime victory to even the series at two games apiece.
Doncic was mobbed by teammates after completing a performance that included 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists, all on a bum ankle.
"It's a lot of emotions," Doncic said during a TV interview moments after the game. "We have an amazing group of guys. I know the Clippers is one of the best teams in the league. We showed our heart, that we can fight, and win when it's very emotional."
The Clippers walked up a ramp to their concourse-level locker room with heads bowed. Nine seconds earlier, they had been celebrating a game-changing three-point shot when Kawhi Leonard drove into the lane, looked off a defender and fired a no-look pass to the corner, where Marcus Morris Sr. nailed the go-ahead three.
Leonard finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Lou Williams needed only 20 shots to tie his playoff career high of 36 points off the bench. Williams' explosion helped the Clippers bench score 60 points _ 29 more than Dallas.
But their big games could not forestall the collapse of their team's control over the series with Game 5 on Tuesday.
Los Angeles made only 25% of its shots during a disastrous third quarter in which it was outscored, 35-19, and forward Paul George continued his miserable series by making three of 14 shots to score nine points.
Doncic's performance made the pregame concern about his ankle laughable, in hindsight. But all eyes turned to Doncic before tipoff because Dallas had not said whether he would play. He was healthy enough to jog to midcourt, where Harrell waited.
Less than 48 hours earlier, Doncic had told Harrell to "stop flopping, man," a remark Harrell did not forget after scoring later when he jogged backward, his eyes locked on Doncic, while uttering an easily lip-read four-word response that included "white boy."
Under pressure from the NBA and coach Doc Rivers, Harrell laid a hand on Doncic's shoulder and apologized.
After the game, Doncic credited the Mavericks' training and athletic staff for his availability to play.
"I think it's emotions," Doncic said of playing with an injured left ankle. "Like I said before, the adrenaline. This morning I wasn't feeling good. But as soon as I step on the court, I knew I could go. My team has helped me a lot, the staff, the people you don't hear their names. They did an amazing job with me, were with me the whole day. That's their result again."
