NBA – Another valiant effort from Nowitzki leads Mavs past Heat [video]

DALLAS (NBA) - An unwell Dirk Nowitzki is better than no Dirk Nowitzki.

The German superstar underlined that fact on Tuesday night with a heroic performances for the Dallas Mavericks as they came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Heat 86-83 and knot the NBA Finals at 2-2.

Despite having a 101-degree fever, Nowitzki poured in 21 points - 10 of them when the Mavs went on a 21-9 run over the last 10:12 of the contest.

"I didn't have a good night's rest," an ailing Nowitzki said.

"I was just under the weather a little bit.

"Just battle it out. It didn't look good there in the fourth quarter when we were down nine but energy and defense really picked us up.

"Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight, take some meds (medicine) and be ready to go on Thursday."

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle didn’t know what to expect from Nowitzki before the opening tip.

But after watching him gut it out in the first two quarters, he was confident Nowitzki would be effective in the second half.

"He did everything he could possibly do,” Carlisle said.

"He's one of the greatest ever. He wants the ball. He wants the responsibility of winning and losing the game so we make every effort to put him in those situations."

Dallas got a huge lift from center Tyson Chandler, who had center had 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Dwyane Wade scored 32 points for Miami while the Mavs held LeBron James to just eight.

Miami power forward Chris Bosh, who contributed 24 points and six rebounds, said fourth-quarter turnovers killed the Heat's chances in Game 4 but stressed: "We're not concerned.

"We just have to take care of the ball down the stretch.”

The teams will play Game 5 in Dallas and the series then returns to Miami.

Check out Tuesday's top five plays

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