Josh Howard

Last night’s 93-86 win over the Clippers did wonders for Mark Cuban’s recurring 4th quarter nightmares. In the final period on Sunday, his Mavs couldn’t guard Monta Ellis (30 points) with a broom, and Kelenna Azubuike was scoring like he was still at Kentucky - hitting two clutch shots down the stretch to send the Mavs packing 114-104. It wasn’t much different against the Nuggets in their previous game, as Dallas only mustered 19 points in the 4th.

So when an Al Thornton lay-up followed a 27-foot bomb from Dan Dickau to cut Dallas’ lead to 78-75 in the 4th, it looked like the Mavs were well on their way to another late game collapse. However, Josh Howard went postal, and stepped up just as every Dallas fan has prayed since Dirk’s knee did a 180. He almost single-handedly broke the Clippers spirit as he scored 10 of the Mavs final 15 points.

“Everybody in here has had their back against the wall at some point,’’ said Eddie Jones. “In this league, if you don’t have perseverance, something’s wrong.’’

Though some might look at this win as just another W over a sub .500 team, it showed the Mavs that they could withstand a late-game test. And also, it showed that they’re a different team when Jason Kidd looks to score - not just pass. As Kidd rattled off 14 first quarter points, Dallas jumped out to a 10-0 lead, which expanded to 18 by the end of the first half.

“The basket looked big,’’ Kidd said.

Kidd touched the 20-point plateau for the third time this season, finishing with 27 points. In each of the games that he’s scored 20 or more (twice with Dallas, once with NJ), his squad came out on top.

“He was aggressive to get to the basket and score, and when he does that, he goes to a whole other level,’’ Avery Johnson said of Kidd. “We needed every bit of his points.’’

With only 5 points in the final period, maybe Kidd should have looked to score even more.