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D.J. Augustin pushes Denver Nuggets past Dallas Mavericks in OT

By Michael Kelly, The Sports Xchange

DENVER -- D.J. Augustin is becoming a late-game hero in his short time with the Denver Nuggets.

Augustin hit two free throws with nine-tenths of a second left in overtime, and the Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-114 Sunday.

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Augustin scored eight of his 12 points in the extra period to help Denver get payback for an overtime loss in Dallas on Feb. 26.

"Overtime, it was the D.J. show," Nuggets rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay said. "Just let him go, and we're going to ride with him."

Kenneth Faried had 25 points and a season-high 20 rebounds, and Will Barton scored 20 for the Nuggets, who rallied from four down in the last 10 seconds of regulation to force overtime.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Deron Williams had 17 for the Mavericks, who lost their second straight game thanks to Augustin.

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"We could have won this game a million ways," Nowitzki said. "It's a tough one."

Augustin has played nine games for Denver since he was acquired Feb. 18 from the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is giving the Nuggets a scoring punch off the bench and is taking some of the ball-handling burden from Mudiay.

He also is becoming the team's late-game option with leading scorer Danilo Gallinari sidelined due to an ankle injury. Augustin scored 22 fourth-quarter points in a win over the Lakers on Wednesday and the last eight points Sunday.

"D.J.'s been here three weeks, and he makes big plays in overtime," Denver coach Michael Malone said.

Augustin twice hit 3-pointers in the overtime to tie the game, the last after Dallas' Wesley Matthews sank three free throws to make it 114-111.

Williams missed with 16.8 seconds left, and after a timeout, Augustin drove to the bucket and was fouled by Raymond Felton.

"The play was for me to come off and curl to the corner, but Raymond Felton overplayed me so I just popped back, (Mudiay) hit me with a pass, and I tried to drive and create something," Augustin said.

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Felton said Augustin made a heads-up play in crunch time.

"I thought he had enough time to really pump-fake and try and get up a shot," Felton said. "Once he pump-faked, got me in the air, nothing I could really do at that point."

Augustin hit both free throws, and Mudiay blocked Matthews' desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Mudiay had 16 points and eight assists, and Gary Harris also scored 16 points for the Nuggets. Denver (25-38) lost to the Brooklyn Nets on a tip-in with four-tenths of a second left in overtime Friday but rallied Sunday.

David Lee had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and J.J. Barea scored 15 for the Mavericks (33-30). Chandler Parsons contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Dallas leads Portland by a half-game for the sixth seed in the Western Conference. The Mavericks can avoid San Antonio and Golden State, which are a combined 108-15, in the first round if they can remain sixth or better.

Williams' layup with 21 seconds left gave Dallas a 106-102 lead and seemed to ice the game. However, Barton hit two free throws with 7.9 seconds left, Mudiay stole the inbounds pass, and Faried tied it with a dunk with 3.3 left.

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"It's very clear that these games all come down to one play here or there," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "In this game, with a lead at the end of regulation, we just needed to execute the inbounds play to get a good free-throw shooter to the line, and we were just unable. We're just disappointed."

NOTES: The Nuggets observed a moment of silence for former first lady Nancy Reagan, who died Sunday. ... Dallas coach Rick Carlisle talked about Broncos QB Peyton Manning, who will formally announce his retirement Monday. "I got to know him in Indiana some," Carlisle said. "He was a terrific guy to be friends with. I've been extremely impressed with all of his accomplishments and the way he handles himself." ... Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before the game his young players need more playing time. "We have 20 games to go and we owe it to some of our young guys to put them out there," Malone said. "If that means having to sit a couple of our vets, maybe that's the best thing for us." ... Mavericks assistant Melvin Hunt was Denver's interim head coach for the last 23 games of 2014-15.

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