Dirk Nowitzki recorded the first triple-double of his career, and what a waste it would have been had it come in a loss to one of the NBA's most undermanned teams.

The Milwaukee Bucks were missing three key players Wednesday night and played only eight, but made up for it with heart, hustle and Mo Williams.

So the Mavericks found themselves in a tie game with just over two minutes left and Nowitzki's massive night in danger of being ruined.

To the rescue came Jason Terry, Brandon Bass and J.J. Barea, all of whom made clutch plays in the final moments to spring the Mavericks to a 107-96 victory at American Airlines Center.

Nowitzki finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and a career-best 12 assists for the Mavericks' first triple-double in three years. He'd never had more than eight assists in a game, which rendered a triple-double impossible.

"Always, getting the assist part has been the problem," Nowitzki said. "At halftime, I think I had five assists, so I was kind of thinking that this might be the night. I've been close other times, so it's nice to get it out of the way.

"It took almost 10 years, which is not good, but at least I got it, and we got the win."

The last triple-double for the Mavericks was by Antoine Walker, who had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists against Philadelphia on Jan. 14, 2004.

Amazingly, Nowitzki is not the first German wearing a Mavericks uniform to have a triple-double against Milwaukee. Detlef Schrempf did it against the Bucks on Jan. 30, 1987.

Nowitzki's versatile play helped the Mavericks keep pace with the stubborn Bucks, who refused to let the absence of Michael Redd, Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons stop them.

Williams had 28 points at halftime, including a 40-foot bank shot at the buzzer. That was a sure sign that the Mavs had to clamp down on him in the second half.

"If this was football, two game balls would be given out," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "One would be Dirk and the next one would be Devean George with his second-half performance defensively on Mo Williams. George really brought a lot of energy on him."

George, regaining a foothold in the rotation after being a bit player in the first half of the season, defended Williams for most of the second half. Williams finished with eight points after halftime, shooting 4-of-13 from the field.

"When he hit that half-court shot, I figured I couldn't let him touch it," George said. "When a guy's got it going like that, you got to try not to let him catch it because it'll be a long night."

With Williams under control, the Mavericks came alive long enough to seize the game. Tied at 91-91, Bass rebounded a Terry miss and dunked with authority to put the Mavericks ahead for good.

On the next possession, Terry tipped the ball away from Williams and started a chain reaction that ended up with Barea stealing the ball. Terry broke free for a dunk. It was Barea's second steal of the final four minutes.

Nowitzki canned two jumpers, and the 99-91 lead held up.

The biggest downer of the night came when Erick Dampier left the game with a sprained right ankle and did not return. Afterward, he said the ankle "stiffened up, and I just wanted to cover my bases." He is day-to-day.

JOHN F. RHODES / DMN

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki gets off a shot over Milwaukee's Dan Gadzuric.

Mostly, it was a night to celebrate Nowitzki's breakthrough into triple-double lore.

Nowitzki said the constant double-teaming he gets is forcing him to learn to be a better passer, therefore giving him better odds of having a triple-double.

"It's exciting to sit there and witness it and be a part of it," Johnson said. "He's just been getting better and better. We asked him to work on his passing early in the season, and some of his offense suffered because he passed a lot.

"But I don't think this is the last time this year you're going to see this."