DALLAS – Dirk Nowitzki was a heck of a tennis player while growing up in Germany, but the dude never played a down of quarterback.

That was painfully obvious by the terrible full-court pass Nowitzki threw out of bounds with 22 seconds remaining in overtime Friday night.

Shawn Marion was wide-open for what would have been a go-ahead breakaway dunk or layup. However, Nowitzki’s pass was about 15 feet off the mark. It sailed into the seats, setting up the Trail Blazers to take the last shot, which Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge drilled at the buzzer to beat Dallas.

“It was just a brutal play,” Nowitzki said. “What happened was I got the rebound and really wanted to hold it for the last shot. I looked up and he was just wide open. I tried to rush it to him and it just completely got away from me. It was just kind of like an instinct play.

“When you look up and see a guy open, you want to give him the ball. I just over-rushed it and completely overthrew it. I should have just held it and gone for the last shot like I wanted to. But sometimes in the game you make decisions in a split-second, and that was definitely the wrong one.”