San Antonio Spurs will face the Dallas Mavericks Watch FREE: Live Online Streaming NBA PLAYOFFS Matchup From American Airlines Arena at 4:30 PM ET

Devin Harris was a young lottery pick the last time he helped the Mavericks have an answer for San Antonio's Tony Parker in the playoffs.

Eight years, three trades and one toe operation later, he's doing it again.

Harris is even the leading scorer for Dallas with the first-round series tied heading into Game 3 on Saturday.

"It's why I wanted to come back, to be in this type of situation and play in these types of games and be in this type of series," Harris said. "It's perfect."

Harris was in his second season in 2006 after the Mavericks traded up to get him with the fifth pick in the 2004 draft. His first career playoff start was Game 2 of the second round against the top-seeded Spurs, the first of three straight Dallas wins.

The speed of Harris gave the Mavericks something they lacked in trying to keep up with Parker, and they pulled the upset in seven games on their way to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Dallas lost to Miami in six games.

Fast forward to this week, and Harris led the eighth-seeded Mavericks with 19 points to put them in position to win the opener before the team went cold late and lost. He had 18 points in a Game 2 win, outscoring Parker by six.

Harris went to New Jersey in a 2008 trade for Jason Kidd, who was the point guard for the franchise's first championship when Dallas won a rematch with the Heat in 2011. The Nets shipped him to Utah in another deadline deal the year Dallas won the title, this time for Deron Williams The Jazz sent him to Atlanta during the offseason in 2012.

When he finally had a chance to pick his own team, Harris agreed with Dallas on a three-year, $9 million contract that was scuttled after the extent of his toe injury was discovered, along with the need for offseason surgery.

Harris settled for a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of $1.3 million, then had a setback in his recovery and missed the first 41 games.

"We had to express some patience and just continue to work," the 31-year-old said. "I knew at some point I'd be able to get back. I just didn't know when."

The game will be live streamed at www.nbalivestreamfree.net