(My Sportsbook) - The Dallas Mavericks were a hair away from getting back into their Western Conference semifinals series with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.

Now, they are a hair away from elimination.

Carmelo Anthony drained a game-winning three- pointer with one second left in a controversial finish, helping the Nuggets steal Game 3 against Dallas, 106-105, at American Airlines Center and take a commanding 3-0 lead in the set.

Anthony, who was just 9-of-24 from the field, recorded a dunk with 28.5 seconds left to cut Denver's deficit to 105-103. Dirk Nowitzki, who logged game-highs of 33 points and 16 rebounds for the Mavs, was short on a turnaround in the lane and Denver corralled the rebound before calling timeout with 6.5 ticks left.

Anthony mishandled the inbounds pass but recovered and, despite taking a bump from Antoine Wright before rising for the shot, hit an off-balanced three from the right wing with just one second showing.

The Mavericks were irate about the lack of a foul call, considering they had a foul to give, and displayed their emotions to the officials after Nowitzki's last-ditch heave from behind the three-point line fell well off the mark.

"I was positive a whistle was coming, just like everybody else was positive the whistle was coming and the only reason why it didn't come sooner is because [Anthony] lost the ball," said Wright, recalling Denver's last possession. "I tried to hit him before he got into the shooting motion, I felt like I did, and the whistle wasn't blowing."

Hours after the game, the NBA agreed with Wright, issuing the following statement:

"At the end of the Dallas-Denver game this evening (Saturday), the officials missed an intentional foul committed by Antoine Wright on Carmelo Anthony, just prior to Anthony's three-point basket," stated Joel Litvin, president of league and basketball operations.

Anthony finished with 31 points and eight rebounds, while Chauncey Billups posted 32 points for Denver, which had won the first two games of the series at home by double digits.

Jason Terry and Brandon Bass helped the Mavericks off the bench, logging 17 and 16 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough, as the Mavs lost their seventh straight affair against Denver this season.

No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series in NBA history.

"We don't play a lot of mind games with the playoffs," Nuggets head coach George Karl said. "We respect that the playoffs are tough...I don't think we have played our best basketball in this series. We have played winning basketball, but I don't think we have played polished basketball."

The Mavs have played well at times in this series but haven't been able to put together a 48-minute effort, falling apart in the fourth quarter during both contests in Denver and faltering in the waning seconds of Game 3. Similarly, while the Nuggets did dominate the win column in their series with Dallas in the regular season, most of the games were very close. Denver beat the Mavs by three, 10, two and two points in the four contests.

The teams have met just one time in the postseason, a 4-2 Dallas win in the West semis in 1988.

Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will be back in Denver on Wednesday if necessary.