The Mavs were trailing the San Francisco Queens by two, deep in the fourth quarter; they had struggled through the entire game and, though they fought hard, they were still lagging behind--a position the team was becoming quite familiar with. They needed a miracle.

Luckily, little known to the Mavs and the rest of the world, their miracle was coming. And it was coming in the form of Steve Nash. Steve, known for his agility and ball-handling skills, efficiently moved the ball up the court; his blue eyes searched desperately for an open man to give the ball to. Seeing his seven-foot counterpart, Dirk Nowitzki struggling to get away from the Queen that was all over him, Steve yelled out, �Dirk, come on! Get into position!�

Dirk immediately broke away from the Queen player guarding him and ran up behind Steve to retrieve the ball. Steve watched with satisfaction as Dirk effortlessly palmed the ball.

�Steve,� Dirk said breathlessly, panting from the� game�s exertion. �We need a play.�

Steve nodded. �What are we going to do?�

�I�m going to lob the ball to you, then cover you while you drive in for a lay-up. OK?�

�Sounds great.�

Dirk passed the ball between them and Steve took control of it again. With Dirk clearing the way Steve came in from behind, found an opening, and drove the ball into the hoop. It got caught up on the rim for but a moment, circled around the rim once slowly, then smoothly went in. Both Dirk and Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

Steve scored!

The crowd went wild.

�Guys!� Michael Finley shouted happily as the game clock wound down to zero. �You tied it!�

Dirk looked up at the score. �We did!� he exclaimed. �We�re tied!� In his excitement Dirk pulled the much smaller Steve into a strong one-armed embrace. Steve, with his head pillowed against Dirk�s heaving chest, patted his teammate�s bum affectionately.

While standing in a huddle, the rest of the Mav�s congratulated the pair. �Great play, you two,� Eduardo Najera told them, a large smile on his face.

�Thanks,� Steve said, his cheeks coloring a bit.

Dirk grinned at his teammate�s embarrassment. �It was nothing.�

The arena around them was wild with cheering and celebration. Overhead, the game announcers could be heard carrying on a jovial conversation. �That was some exciting action during the last few minutes!� one announcer said.

The second sports commentator seemed to agree. �Oh yeah! The energy the Mavs have shown tonight is just amazing!� he said. �And have you been watching Nowitzki, and especially Nash? Those two have been on fire this game! So hot! Their playing is flawless, and their interaction while making the big plays is just�unbelievable.�

Back in the huddle, the Mavs were trying to formulate a plan of attack to win in Overtime. �I know you guys are dead tired,� their coach, Don Nelson, told them all. �But you need to hang on for just five more minutes. I�m going to put the starters back in; can you handle that?�

The five starters nodded affirmative.

�Good. Nash, I know that Nowitzki has been wearing you out--making you run all over the court and everything, but are you good to go for the next few minutes?� Nelson asked.

�Don�t worry about Steve,� Dirk said. �He�ll be fine; he�s been so hot tonight! He�ll sink anything we give him.� He laid a large hand on Steve�s shoulder. Steve, with a bashful smile, ran his hand through his sweat soaked hair, brushing the long unruly locks out of his eyes.

�I�m good,� he assured his team, just as the buzzer sounded, signaling the start of overtime.

The Queens had possession of the ball and were intent on breaking the tie. They drove down to their basket, but were no match for the sheer might of the Mavs. Dirk, on the rebound, looked to Steve and passed the ball. Again, the quick Canadian took the ball and moved it up the court where he was fouled while making a jump shot by an irate Queen. He would then go to the free-throw line to shoot twice.

As Steve was getting into the zone and playing around with the ball before his shot Dirk, standing in post position ready to block out should Steve miss, looked down to see that his shoe was untied. Knowing how dangerous such a thing could be Dirk made to tie his shoe before Steve shot. He bent over while hurriedly calling out, �No Steve!� Don't shoot it now! Wait just a sec; I'm not ready!�

But Steve shot anyway and the first ball went in without a hitch. The ref passed the ball back, and Steve sunk that one too. The Mavs were over the Queens now by two.

Soon, though, the Queens would get the ball and tie the game up again. In a see-saw bout of overtime the score kept fluctuating greatly, and neither team seemed to be able to get an edge. After four minutes, the score was tied yet again and with just under half a minute to go, it seemed that both teams were headed into a second overtime. The Mavs called a timeout to take a breather and formulate a plan. On the sidelines, both Dirk and Steve were panting slightly as they leaned heavily on each other for support.

�Dirk,� Steve gasped. �Let�s finish this now. I don�t have the energy to go all night! Someone needs to score, and score big.�

�Right. Fin is going to be in-bounding it to you at half court. Get me the ball, and I�ll see what I can do.�

Steve clapped Dirk on the shoulder in affirmation.

The buzzer sounded again, and once more the Mavs took the court. From the sideline, Michael Finley lobbed the ball to Steve at half court and the clock began ticking down. Calmly, Steve controlled the ball, waiting for an opening so he could get it to Dirk. The opening came; Steve split the defense and passed the ball to Dirk in a fluid motion. Dirk took aim, and fired off a perfect shot just as the clock dwindled down to nothing. The crowd was dead silent as they waited for the ball to drop. It did. Perfectly. Nothing but net.

The crowd and the commentators went wild! One of the sports announcers yelled out in excited jubilation, �He shoooooots.......he scores!� Steve Nash forces it to Dirk Nowitzki, and Nowitzki gets the shot to go in. The Dallas Mavericks have defeated the San Francisco Queens in overtime!�

The energy in the arena erupted in a flurry of excitement. Queens fans and players began weeping and running their eyeliner. �Reporters and Mavs fans burst forth onto the court to surround the tired players. An ESPN newscaster was yelling into his mike to be heard over the roar of the crowd, �Nowitzki had a huge, huge�uh, game with 34 points and 18 rebounds for the Mavs, who became the first team to win 50 games and maintained their Midwest Division lead over surging San Antonio.�

Another reporter broke up a joyful Mavericks group hug to catch an interview with the star players. "We stood up to the challenge," Dirk said proudly. "The first two out of three games (against the Queens), we didn't make plays down the stretch and they did. It was nice (tonight) because Steve stepped up and made the plays.� **

Both the reporter and Dirk turned to a slightly embarrassed Steve for further comment. He shrugged. �I felt we deserved it,� Steve replied, looking over at his mate�teammate, before continuing, �I thought we played hard enough. We deserved a break at the end of the game.� ** He stuck his hands into the pockets of his warm-up pants and bounced a little, nervously, on his toes.

Dirk laughed at Steve�s impressive display of�modesty, and together they walked off, arms around each other�s shoulders, to join Don Nelson and the rest of their victorious team in celebration that would be carried on long into the night.

-The End

**the last two quotes were actually taken from an NBA sports article about the 3/16 game against the Sacramento Kings.**