Dallas — The young Oklahoma City Thunder keep getting better. They just are not ready to take that next step yet.

Despite leading on the road for much of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, they couldn't extend their season after giving Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki a second chance.

Nowitzki hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:14 left, after Russell Westbrook couldn't handle a rebound, and the Mavericks went on to a 100-96 victory Wednesday night to advance to the NBA finals.

Until Nowitzki's second-chance 3-pointer, the Thunder had been behind for only a minute of the second half.

Instead of going home for another game, the team filled with 20-something stars will go home thinking about what could have been.