Durant beats buzzer, Mavs

Kevin Durant thought he might have just given away a victory and let the Dallas Mavericks steal another one in heartbreaking fashion.

Then he found a way to take it right back.

Durant scored 30 points and hit a three-pointer at the final buzzer to lift the host Oklahoma City Thunder to a 104-102 win against Dallas last night in a rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.

"As a kid, of course you dream about hitting a game-winning shot in the NBA," said Durant, who has hit two other game-winners at the buzzer in his five seasons. "It's a dream come true."

The Thunder let Dallas wipe away a five-point deficit in the final 46 seconds to go ahead on Vince Carter's three-pointer with 1.4 seconds remaining. That was just enough time for Thabo Sefolosha to get the ball to Durant, who drilled a trey from the right wing that improved his team to 4-0.

"It was crazy, a crazy course of events," Durant said. "When two tough teams always go at it, it always comes down to the last play."

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Mavericks, whose title defense is off to a 0-3 start. Dallas had been blown out in its first two losses against Miami and Denver before letting a close one slip away.

"I think the more we go out and just play the game itself more, good things happen on the court," Shawn Marion said. "We've got to just go out there and stop worrying about other things and just go out there and just play the game and just play hard."

Russell Westbrook had 16 points in his second straight subpar performance, but he made up for it with a few critical plays down the stretch.

In other games:

 * At Orlando, Ryan Anderson scored 22 points, Dwight Howard had 16 points and 24 rebounds and the Magic cruised to a 94-78 win over the New Jersey Nets. Orlando's Jameer Nelson left the game early in the third quarter with a neck spasm and didn't return.

* At Houston, Kevin Martin scored 25 points, Luis Scola added 18 and Kyle Lowry had 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to lead the Rockets to a 105-85 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

* At Sacramento, Carlos Boozer had 16 points and 15 rebounds as Chicago beat the Kings, 108-98.

* At Portland, Wesley Matthews hit five of eight three-point shots en route to 25 points and Raymond Felton scored 23 as the Trail Blazers beat Denver, 111-102.

*  Kobe Bryant confirms he recently directed Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez to an experimental treatment on his right knee in Germany. Bryant credits the therapy with dramatic improvement in his own troublesome knee and an injured ankle in recent months.

*  Phoenix signed All-Star guard Michael Redd to a 1-year contract. Redd was in the final season of a 6-year, $91 million deal he signed with the Bucks in 2005. Two injuries to his left knee cost him large chunks of three straight seasons.

*  Michael Jordan is engaged to longtime girlfriend Yvette Prieto, a Cuban-American model he's been dating for 3 years. Publicist Estee Portnoy confirmed the news, first reported by WCNC in Charlotte, yesterday.