NEW YORK -- Presented with the names of those ahead of him on the NBA's career scoring list, Dirk Nowitzki said "it sounds pretty good."
"That sounds pretty good," Nowitzki said. "That sounds really good. It's a dream come true. When I was 20 years old, I never expected this."
So did hitting the winning shot.
On the night he passed Shaquille O'Neal for sixth place on the NBA's career scoring list, Nowitzki capped a 22-point showing by converting the go-ahead layup with 19.2 seconds remaining in overtime as the Dallas Mavericks outlasted the Brooklyn Nets for a wild 119-118 victory on Wednesday.
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The decisive basket came after a hook shot by center Brook Lopez gave the Nets a 118-117 lead with 41.1 seconds remaining. On the next possession, Nowitzki posted up forward Joe Johnson on the left side, drove by him and scored before Thaddeus Young could help on defense.
Nowitzki's shot stood as the game-winner when Brooklyn guard Jarrett Jack missed an 18-foot fadeaway from the left wing with .9 of a second remaining.
"He had a good look, it just didn't go in," Nets coach Lionel Hollins said.
Nowitzki finished his 1,293rd career regular-season game with 28,609 points and only trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain on the NBA scoring list. He needed 10 to pass O'Neal (28,596 points) and moved into sixth with a 17-footer with 9:51 left in the second quarter.
"It makes perfect sense," Dallas forward Chandler Parsons said. "He's one of the best to ever play, one of the best careers ever. I'm really happy for him."
When Nowitzki passed O'Neal, the Mavericks led by 12 points. During the next timeout, his teammates rose in unison and gave him a standing ovation.
"That was a moment I'll never forget the rest of my life," said Nowitzki, who also moved past Hall of Famer Moses Malone into seventh place last January in Brooklyn.
"You run out of accolades," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's just such a tremendous feat and such a tremendous individual."
Shortly after the milestone, the Mavericks upped their lead to 16 and took an 11-point lead into halftime when Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining. Then it all collapsed in the third quarter and Dallas faced a six-point deficit before getting the big plays late in the fourth and in overtime.
"Tonight to me was more important to get this win," Nowitzki said. "We found a way."
Nowitzki's shot helped the Mavericks rebounded from Tuesday's ugly loss in Toronto despite blowing a 16-point lead but he also had help.
Guard J.J. Barea had the most productive night of his career, hitting his first eight shots from the field while scoring 32 points and handing out 11 assists.
"It was amazing," Barea said of Nowitzki's night. "I've been through all the battles with him and I see him break all type of records, but this one's amazing. I think I made the pass too, so it was pretty good."
Guard Wesley Matthews added 17 points, hitting two 3-pointers in overtime, and reserve forward Charlie Villanueva had 14.
Barea's biggest plays of the night were a three-point play with 12.4 seconds remaining in regulation for a 108-105 Dallas lead. That shot would have been the game-winner, but Young hit a 3-pointer with 6.3 seconds left and Barea missed an 8-footer with .5 of a second left in regulation.
Barea also preceded Nowitzki's shot with a 3-pointer at the two-minute mark for a 117-116 lead, setting up the dramatic finish.
While the Mavericks found a way to get the win, the Nets lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Young scored most of his 29 points in the paint and guard Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 on five 3-pointers. Lopez was held to 13 points and was 6 of 15 from the field. Johnson also had 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
"That was a heck of a basketball game, and everyone got their money's worth on that one," Hollins said. "I was proud of our team, the way we battled after being down 11 at halftime. It was easy to fold up our tent and not compete, but we came out in the second half and came after them. We got the lead and couldn't extend it."
NOTES: Dallas G Deron Williams (strained right hamstring) missed his third game of the season. Williams said he does not know the severity the injury and will have an MRI on Thursday. ... Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins had no interest in talking about Williams, who said in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports that his time with the Nets made him think about quitting. "I have no comment about Deron Williams and what he says," Hollins said. "I don't want to talk about Deron Williams period. We had an opportunity to talk about Deron during the fall camp before we started and there's no need to keep talking about Deron from my perspective. So I'm just not going to." ... Brooklyn G Bojan Bogdanovic's five 3-pointers were the most by a Net this season but he did not play in overtime and Hollins was reluctant to discuss it, saying: "Well, I could just say coach's decision which it was, and I'll just leave it like that."
