Or it could have been simply sensing that when the middle of the season morphs into the end, there's a distinct possibility the two teams that played here Saturday night will be among those fighting for the eighth and final playoff position in the NBA's Western Conference.

Whatever the case, Mavs All-Star Dirk Nowitzki played with a cause at sold-out American Airlines Center.

The former NBA MVP scored a game-high 39 points and shot 16-of-20 from the field to lead Dallas past Utah 115-108, sending the Jazz into the season's second half of their season at 24-17 -- one victory better off than they were at last season's midway point.

"The big German came to play tonight," Mavs teammate Jason Terry said.

Did he ever.

Nowitzki -- who joins LeBron James (38), Allen Iverson (38) and Kobe Bryant (40) among those scoring 38 or more points against the Jazz this season -- had 12 of his 39 on 4-for-5 field shooting in the fourth quarter alone.

"I'm up guarding him, and he shoots over the top of my head," said Jazz power forward Paul Millsap, one of those taking a turn on Nowitzki. "I mean, that's tough."

"Everybody knows he's a great player and it's pretty hard to stop

him when he (gets) on a streak and starts making those shots -- those fadeaways from about 17, 18 feet," added another who did the same, Andrei Kirilenko. "You see me and Paul be like right on him."

Still, Nowitzki had his way.

"Dirk's a great player and always does a great job of pulling his team together. He hit some incredible shots," said point Deron Williams, whose team-high 30 points weren't enough to keep the Jazz from ending a three-game trip 1-2.

"It didn't matter if there was a hand in his face, two bodies on him," Williams added. "You know, he just hit shot after shot and willed his team to victory."

And when he wasn't -- Nowitzki couldn't even extend his elbow down the stretch because Jazz center Mehmet Okur banged into it, and he exited briefly late in the fourth quarter when he rolled his right ankle setting a pick on Jazz swingman Ronnie Brewer -- others were.

After Brewer scored inside and hit the free throw that followed to pull Utah to within two at 101-99 with three minutes and 45 seconds to go, Dallas -- which spent all of the fourth quarter protecting its lead -- went on a 12-3 run that did in the Jazz.

Jason Kidd rattled in a 3-pointer to start the burst, and ended it with two free throws.

In between, Dallas got field goals by Brandon Bass and Antoine Wright and another trey from Jason Terry.

The Jazz, meanwhile, were bogged during the run by 23-point scorer Okur's failed fadeaway over two smaller Mavs, a missed trey try by Okur and Kidd's steal from Williams.

Utah also was out-rebounded 42-30 by Dallas, leaving Jazz coach Jerry Sloan with little other choice than to heap praise upon the 23-17 Mavs and -- especially -- Nowitzki.

"He's a terrific player, and it's difficult to guard him," Sloan said. "He's so big and long, you make any mistake and give him any kind of breathing room he can step up and knock it down. A great player."

Williams agreed Nowitzki might have been playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, not only because of the Mavs' losing skid, but also because he was suspended after one game last season for knocking Kirilenko hard to the floor and other earlier this season for backhanding Jazz forward Matt Harpring in the face.

But Nowitzki suggesting he was trying to reverse his team's fortunes, saying, "I was able to grind it out, and, whatever happened, we needed this win."

Even some from Utah -- Sloan among them -- weren't buying the plausible extra-motivation card.

"I don't think he even thinks about it, because there is too much game going on," Kirilenko said. "If you're gonna think what happened in the last game, you're not gonna play."

"I just thought he was good," added Sloan, whose club starts its second half Tuesday at home vs. Minnesota. "I've seen him. It looks like he's motivated every time he plays against us." E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com