The playoffs became more than a rumor Thursday night for the Mavericks.

And the Mavericks became much more than an afterthought for anybody gauging their chances in the postseason.

In one of the most entertaining games of this or any regular season, the Mavericks made the last of many huge plays – Dirk Nowitzki's 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left – to outlast the Utah Jazz, 97-94, at American Airlines Center.

The win, coupled with Denver's win at Golden State, clinched a playoff berth for the Mavericks.

The way they won it clinched far more than a spot in the bracket. The Jazz had won four in a row, including the last two against San Antonio and New Orleans, who managed an average of 65 points against the Jazz.

The Mavs passed that by the end of the third quarter. Then, they bowed up to make some gutsy plays down the stretch for their third win in a row and fifth in six games.

"Out of all the games when we started this run, this is one game I really was keeping my eyes on and seeing how far we've come in the physicality department," coach Avery Johnson said. "If we'd have lost this game, obviously, I wouldn't have felt great. But I thought we battled."

The Mavericks, who reached 50 wins for the eighth straight season, had made a season out of losing games just like this. They now have pulled a couple of them out in the last week and their attitude heading toward the playoffs is as positive as it's been all season.

The last, frantic minute made the difference. The lead had flip-flopped 10 times in the fourth quarter alone. The Mavs went up 94-91 on two Jason Terry free throws with 9.4 seconds to go. Terry had 21 points, all after halftime.

But Utah's Deron Williams banked in a 3-pointer with 5.8 ticks left to tie the score.

The Mavericks had no timeouts left and it was a good thing. They inbounded quickly, with Jason Kidd shoveling the ball to Eddie Jones, who found Nowitzki on the left wing, just outside the arc. His 3-pointer made it eight points in the final 9.4 seconds and delivered the Mavericks an emotional, gut-checking win.

"No lead in this league is comfortable anymore, and we know Utah keeps on playing," Nowitzki said. "Over the last three or four weeks, we lost those close games. We were able to pull it out."

They did so without Josh Howard for most of the second half. He played just three minutes after halftime after bruising his right knee, aggravating an injury he suffered Sunday in Phoenix. Howard said he doesn't think the injury is serious.

It was a heartbreaker for Utah, which reacted after Williams' 3-pointer like it was expecting the Mavericks to call a timeout.

"I think it was the excitement of, 'Wow, that shot just banked in,'" said Kyle Korver, who found himself trying to guard two Mavericks in the quick trip downcourt. "We just didn't get back, and he hit a big, big shot."

Nowitzki finished with 32 points. But he got loads of help from Jones, Eddie George and Brandon Bass, all of whom played key roles off the bench.

"We wanted to get progressively better," Johnson said of the Mavericks finally nailing down a playoff spot. "We had a major setback in terms of trying to get our team together once we made this trade, and now we seem to have it moving in the right direction."